Review

Dead Space

In space, friends only haunt your nightmares, the air vents will deprive you of your sanity, and not even that lone light source can console you as death lurks in the corridors. Dead Space is the story of Issac and his cursed crewmates bound for a simple mission of repair on the Ishimura mining ship. Upon arrival things go very fast from questionable to bloodbath horror, forcing the small band to think quickly and run quicker.

The gameplay is intense. The first chapter alone is worth the price of admission and after three play throughs I still believe it. EA has boasted, flaunted, and bragged that the game is an interactive horror experience essentially honed to a science. It is. The enemies are smart, pacing is not rushed but you will be, and even with nerves of steel if fear isn’t there surprise will replace it. New enemies are sprinkled just in time to keep it fresh. Difficulty levels are intuitive and different. Easy is in truth actually easy (great for doing the game at a rush and getting the core story). Medium makes for fun resistance while Hard gives experienced gamers a harder curve to push, continuing as the experience grows. The powers give the feel of a technological Jedi but without the ego trip. Puzzles are interesting; avoid repetition, and frustration breaks. For completionists extra story and tools are scattered in out of the way corners. What’s more every piece of equipment is upgradeable via skills trees like Final Fantasy sphere grids and all weapons can be chosen for use or avoided. Up to four weapons can be slotted and stored or you can just leave it up to one supercharged power-noded behemoth of a weapon.

The controls while odd at first are introduced at a stable pace and are tightened to perfection. Overall, the learning curve is near as zero as possible, requiring only the honing of paranoia and maybe some aim. Be forewarned it is a third-person shooter at heart so twitch reflexes and good aim are near requisites to finish the game. Twitch response will be more for bosses than general fare baddies. My only qualm being the jitter/sway the menus have injected over the mouse movement. It does imbed the idea of fear when feeling the interface but I would have preferred the omission of that embellishment.

The graphics are haunting, dark, and effective. The textures are near flawless with fabrics showing course weaves, walls pulsing with evil intent, and lighting bringing focus and drama to every moment. While walking the halls happy havens fully lit will shine with a clinic white and fill your heart with safety. Only minutes later the same room will imply a soon coming onslaught as the room has darkened and token lights flicker and spark on your return. Venues vary in many themes including but without limit to medical wards, command stations, and engineering motor houses. In addition, rooms will radically change as gravity quits, air juts into space, and temperatures sore, throwing mercury in all directions. This adds so much spice you’d think space was made in Indies. The visual style while original to itself gives off allusions to sci-fi horror as a whole with nods to the vast bays of Lexx, packed corridors of Event Horizon, and the muted sands of Arrakis. Each corridor and room are visually unique making the whole of the Ishimura feel more real and physically there with each step. Save one detail, the five near identical bathrooms, which in all respects I would doubt bathrooms ever need to be different. Lastly one thing that I rarely see in games (even greats like Bioshock have omitted) is color identity. Each enemy type is distinct in color, which in general depicts strength. The darker the worst it is. Making priorities quick and easy even when a room fills up with necromorphs (how hard and what way to hit a creature comes almost instantly).

The sound is a boon to the gameplay. Every scratch, moan, and eerily recited child’s rhyme bring a flavor that puts the nerves on end. The music is dynamic and driven by the current situation, putting the experience over the top. If the sound was not so expertly timed most of Dead Space would have fallen flat and boring. Surround sound not only heightens the gameplay, but is almost a must to find the token enemy hiding in the more difficult full 3D zero-G environments.

With extra difficulty levels and goodies after competition, replay is dynamite. Not to mention with all the evil and backstabbing going on finding all the logs and back story are near impossible to discover in just one play. And, unlike most games the story is so convoluted that getting that one extra audio clip, video, and rare text file make the search all worth it.

Whether you’re a fan of survival horror or not, this is a must play. Even if it means a break every hour or avoiding play after sundown. Granted it may only be 12+ hours per play but consider your heart will be on edge every minute, keeping you coming back for more. Unlike many 70+ hour games that lag and bore for 60 of the said hours, it’s all worth the experience for this masterpiece of gaming.