Dead Space, developed by EA, was released October 2008. It’s a horror-survival, third person shooter game set aboard a spaceship filled with creepy aliens. It was a pretty hyped release, and generally had favorable reviews from the critics. Besides my aforementioned hesitation to play scary games, I had assumed Dead Space to simply be a clone of RE4. I was pleasantly proved wrong, and I was unpleasantly horrified playing through the game.So, as I said before, Dead Space is set… in space. And, honestly, I really have to laud EA for the artistic design of the game. Not only are the aliens quite grotesque and scary, but also the spaceship interior remains fresh and interesting throughout the game. In addition, there are a couple key design elements I want to note. I loved the design of being in the vacuum of space, and also, the game’s HUD is designed excellently, notably by not existing at all! All of your relevant information is actually displayed on your character, which definitely increased the immersion factor for me. The music is also quite rich and definitely kept me on edge.
Some gripes before touching on gameplay... First off, the story’s quite weak. There is something about your dude looking for his girlfriend aboard the ship, which is hard to figure out immediately when he doesn’t speak. Also, I feel that the game relies too much on Bioshock’s paradigm for storytelling as an example of progressing the plot, not only does the general atmosphere always remind me of it slightly, but Dead Space also utilizes the same ideas of audio tapes/text logs strewn about and multiple parties chatting on the radio with you as a means to perpetuate the storyline. Another seriously annoying gripe I have is with the physics engine, which functions satisfactorily most of the time, except when it comes to enemy corpses. It is a serious immersion breaking factor when I walk over a corpse and boot it into the air. It was the cause of cheap scares several times throughout the game as I saw a corpse pop up and flip behind me as I walked over it and freaked out.
The gameplay is definitely enjoyable through the entire game. It differentiates itself from the Resident Evil series nicely in the unique way you kill enemies, via dismemberment. There are some very, very intense fights throughout the game. Combat in zero gravity and the vacuum were certainly cool instances as well. There is a decent selection of weaponry, and inventory management doesn’t feel like a chore. I felt that the means of upgrading your weapons and armor were unique, and had a decent amount of depth, although I pretty much wound up soaking everything into additional health.
Some serious frustrations included the piss-poor melee combat abilities of Isaac. Attempting to use any sort of melee in this game is just a way to get yourself killed. It is a jarring disconnect from the fluidity of Resident Evil’s solid combination of gunfire and physical attacks. Also there are two very annoying minigames midway through Dead Space that were a cause for rage. You’re basically stuck controlling a cannon and shooting asteroids/debris careening towards the ship. Sounds cool in theory, but turns out they’re hard as hell to hit; using the slow-moving reticule to track them was a serious pain in the ass.
Is Dead Space worth your money? I’d say it’s a solid buy now, with the price cuts. If you’re looking for a good horror game, or are a Resident Evil 4/5 fan, it’s definitely worth your time. Looking towards the horizon, it seems EA is interested in continuing the use of this IP, with a Wii on-rails shooter announced; it is entitled Dead Space: Extraction, likely due for release at the end of ‘09.
