Dead Space Review

As part of the new Sci-Fi Fridays feature, we present you with a Dead Space review by one of our newest reviewers.  Warning: There are some spoilers if you haven't played the game.

 Story

It’s the year 2508 and Earth’s resources have been depleted. Thus, mankind needs to find new ways to survive. All nations on Earth joined under one banner to build giant spaceships called "Planet Crackers" and sent them out into space to extract raw materials from the floating planets.

The biggest of its kind, the USG Ishimura, has been sent out to the edge of our galaxy and have not been reporting back to headquarters for some time. A small vessel ,with a small repair crew, is sent to investigate the matter on the Ishimura. On board is engineer Isaac Clarke, a man with his own agenda on the upcoming mission. His girlfriend, Nicole, is working on board the Ishimura and is looking forward to seeing her.

On arrival, the repair mission becomes a survival mission.  Flesh-eating aliens, known as Necromorps, attack Isaac and his crew.  Now, Isaac must battle his way around the Ishimura - to find Nicole, determine what happened aboard the ship, and get out alive.

Gameplay

To get out alive and find out what happened, Isaac must search the giant ship for the truth. This happens over 12 chapters, where Isaac fight these bloodthirsty aliens on his own.

Each chapter contains a couple of assignments which the player must complete to continue. These assignments vary from fetching an item, killing a monster with a key function, or doing something that is a key function so Isaac can survive on the ship. If the player is unsure where to go next, it is possible activate a blue locater line to guide the player to the next objective.

From time to time the player will come across rooms, where there is zero gravity and no air in it. It is during these moments, Dead Space shows, how much effort the developers have put into the game and make it a solid piece of product. Items and maimed necromorphs floats weightless around.

To have a chance against these aliens, Isaac has different weapons available with second firing methods. These weapons range from the simple plasma cutter to other nifty pieces of hardware. A little change in this game and from others is that Dead Space advises the player not to simply shoot of the enemies head - but to dismember them. Cut of arms, legs and so on. If Isaac cut of one necromorphs legs, which results in rays of blood, it will try to crawl toward Isaac - still willing to kill him.

Weapons need ammunition, which can be found all around the Ishimura in containers and can even be picked up from dead enemies. Weapons can be upgraded at a workbench with power nodes, which are also scattered around the ship. Isaac also has two modules available: one to pick up objects which can thrown at enemies. The second modulo is used to paralyze enemies. These modules are also used in the game’s puzzles - which are not that hard to figure out.

The developer, Visceral Games, wanted to manage the inventory-system as easy as possible. If Isaac needs an item, such as a med pack to restore his health, the player can enter a few menus without feeling like they left the game.

However, this bring about one of the boring parts of Dead Space.  From start, the player doesn't have much storage space for his or hers items. Only through upgrading Isaac’s suit can there be more space or by buying a better suit through downloadable content. This can be a little bit annoying, because the upcoming events were interesting to find out. There is a ship-wide store, where you can buy or sell found items. You can also store some of your goodies in the safe.

Besides the inventory, the player has a notepad with objectives, a list of holo logs explaining the events that happened around the ship and a map of the level. Also, there are no traditional HUD-systems. Both health and stasis is represented by blue bars on Isaac’s back — a more cunning and resourceful way to show it — and it doesn't take away your attention that bad from the player battling the necromorphs.

Graphics

Even though Dead Space is three years old, the graphics are still astounding to look upon. Dead Space is not something innovating, but it manages to create a feeling, with all its blood and maimed corpses, that you are somewhat helpless and outnumbered. This is what makes Dead Space great. The aliens look very hideous and come in different variations. They create an uneasy feeling before they enter combat with Isaac. The player will wade through many half lit corridors and halls which  can be monotonous for some players to. There is nearly always blood on the floor/walls or mutated corpses on the floor. Overall, it is something the reviewer could live with, but some change in surroundings would never hurt.

Sound

The actual real sound that is reflected in Dead Space, comes from the environment or holographic conversations with your two colleagues, Kendra and Hammond. You never know when aliens will jump out of vents to both scare you and feed on your flesh. Otherwise, the protagonist never says anything. He is one of the silent main characters. He will only let out an scream of pain when he is wounded by enemies.

Conclusion

In general, the game creates feelings, you certainly would feel if you were in Issac’s place: hopelessness, frightened and so on. The game can be completed in about ten hours and has no replay value to speak of. All things considered, Dead Space is still a pretty decent piece of product and every fan of The Aliens movies should invest in this title.

Information about Dead Space

Age rating: 18+.
Release year: 2008.
Available on: Xbox 360, PC and PS3.
Genre: Third-person shooter, science fiction, survival horror.
Players: 1.
Publisher: EA.
Developers: Visceral Games.

Check out our review of Dead Space 2, coming next week.

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