Dead Space <pun>Can I give you a hand?</pun> Developer: EA Redwood Shores Publisher: Electronic Arts (EA) Genre: Third Person Shooter, Sci-Fi, Survival Horror Fear. It's an interesting emotion - when expressed and felt directly, it's a horrifying thing that leaves people in shambles. However, when felt secondhand, most oftentimes from movies, it's a great entertainment factor. People enjoy getting scared, screaming and grabbing someone next to them, only to chuckle and try to not act too embarrassed by your little whelp. Video games can oftentimes pull off horror better than other mediums, if only because those scares are interactive, and, in keeping with one of the scariest places to be, the dead of space, EA releases an attempt at survival horror in Dead Space. The USG Ishimura - the oldest and largest planet cracker to sail the skis, tearing apart entire worlds to find some nice materials for use; it's big, it's in space, and it's in need of some assistance. You, as engineer Isaac Clarke, are sent out to get the Ishimura back on its toes and running again. But, as you get closer to the ship, you find it to be entirely lifeless - there is no power on the ship, no running mechanics, even complete radio silence on the large vessel. As you attempt to land, your ship collides into the Ishimura, colliding yourself with a ship that is quite literally dead. However, you are not entirely alone, but your company isn't exactly one for parties... What follows is a fairly involving, if entirely derivative and repetitive plot. Isaac is looking forward to meeting up with his fiancé, Nicole, on board the Ishimura, giving him a reason, albeit an extremely weak one, to move forward the ship, using his engineering expertise to pull levers, switches and machinery to fix this and that. While the series of fetch quests that Dead Space calls a story is certainly nothing new and exciting, it's pulled off with a sort of style that leaves you involved in the actions of the relatively flat characters, interested in what's going to happen next that will make you run around to fix it. In fact, the game features many various elements found in other games, namely Doom 3 and Bioshock, as well as the entire Sci-Fi genre, but these elements work their way nicely into the plot and can step back if you ever find it to be too annoying. A large part of the backstory is told in both Audio, Text, and Video logs left behind by the Ishimura's crew, spelling out their last sane days and the tragedy that begets the poor people Several of these logs are particularly chilling, further portraying the Ishimura as a place gone straight to hell and back again. Isaac, meet the Necro - NO! Bad, Isaac, BAD! Things are certainly not just left to borrowing liberally from other games or going about fixing stuff, thanks to the new crew of the ship - the Necromorphs. Something is making the recently dead crew into something most certainly not human, creating rancid zombies that are barely human, mutated to include blades, explosives and tentacles galore. The enemy design is particularly well done, from the simple humanoid slashers to baby crawlers - each one feels fresh, unique, and disturbing. What makes them even more horrific is that they retain a bit of intelligence - Necromorphs use the ventilation systems to move about, allowing them to jump out of the vents at any time, perhaps behind you or in the distance. They will flank you, they will dodge, they will even feign death, hiding amongst bodies or in plain sight - you might see it coming, but, just as you think you've got them figured out, they'll jump down right on top of you for a little surprise. Common practice demands that zombies be shot in the head, but what happens when these "zombies" continue to move without a head, in fact becoming more aggressive without their skull? The earliest lesson you learn in Dead Space is "CUT OFF THEIR LIMBS", as is implemented by the strategic dismemberment system. Each creature can have parts of its body, be it legs, arms or tentacles, ripped apart from their body, dealing additional damage and slowing them down. This is a unique twist on the classic shooter, forcing you to target parts of the body to not only bring these new creatures down on their legless torsos, but dealing great deals of damage in the process, making a system that is both wholly enjoyable, useful and visceral... Why use a remote saw when you can just char everything to a toasty crisp? ... thanks to Isaac's unique weapon cache. Keeping in the Ishimura being a mining ship, almost all of our silent engineer's weaponry is impromptu, ranging from a cobbled together flamethrower to a projected saw that makes it ever easier to tear your foes apart, quite literally limb from limb. While you're sure to find your favorites, each weapon is powerful in its own right, made even more powerful with the ability to spend found power nodes to upgrade these weapons, your RIG (increasing health and oxygen supply, both very important), or your Stasis and Kinesis powers, allowing you to make each weapon, even your first, basic pistol-esque weapon devastating. Isaac finds on the ship two additional utilities that, while unoriginal and relatively unnecessary, help him throughout the Ishimura. Firstly, Isaac obtains the Stasis module that allows him to project a field that slows down whatever it hits, enabling him to halt fast moving foes or objects. This comes in handy during combat, especially as things start to get hectic, but it certainly is that "bullet time" affair that we've all found in shooters. The second is Kinesis, a device that allows Isaac to pick up and throw items - think of the Half-Life 2 gravity gun and all of its uses and you're not far off. While both of these are shoehorned into puzzles, they never detract from the fun, actually giving you two useful abilities that will make your life much easier. Being both a space ship and a ship in space, the Ishimura has two notable features on its many decks - zero-gravity and zero-oxygen environments, both of which are welcome additions to Dead Space. Isaac's suit is equipped with magnetic boots that allow him to jump from surface to surface in zero-g areas – theis creates some really amazing events, allowing you to jump from the walls to the ceiling to the floor, making up be right and down be up as you both solve puzzles and fight off foes. Oxygen-free environments, however, are something entirely different - in these areas, Isaac only has so much oxygen within his suit to live, giving you a time limit for your actions. But the greater thing is how sound is handled here - as there is little to no air in these places, sounds are almost entirely muted, creating a magnificently eerie feeling as enemies rush at you with no sound and Isaac's hurried breath is the only thing you can hear. Between both zero-gravity and zero-oxygen environments and the sheer creepy nature of the Necromorphs, Dead Space does something that is extremely difficult to do - create an actually scary game. There's something about the brilliant atmosphere (or lack thereof) that just instills a sense of uneasiness, of horror lying just on the edge that can make you afraid of what's around the corner. There are some cheap carnival spook house scares, there are a lot of flickering lights, moving shadows and other staged frights, but a vast majority of the tension comes from the environment and atmosphere, making a game that's scary all the time. ... just don't make the mistake of jumping off into the beautiful abyss. Both the enemies and the horror are helped immensely by the graphics and audio of Dead Space. While the Ishimura is primarily a large, gray space station, the various decks of this planet cracker have a oxymoronic liveliness to them, either with happy-go-lucky posters and games or with gratuitous amounts of blood smeared on the walls, the Ishimura is a sight to behold. Some of the greatest visuals come in the form of the space scenes, truly brilliant moments of graphical design that will leave you staring. Still though, the bosses of Dead Space are a sight to behold, creating some of the most visually inspiring and tense boss battles to date. One of the best visual effects, however, is that of Isaac's RIG - disregarding a normal heads-up display, any important information is built right into Isaac's suit. Your health is displayed in a bright blue bar on the back of your suit, your kinesis energy next to it, and the ammo within your weapon displayed as you bring it up - even videos, maps, and your inventory are projected in front of you in real time, placing you both within the game without annoying, static bars and constantly in threat of being attacked, even in the "safety" of your menus. But what's even more impressive is the audio work - the voice acting leaves a little to be desired every now and again, but some of the lines, particularly of some audio logs later in the game, are amazingly done and bring you into the game. That combined with constant whispering, the sounds of distant screams or things getting knocked over, or the Necromorphs crawling about in the air vents can leave you entirely immersed within the game. "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" will never be but a cute nursery rhyme again. No one can hear you scream in space, and you very well might be screaming, be it from the great, scary atmosphere of the USG Ishimura or simply because Dead Space is, for the lack of a better word, awesome. Between the innovative, bloody and thrilling strategic dismemberment system, zero-gravity and oxygen environments, amazing enemies, epic boss fights and some of the best visuals and audio work to date, Dead Space is an incredibly well done game that, while falling into the standard clichéd storyline and setting, still comes up to be innovative in its own way. Presentation, 10/10: Immersion. By getting rid of a normal heads-up-display, Dead Space puts you directly into the game and makes you feel like you might just be that mute, unflinching engineer in the suit. Graphics, 8/10: While some of the graphics boil to just a gray room, some of the environments, particularly those found in space, are amazingly well done – the character models are definitely gruesome (save for one that just looks humorous), and the animation of everything is extremely solid. Sound, 9/10: Seriously, Dead Space makes “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” creepy – any game that can do that is an auditory masterpiece. This combined with the pulse-pounding battle tracks, the great sounds effects, some particularly well done audio logs and several other nice touches, such as Isaac’s ever hastening heart beat, pull you into the world of Dead Space and do not let go. Gameplay, 8/10: The story and missions are entirely unoriginal, repetitive and derivative of other games and genres, but they all pull together alongside the thrilling combat and interesting puzzles all thrown into a weightless environment with no oxygen, making this one of the most involving games I’ve played in a long time. Sure, it’s far from perfect, but you might get pulled in so far that those little issues become a nonissue. Replay Value, 6/10: I’ve got to be honest, Dead Space is short. Clocking in at an average of 10 to 15 hours, once you’ve beaten it once, there’s very little reason to go back. You might get a few extra goodies, but nothing can ever surpass that first go through when you know none of the surprises or twists. Sure, there’s an unlockable difficulty to be had, but that’s just one playthrough out of the possible three. Total Score, 41/50: Dead Space is a master at atmosphere and gameplay immersion – between the flawless presentation of traditional, pertinent information into the character itself, the inspiring, horrific character designs, the top-notch, frightening audio work and entertaining gameplay mechanics, Dead Space has a lot going for it. Unfortunately, the story, setting and missions are just too simple and uninspired to let Dead Space reach perfection, and it’s short length and low replayability mean that the first of three planed Dead Space titles is but a once in a lifetime show. ~~~ I love Dead Space, let me say that now. It certainly isn't a perfect game, but, as far as the shooter/survival horror blend goes (this excludes the Silent Hill series, as I'm almost positive that that's gunna come up sooner or later), this is awesome. I think it might even surpass Resident Evil Four. And I bought RE4 three separate times. I'll also say that I scare relatively easy. I'm not jumping at my own shadow, but I'll get a nice little jump from the occasional alive corpse or flickering of lights... for me, Dead Space is scary due mostly to the entire atmosphere, not just tense shootouts - not as if Dead Space lacked those. It's kind of like Bioshock if you've played that - the whole setting is a little creepy, but it isn't going out of it's way to scare the excrement into your pants. Except that Dead Space does try that, and has, on several occasions, not made me defecate, but made me quickly stifle a little whelp. ... and on a somewhat related note, The Escapist's 'Zero Punctuation' did Dead Space today. It's worth a look, if only for teh lawls.
I love reading your reviews man. Always insightful. Been looking forward to this game for a while now and I'm glad to see its pretty good. Awesome review mate. I 'm surprised at the replay value score though. I mean survival horror games do tend to have a low replay value generally but I still find myself replaying them now and again, but I guess that is just a matter of preference. (Note, I played through Resident Evil 2 at least five times).
I think you're always the first person to respond 0.o Oh my, yes. In a game where cutting off limbs to bring down foes is required, there is sure to be blood. Lots and lots of blood. The instant I saw this game (which, granted, was about a week after it came out), I've been wanting to get it, and I'm so glad that I did... I haven't played very many survival horror games, my experience being limited to Resident Evil 1 and 4, but I've played each of them several times through, especially RE4 (I love you, Handcannon). But, as you said, it comes down to preference - it's certainly an enjoyable game, but it never can really reach the same level of awesome that is your first playthrough, when you don't know any of the scared, tricks or twists.
Thanks you very muchly. I posted my Fable II review elsewhere and the most frequent complaint, other than the pictures, was the sheer length of it. So I tired something that's just a tad bit shorter, which was admittedly difficult, because I like to rant. A lot. <.< ... ... >.> ... ... ^.^ NINJA BUMP! MUAHAHAHAHA!
Well I liked the length of both reviews. You kinda have to just write until you say everything that needs to be said, irrespective of how long it get's. If you try hard to make it short then you are more likely to skip details. You've done a good job on both of them so don't worry
The quality of you reviews is impeccable. Insightful, informative, and written from the prospective of a gamer. Excellent work. I myself cannot wait to get this game. Blood, violence, dismemberment, oh my. Here's to the joys of having a next-gen console.
I hadn't heard anything about this game until it had been out for a while - as soon as I saw a commercial for it on the tube, I knew that it must be mine. Blood, violence, dismemberment, oh my - indeed. Pretty much sums up the game XD And thank you very much for the compliment. I would also hope that it's from the perspective of a gamer and not my history teacher or something... if it were, might be along the lines of: "Wow, this looks very well do- OH MY GOD, DID HE JUST GET DECAPITATED!?" ... or something like that.
Has anyone heard of the Dead Space animated movie? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Space:_Downfall I saw it at my loval dvd store. Wonder if it's good.
*Final Fantasy battle over theme* LEVEL UP! HP went up by 13! MP went up by 4! Pun Making Ability went up by 347! Learned: "Horrific Yet Somewhat Clever Pun"! I had saw that a little while ago - I'm tempted to pick it up just to fill in a bit of the story, but, from what I've seen, the animation style is reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons (in other words, extremely bright, colorful, and, well... kiddie), so I don't know if I could actually stomach an entire movie of that stuff. Though it could make a little more sense of the concluded story... Hm...
This is nice, theres nothing like being undecided about a game then reading your review. It kills me. Now I'm definitely getting this game.
Dear Winterreise, It is with great sorrow that I must inform you that removing my limbs from my person is quite an impossibility due to both my lack of any games in which we can tear each other apart, save for Castle Crashers, and that I also lack a Gold Live account due to the first reason, though that might be changing very, very soon when I purchase Left4Dead on the 360 (as my computer cannot, will not, and shall NEVER play this game). My Apologies, 9NineBreaker9
