12:01 PM
Ryan (Entr0p1k)
The survival horror genre seems to have developed a formula: low ammo + creatures + low lighting conditions = great game? In fact, it’s very rare and difficult for a game of the genre to break these cliches and emerge as something else. Deadspace doesn’t completely break these themes, but uses them in a way that is unparalleled by anything in it’s field.
The USG Kellion, a small repair vessel, has been sent to investigate the strange behavior of a large planet cracker, the USG Ishimura. The player takes the role of Isaac Clark, an engineer assigned to the Kellion. Upon landing on the now “abandoned” Ishimura, Isaac and his crew begin to realise that the ship is not abandoned at all, and instead is infested with the grotesque and horrific necromorphs. Isaac must hack his way through the seemingly endless necromorphs and repair the ship; all while looking for his lost girlfriend Nicole.
Gameplay
At a glance, Dead Space may sound like the run-of-the-mill, cookie cutter survival horror, but I can assure you, it is not. Let’s talk about the necromorphs. The necros are Dead Space’s zombies, but they are much more than that. The crew of the Ishimura rise in a grotesque and altered form, and are about the most terrifying things I have ever seen.
You can forget about the traditional shoot-in-the-head tactics of traditional zombie games, necros will take that bullet right to the face and laugh at you for trying. Dead Space makes use of a unique mechanic called “strategic dismemberment,” which basically means that in order to kill the endless supply of necros, you must shoot off their limbs, one by one. This adds a completely different feel from other survivor horrors and a certain strategy to the game.
To aid you in your bloody quest for survival, many weapons can be found at various stores throughout the Ishimura. Most of the weapons definitely have dismemberment in mind, whether is be a plasma cutter or the oh so sadistic ripper, which holds a saw blade in front of the player, shredding whatever enters its path.
To go along with the unique weapon selection, the game also offers an innovative upgrade system. As a player progresses through the ship they will find power nodes. These power nodes can be infused into gear and weapons in a circuit board like fashion. This system makes the player feel more involved in the upgrade process as opposed to just watching as numbers increase.
The players suit is also imbued with Kinesis and Stasis modules, each of which gives the player an ability that can drastically turn the tide of battle. The stasis module can be used to slow fast-moving objects (including enemies) to a crawl and allows the player to move past malfunctioning doors and other hazards scattered throughout the ship. The kinesis module allows the player to move and throw objects and debris. It functions similarly to the Half-life 2 gravity gun and makes for some creative creature crushing.
In addition to all of this, the game features absolutely no HUD and crazy zero-gravity sequences that will blow your mind. The only real downside of Dead Space’s gameplay was the boss fights, most of which were rather boring and felt unoriginal.
Video / Audio
The creature design in Dead Space is astounding, showing off some of the most realistic and horrifying monsters that I have every seen in a video game. The folks over at Visceral went through anatomy lessons and dissected cadavers in an effort to create the most realistic and life-like creatures possible.
The environments of Dead Space are mostly very close quarters and promote the feeling of claustrophobia and helplessness. The emptiness of space and the constant seclusion extends this feeling even further.
One thing that really stood out while playing Dead Space was the game’s use of lighting and shadows. The ghostly images of necros cast upon the walls and floor is sometimes even more terrifying than actually seeing them. The Ishimura is also filled with flickering lights and malfunctioning computer screens which accentuates the feeling of desertion even more.
What’s the scariest sound in Dead Space? All of them! Seriously, the constant moaning and creaking of the ship, the metallic clanking and hissing of equipment, the screeching and whaling of necromorphs in adjacent rooms, on top of the constant panting of your character makes for an unbelievably suspenseful game.
Story
Most of the game involves navigating through the ship trying to find a way to escape. Isaac does this with sparsed, frantic communication with other members of your team all while slowly falling into insanity. In addition to your team members’ instruction, Isaac also finds many text, audio and video logs scattered throughout the ship. These logs were recorded and left by the Ishimura’s inhabitants for anyone to find, and help to add back story to the strange happenings on the ship.
Something that sets Dead Space apart is that cinematic-like sequences and listening / watching logs still leaves you in complete control of Isaac and never pauses the game. This leaves the player with a constant sense of vulnerability.
The characters are very multidimensional and life like, and add a lot to the overall game. The logs are also very well composed and actually make you feel sympathetic for whoever left them.
Unfortunately the story leaves many holes that are only truly answered in the books and movies that were released along with the game, so in order to fully understand the plot you need to do some homework. Also, the protagonist, Isaac, remains silent throughout the entire game and rarely reacts to anything. Instead, everyone just gives you orders and you follow them, simple as that. One other thing is... text logs... I mean, really, who plays video games to read. Haha.
Content
The only mode of Dead Space is the campaign which, in itself, is not terribly long. The constant suspense of the game, however, makes it feel much longer. Despite being a game of suspense and jumps, Dead Space actually has a very high replay value. Granted, your second time through will be quite different from your first and changes from a survival horror to an action shooter.
After completing the game, the player unlocks “impossible” difficulty and “new game+”. “New game+” allows the player to restart the game from the beginning while keeping all of their upgrades. This adds extra incentive to keep playing.
Huevos Factor
Dead Space IS horror. It is the single most terrifying game that I have ever played. Nothing has ever made me lose as much sleep or make me quite as jumpy as Dead Space. It pulls together both suspense, disgust and sheer psychological terror into one little box that is truly beautiful.
Dead Space sets a new bar for survival horror and will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.
The USG Kellion, a small repair vessel, has been sent to investigate the strange behavior of a large planet cracker, the USG Ishimura. The player takes the role of Isaac Clark, an engineer assigned to the Kellion. Upon landing on the now “abandoned” Ishimura, Isaac and his crew begin to realise that the ship is not abandoned at all, and instead is infested with the grotesque and horrific necromorphs. Isaac must hack his way through the seemingly endless necromorphs and repair the ship; all while looking for his lost girlfriend Nicole.
Gameplay
9.5 |
At a glance, Dead Space may sound like the run-of-the-mill, cookie cutter survival horror, but I can assure you, it is not. Let’s talk about the necromorphs. The necros are Dead Space’s zombies, but they are much more than that. The crew of the Ishimura rise in a grotesque and altered form, and are about the most terrifying things I have ever seen.
You can forget about the traditional shoot-in-the-head tactics of traditional zombie games, necros will take that bullet right to the face and laugh at you for trying. Dead Space makes use of a unique mechanic called “strategic dismemberment,” which basically means that in order to kill the endless supply of necros, you must shoot off their limbs, one by one. This adds a completely different feel from other survivor horrors and a certain strategy to the game.
To aid you in your bloody quest for survival, many weapons can be found at various stores throughout the Ishimura. Most of the weapons definitely have dismemberment in mind, whether is be a plasma cutter or the oh so sadistic ripper, which holds a saw blade in front of the player, shredding whatever enters its path.
To go along with the unique weapon selection, the game also offers an innovative upgrade system. As a player progresses through the ship they will find power nodes. These power nodes can be infused into gear and weapons in a circuit board like fashion. This system makes the player feel more involved in the upgrade process as opposed to just watching as numbers increase.
The players suit is also imbued with Kinesis and Stasis modules, each of which gives the player an ability that can drastically turn the tide of battle. The stasis module can be used to slow fast-moving objects (including enemies) to a crawl and allows the player to move past malfunctioning doors and other hazards scattered throughout the ship. The kinesis module allows the player to move and throw objects and debris. It functions similarly to the Half-life 2 gravity gun and makes for some creative creature crushing.
In addition to all of this, the game features absolutely no HUD and crazy zero-gravity sequences that will blow your mind. The only real downside of Dead Space’s gameplay was the boss fights, most of which were rather boring and felt unoriginal.
Video / Audio
| 9.0 |
The creature design in Dead Space is astounding, showing off some of the most realistic and horrifying monsters that I have every seen in a video game. The folks over at Visceral went through anatomy lessons and dissected cadavers in an effort to create the most realistic and life-like creatures possible.
The environments of Dead Space are mostly very close quarters and promote the feeling of claustrophobia and helplessness. The emptiness of space and the constant seclusion extends this feeling even further.
One thing that really stood out while playing Dead Space was the game’s use of lighting and shadows. The ghostly images of necros cast upon the walls and floor is sometimes even more terrifying than actually seeing them. The Ishimura is also filled with flickering lights and malfunctioning computer screens which accentuates the feeling of desertion even more.
What’s the scariest sound in Dead Space? All of them! Seriously, the constant moaning and creaking of the ship, the metallic clanking and hissing of equipment, the screeching and whaling of necromorphs in adjacent rooms, on top of the constant panting of your character makes for an unbelievably suspenseful game.
Story
| 9.0 |
Most of the game involves navigating through the ship trying to find a way to escape. Isaac does this with sparsed, frantic communication with other members of your team all while slowly falling into insanity. In addition to your team members’ instruction, Isaac also finds many text, audio and video logs scattered throughout the ship. These logs were recorded and left by the Ishimura’s inhabitants for anyone to find, and help to add back story to the strange happenings on the ship.
Something that sets Dead Space apart is that cinematic-like sequences and listening / watching logs still leaves you in complete control of Isaac and never pauses the game. This leaves the player with a constant sense of vulnerability.
The characters are very multidimensional and life like, and add a lot to the overall game. The logs are also very well composed and actually make you feel sympathetic for whoever left them.
Unfortunately the story leaves many holes that are only truly answered in the books and movies that were released along with the game, so in order to fully understand the plot you need to do some homework. Also, the protagonist, Isaac, remains silent throughout the entire game and rarely reacts to anything. Instead, everyone just gives you orders and you follow them, simple as that. One other thing is... text logs... I mean, really, who plays video games to read. Haha.
Content
6.5 |
The only mode of Dead Space is the campaign which, in itself, is not terribly long. The constant suspense of the game, however, makes it feel much longer. Despite being a game of suspense and jumps, Dead Space actually has a very high replay value. Granted, your second time through will be quite different from your first and changes from a survival horror to an action shooter.
After completing the game, the player unlocks “impossible” difficulty and “new game+”. “New game+” allows the player to restart the game from the beginning while keeping all of their upgrades. This adds extra incentive to keep playing.
Huevos Factor
10 |
Dead Space IS horror. It is the single most terrifying game that I have ever played. Nothing has ever made me lose as much sleep or make me quite as jumpy as Dead Space. It pulls together both suspense, disgust and sheer psychological terror into one little box that is truly beautiful.
Dead Space sets a new bar for survival horror and will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.
Breakdown:
| Gameplay | 9.5 |
| Video / Audio | 9.0 |
| Story | 9.0 |
| Content | 6.5 |
| Huevos Factor | 10 |
Total | 9.0 |
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