Long Overdue Review: Dead Space

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

The future must really suck since everyone always ends up lost in space (pun very much intended) fighting aliens, zombies, mutants, etc. Dead Space follows this blissful thought and runs with it. At first glance I had assumed it was yet another generic addition to the Sci fi-Horror genre, running around shooting alien-zombies with significant amounts of blood and gore. However, what I found is what can be considered a sophisticated scifi-horror. The game contained a compelling plot with many surprises. Be that as it may, the story begins in a fairly generic way, some emergency on board a huge ship orbiting a baron world in a debris field….hmmm…

From the get-go the game throws you into the action. After a violent crash you are shortly put into a heart racing sprint through an alien infested corridor, unarmed. This has to have been the most freaky event in a video game I have experienced ever. (by the way, this is not a game to be played at 1 AM in a dimly lit room, it will guaranteed scare the pee out of you). However the edge is slightly taken off once you find a weapon to defend yourself, until you find out that this is no ordinary alien-zombie infestation. The creators of Dead Space obviously took some time to think outside of the box on this one. The common perception of zombies is that you want a shotgun and aim for the head. But for Dead Space, these ones simply wont die until they are broken into several hundred pieces and then some. Otherwise they tend to jump back up and try to bite your head off again, and again, and again.

The plot of Dead Space is definitely something to applaud (minus the fact that it shares an uncanny familiarity to a little known movie called Event Horizon). They masterfully are able to put in strategic horror scenes that always keep you on your toes. Nothing is ever what it seems. Another interesting fact somewhat reminds me of Bioshock is the introduction of Vid-Logs and Audio logs scattered through the game. The difference in the case of Dead Space is how well these are integrated into the plot. As you explore the crippled USG Ishimura it is hard not to run into several hundred of these logs scattered about, however they contribute to the plot significantly. They all tell back-stories of the crew and what happened on the colony on the planet below. Unlike some games, these never actually get in the way of combat. If an enemy pops up, shoulder your weapon and the Vid-logs kindly get out of the way and play the dialog in the background as you quickly defend yourself.

The combat and menu system is quite intuitive and interesting as there is no HUD per say. All of the in game menus are projections off of panels on consoles or off of your character’s suit, the application is amazing. Some games in the past have tried to include menus within the environment but only Dead Space has so far accomplished this task successfully. As to your more explosive arsenal, all of the weapons in the game are fairly original and have some seriously intense functions. For example you have the Pulse Rifle. This weapon gives you the choice between rapid fire like a simple machine gun, or hit the alt fire button and unleash a ridiculous hail fire of bullets in all directions. Or our favorite here at Full Rez, the Line Gun, which shoots a massive wide pulse that nearly shreds everything to bits or plants timed mines. The majority of the weapons are specifically designed to deal with the new concept of these alien-zombies and they all fulfill this purpose splendidly.

Something that is becoming more common in modern games is the ability to upgrade equipment and weapons in game. In the case of Dead Space they decided to take the concept of a large grid that you fill with ‘Power Nodes’ to upgrade everything (which if you are familiar with the Final Fantasy X ‘Sphere Grid’ then you’ll feel very at home). Along your travels you will also encounter new schematics for your suit, which not only makes it look more menacing, you will slowly look like a window shutter.

In summary:

Pros:

• Graphics and visual effects are well done.
• Isaac’s Suite looks awesome as you receive more upgrades.
• Control Interface is intuitive and has a relatively shallow learning curve.
• Weapons are fun and imaginative.
• Plot develops in a surprising way leading up to a climatic finale on an absolutely epic scale.
• It is quite good at scaring the pants off of you.

Cons:

• The half dead aliens jumping back to life gets fairly repetitive.
• The inventory limitations become quite a hassle.
• Support characters can have the tendency to beg the question “If you’re already there, why don’t you go do it?”.
• The plot does suspiciously follow a similar plot to the scifi movie Event Horizon, but minus Laurence Fishburne.

In all, Dead Space is a good 7 hours of some serious fun (14 for myself and ready for another round). If you have a chance pick up a copy and see for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

–David “snake8head” James

P.S. don’t forget Peng!