Game: Dead Space
Year (s): 2008
Company: dev. Visceral Games
pub. Electronic Arts
Engine: Godfather Engine
Type: Third-Person Shooter, Survival Horror
What I Paid: $7, can't beat Steam sales
Game Time: first playthrough on normal, 16 hours
Plot
You are Isaac Clarke, engineer (the character was named by combining the names of sci-fi authors Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke). You and a small crew of a repair vessel are sent to aid the mining ship Ishimura, who is not responding to communications. After a near-crash docking procedure, the crew recieves no greeting. Shortly after, monsters wipe out most of the repair party, and the ship they came in on. Isaac and two comrades fight their way through the ship in a search for answers, survivors, and escape.
Survival Horror
Ever since Resident Evil coined the phrase "survival horror," I've seen the claim attached to various games. Dead Space fits the bill better than others I have played. In general, you're running around with almost no ammo, no health, and no money. As in Resident Evil 2 (?), there is an invincible boss that chases you around a bit. All that being said, was this game scary? Not really. The monsters looked creepy, and there were some jump scares. No playing with the light levels to intimidate. I don't know, it just didn't pack the fright punch of Doom 3, FEAR, or the movie Event Horizon (starts out the same!)
Graphics
This engine is competitive, but doesn't offer anything visually new. *shrug* can't complain
You're In Space, Dummy
Like previous games have done since they added water, there are areas where you have limited air supply. In addition, and uniquely, Dead Space has zero-g areas (these may or may not have breathable atmosphere). You have magnetic boots to keep you grounded, but you can (actually, must) jump from floor to wall to ceiling. As the enemies can do the same, this makes for some interesting combat a step above Prey's wall-walking.
Combat
"...excessively violent, with a chance of dismemberment!" - Fallout 3
This game encourages cutting off limbs. In fact, I don't think anything dies without some degree of being hacked apart. Head shots don't matter, some of the enemies don't have heads anyway.
The weapons are largely weaponized mining tools. Beyond the first weapon (something like a pistol), all weapons must be bought. There are seven weapons, you can carry four (there is an in-game safe to store extra items in). All weapons can be upgraded many times.
In addition to that, there is a telekinesis-style ability used mostly to solve puzzles, and a directionally-aimed ability to slow down an enemy or hazardous machine.
Where's the HUD?
There isn't one. There's a life bar on Isaac's back. Ammo counters are on the weapons themselves, and other data (text files, videos, inventory) are shown as holographic projections. In theory, this should make the game more immersive. But, since it was third-person instead of first-, the effort was more idiosyncratic than progressive in expression.
Expansions / DLC
A series of six comic books were developed as a prequel, as was an animated film. The site No Known Survivors is an alternate-reality style opportunity to further explore the Dead Space universe. A prequel expansion game, Dead Space: Extraction, was made for Wii and PS3, but not ported to PC. Lame.
Final Thoughts
Dead Space 2 was released in January. No word on a third game yet.
And here I almost forgot to mention plus-games. If you've beaten the game and want to play through agagin on the same difficulty, you get a huge advantage. In addition to keeping your inventory and pimped-out shit from the first playthrough, you get a ton of goodies. Plus-games are fun, but very easy/short by comparison.
Anyway, this game was fun. Not the longest game, but if you like any movies or games in the sci-fi horror category, this game's got it going on.
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