Developer - EA Redwood Shores
Publisher - Electronic Arts
Available On – XBOX 360, Playstation 3, PC
Reviewed On - XBOX 360

Space; it certainly isn’t living. While it’s not dead either it’s about to get a lot more of the latter with Electronic Art’s latest space-based action horror title Dead Space. Mashing elements of third person survival horror against fast paced action, Dead Space combines the best traits of some well known series to tell a horrific tale of discovery and survival set within the bowels of a recovered mining space ship, the Ishimura.

While “Resident Evil in space” is often an unfortunately accurate summary for the most part of Dead Space, one must look at the continual enhancements and refinements of the third person survival horror genre presented within. The audio package is top notch and well realised, utilised to the full potential that clear and appropriate sound effects can have in establishing an atmosphere in horror. If the distant cries or grating scratches of unknown entities fail to incite fear within a player, the luscious graphics, continual gore and detailed ship environment again add to a tremendous feeling of foreboding immersion when playing Dead Space.

The brief introduction while a visual treat tells little of the back story for Isaac and crew, a gaping plot hole that’s made more apparent as the game progresses and continually relays thick plot devices with convincing dialogue and voice acting primarily through voice and text logs found by Isaac around the ship. It’s not hard to assume the general happenings of the lead up to Dead Space as within ten minutes from the start Isaac is found alone and unawares fighting the unknown cause for the Ishimura’s blackout, the parasitic bacteria discovered to be the Corruption and the mutated anthropomorphic Necromorphs that result from the adaptation of the Corruption bacteria in dead human host bodies.

The enemy Necromorphs seem to be some form of Alien Zombie, while a cool concept it does little to masquerade the continual use of clichés and standard genre staples of the third person horror shooter. The aliens are introduced very well, with all the appropriate climaxes, shock jump scenes and ambiguous shadow effects you’d expect when discovering a nasty alien species in a video game. After killing the same creepy alien a few times over and over the shock effect of the grotesque appearance of the aliens begins to waiver as their contorted limbs become more apparent as an obviously necessary target to effectively wipe out the threats and conserve what little supplies are available on the ship.

Dead Space applies a little welcome twist to the shooting action where extra damage is applied when specifically dismembering the limbs of enemy Necromorphs. It’s introduced early as a continual concept and applies to every enemy in the game who all seem to have appropriately elongated tentacles or limbs ready for the dropping. The weapons are a big implication of this with the first available weapon the Plasma Cutter fitting in with theme of the mining ship and Isaac’s profession as an engineer as well as being a handy alien slicer with laser dot points marking out a line of fire projected by the weapon. All the weapons have a clear marker as to where it will fire as accuracy is crucial to dismembering enemy limbs and often an easy task due to an intuitive control scheme and interface.

The third person over-the-shoulder camera view of Dead Space always captures the action with smooth controls both for the camera and Isaac helping players navigate the horrors of the Ishimura. An intuitive interface designed to abolish any form of heads-up display instead displays information such as Isaac’s health or ammunition supplies on his suit or weapon. Any videos played in-game will be projected out of Isaac’s suit allowing players to pan around the holographic image adding scores to the ever palpable immersion and atmosphere of Dead Space.

When the action gets too tough the ability to slow enemies with Isaac’s stasis abilities can come in handy but with a real lack of explanation as to how our main protagonist can manipulate time and move giant objects from across the room another big plot hole is developed. Stasis abilities require a reserve of the limited supplies of stasis power so they’re mainly used when necessary in the environmental puzzles presented every few chapters. The puzzles are most often quite simple considering the limited possibilities of Isaac’s two stasis powers but the zero gravity rooms often filled with Necromorphs leaping from wall to wall are a blast as well as outer space sections where Isaac’s air supplies must be considered and objectives met in a timely manner.

Lots of creepy set pieces and grotesque post-trauma scenes can raise hairs with blood splattered warnings covering the walls of the ship and rotting corpses littering most hallways. It’s when the illogical events or annoying game elements pop-up that a serious sense of authenticity is lost and players are left questioning the odd save system or linear chapter structuring hidden within Dead Space. While the Ishimura is certainly convincing with an extensive map layout and detailed interior, the door-by-door structure of the missions is frustratingly narrow yet relieving in its simplicity, with a clear beacon shining to the next objective upon any click of the right analogue stick.

Along the limb covered path to any space that isn’t dead lie many Power Nodes and Credits used for purchasing ammo, weapons, inventory slots, suit upgrades and abilities that make Isaac look much more noticeable both in his wardrobe fashion and in his alien limb-stomping abilities. With a wide variety of options to spend nodes and credits on the general lack of either of these supplies must always be accounted for when purchasing anything, with no way to downgrade weapons and regain those precious nodes or reconsider your last health pack spending spree when suit upgrades are essential and only possible with enough credits.

The level progression system in Dead Space is no different to many other titles which can also be said for a lot of Dead Space. Most of what Dead Space provides can be likened across many other titles such as Resident Evil 4, Doom 3, or Bioshock so if you’re after something revolutionary in horror and action adventures then this isn’t the right place to look. You’d be missing out on something though, as what Dead Space borrows from other popular titles it continually refines and exemplifies at the highest quality, presenting a truly exceptional modern horror experience.

Dead Space

90%

The Good -

• An all-round powerhouse of audio and visual effects.

• Top quality voice acting for lots of in-game dialogue and story.

• Extreme gore and dismemberment; isn’t shy to shock.

The Bad –

• A few plot holes that need filling.

• Level system can cause irreversible regrets.

• Not for the light hearted.