Dead Space Review
By all accounts Dead Space is a game I never should have played. It is
has all the elements that I hate(ed) about games, save one. I am a
sucker for a good Science Fiction story. Space holds this special place
for me, so I am intrigued by anything that has to do with it. However, I
have never been interested in anything horror related. I've never been
one to purposely scare myself for entertainment or any other reason. I
tend to chalk it up to what I'd call an overactive imagination. Whenever
I'd see a horror film I'd be kept up for nights afterwards looking for
the scary thing. Or maybe it's because I watched the '88 version of The
Blob at age 16 while on Vicodin (after getting my wisdom teeth removed)
then going camping the following weekend. Regardless, I've never been a
fan of horrific games. Halo was as close as I got to a formal horror
title. The Library got to me the first time I waded through it at 1am
with all the lights out and headphones glued to my ears. I completely
passed over Dead Space when it first came out for another reason beyond
the simple horror and gore. I had never really been into any third
person shooters. I always felt like they were to "slow" for a shooter. I
liked third person RPG's and adventure titles that were either turn
based or melee based, but I never got the hang of shooting in third
person. It just wasn't fun for me.
So why did I end up 1000 pointing Dead Space? Well, in a phrase: Peer Pressure. Not anyone verbally telling me to play it, but I kept seeing news about Dead Space 2 crop up. I hadn't paid much attention to the media surrounding Dead Space, but one image caught my eye. I think it was the character design. I didn't really like the look of the humorously named main character Issac Clarke in Dead Space 1. He always looked to antique to me, old. Not that I'm not a fan of the Space Steam Punk style that was employed, but it just wasn't captivating. This new piece of art though, it just hooked me. It was dark to be sure, but Issac's helmet was sleek and his suit looked tough. I eventually ended up downloading the Dead Space 2 demo and then played the Dead Space demo. I was captivated by the visual style of Dead Space 2, even if the game-play wasn't my cup of tea. I ended up pushing myself through the demo enough times that I had to play at least the first game to see what it was all about. Spurred on by a Games On Demand sale I made my purchase.
Dead Space takes place on the USG Ishimura. The Ishimura is what the game calls a Planet Cracker, basically a giant space strip mining vessel that pulls a large chunk of a planet off world and processes it for valuable resources. However, you quickly learn that more than simple ore was unearthed at Aegis VII. The crew of the Ishimura found an artifact, the Red Marker, and removed it from the planet; that's when things started going wrong, and eventually the ship goes silent.
The game employs a similar story telling technique to Half-Life in that the hero is both silent, and you never break his point of view. This has two effects: You never know what's really going on inside Issac's head unless you take the time to read all of the mission texts (something that fear kept me from doing till a few levels in) and two makes you feel both more connected and more helpless at the same time. For example, since there are no formal movies you are forced to stay connected with Issac. Often times there are barriers put in your way that you feel you should be able to surpass, but simply can't since you aren't given the normal "cut scene super powers" often seen with other games (The Prince surviving a great fall, or John 117 rolling out of the way of an explosion for example). Given that you are already thrust into a helpless situation the feeling of being powerless is compounded. Soon I simply got my head down, so to speak, and trudged through it.
And trudge you will in this game. Issac doesn't have a quick walk speed, and his run is forced and laborious. This is not without due cause. You don't exactly want to be running through the halls of the USG Ishimura. Necromorphs have a tendency to pop out of air vents and other access-ways. These Necromorphs don't go down easy either. You can't just cleanly separate head from body and call it a day with them. No no, in a similar fashion to Halo's Flood, Dead Space's Necromorphs need only sufficient limbs to function. How that actually works remains a mystery, but it makes for a brutal game-play mechanic that will have you severing the limbs of the unconverted to avoid fighting them in the future. Since you have not one, but two to four limbs to sever in order to stop this menace encounters can be frantic and need to be surgical. However this can make for some fun encounters when you start throwing lack of gravity in the mix. Dead Space follows the Magnetic Boot method of handling zero g. Simply point and click to your destination when in an area devoid of artificial gravity. This takes some getting used to and can be disorienting since you can't look around as you are flying from landing point to landing point. Once it comes together the zero gravity portions are some of my favorite.
Issac is an engineer. He isn't a trained solider with a high powered repeater, he's a Space Janitor with a box of tools. Due to his technical knowledge Issac is able to fashion additional weapons as he makes his way around the USG Ishimura attempting to mend it and find a way home, and his lost girlfriend. The weapon variety is well rounded, with something for everyone. Amongst this arsenal is an area attack gun, a buzz-saw, a slicer, and a force cannon. You do eventually pick up a formal military blaster, but all you really need to survive is the Plasma Cutter you pick up at the beginning of the game. Not only is it an Achievement to go the entire game using only the Plasma Cutter but it makes leveling and inventory a lot easier. Issac's suit only has so many slots, so you have to choose what you want to take with you between supply depots (where you can swap out weapons, items and purchase new suits). This means you'll need to think long and hard about what is more important to you? Being able to heal yourself, or having the ammo to finish that last Necromorph off in time.
Overall the story of Dead Space wasn't bad, it's more or less a cousin of Event Horizon as far as plot goes. It gets a bit confusing when they start talking about The Unitarian Church. I never quite understood what was going on, even at the end. I had to do some outside research to really figure out what was going on. In order to save some spoilers I'll just say this: The Church thinks the Red Marker is an item of deep religious power, when in fact it's the harbinger of destruction once off of it's platform. The characters are more or less stereotypical, but when your living cast consists of 4 people they need to be. Even with the small cast the characters are well enough acted, even if they are yelling what is basically "get to tha choppah" every other time they talk to you. The most enticing part/ payoff is Issac's girlfriend. It's only hinted at throughout the game, but it comes into it's own at then end in a satisfying way. The game ends with most of the loose ends tied up (for better or for worse), but did leave room for a sequel.
I have yet to play Dead Space 2. I somewhat enjoyed escaping the gory horror that was the USG Ishimura, but I don't know if I want to do more of it. I knew it was a game that I could only take so much of so I made a point to 1000g it as fast as I could following my initial play-through. It will probably have to wait until it goes on sale, just like the first one, for me to take another shot at the Necromorphs.
Dead Space isn't a game for everyone. If you aren't a fan of Horror or Gore steer clear; but if you can stomach it; or really don't mind flailing severed body parts at every turn, then jump right in.
Overall: 8/10
It gets a bit repetitive once you get the basic mechanic down, but if you ever wanted to star in a horror/sci-fi movie this is one of the best ways to do it.
So why did I end up 1000 pointing Dead Space? Well, in a phrase: Peer Pressure. Not anyone verbally telling me to play it, but I kept seeing news about Dead Space 2 crop up. I hadn't paid much attention to the media surrounding Dead Space, but one image caught my eye. I think it was the character design. I didn't really like the look of the humorously named main character Issac Clarke in Dead Space 1. He always looked to antique to me, old. Not that I'm not a fan of the Space Steam Punk style that was employed, but it just wasn't captivating. This new piece of art though, it just hooked me. It was dark to be sure, but Issac's helmet was sleek and his suit looked tough. I eventually ended up downloading the Dead Space 2 demo and then played the Dead Space demo. I was captivated by the visual style of Dead Space 2, even if the game-play wasn't my cup of tea. I ended up pushing myself through the demo enough times that I had to play at least the first game to see what it was all about. Spurred on by a Games On Demand sale I made my purchase.
Dead Space takes place on the USG Ishimura. The Ishimura is what the game calls a Planet Cracker, basically a giant space strip mining vessel that pulls a large chunk of a planet off world and processes it for valuable resources. However, you quickly learn that more than simple ore was unearthed at Aegis VII. The crew of the Ishimura found an artifact, the Red Marker, and removed it from the planet; that's when things started going wrong, and eventually the ship goes silent.
The game employs a similar story telling technique to Half-Life in that the hero is both silent, and you never break his point of view. This has two effects: You never know what's really going on inside Issac's head unless you take the time to read all of the mission texts (something that fear kept me from doing till a few levels in) and two makes you feel both more connected and more helpless at the same time. For example, since there are no formal movies you are forced to stay connected with Issac. Often times there are barriers put in your way that you feel you should be able to surpass, but simply can't since you aren't given the normal "cut scene super powers" often seen with other games (The Prince surviving a great fall, or John 117 rolling out of the way of an explosion for example). Given that you are already thrust into a helpless situation the feeling of being powerless is compounded. Soon I simply got my head down, so to speak, and trudged through it.
And trudge you will in this game. Issac doesn't have a quick walk speed, and his run is forced and laborious. This is not without due cause. You don't exactly want to be running through the halls of the USG Ishimura. Necromorphs have a tendency to pop out of air vents and other access-ways. These Necromorphs don't go down easy either. You can't just cleanly separate head from body and call it a day with them. No no, in a similar fashion to Halo's Flood, Dead Space's Necromorphs need only sufficient limbs to function. How that actually works remains a mystery, but it makes for a brutal game-play mechanic that will have you severing the limbs of the unconverted to avoid fighting them in the future. Since you have not one, but two to four limbs to sever in order to stop this menace encounters can be frantic and need to be surgical. However this can make for some fun encounters when you start throwing lack of gravity in the mix. Dead Space follows the Magnetic Boot method of handling zero g. Simply point and click to your destination when in an area devoid of artificial gravity. This takes some getting used to and can be disorienting since you can't look around as you are flying from landing point to landing point. Once it comes together the zero gravity portions are some of my favorite.
Issac is an engineer. He isn't a trained solider with a high powered repeater, he's a Space Janitor with a box of tools. Due to his technical knowledge Issac is able to fashion additional weapons as he makes his way around the USG Ishimura attempting to mend it and find a way home, and his lost girlfriend. The weapon variety is well rounded, with something for everyone. Amongst this arsenal is an area attack gun, a buzz-saw, a slicer, and a force cannon. You do eventually pick up a formal military blaster, but all you really need to survive is the Plasma Cutter you pick up at the beginning of the game. Not only is it an Achievement to go the entire game using only the Plasma Cutter but it makes leveling and inventory a lot easier. Issac's suit only has so many slots, so you have to choose what you want to take with you between supply depots (where you can swap out weapons, items and purchase new suits). This means you'll need to think long and hard about what is more important to you? Being able to heal yourself, or having the ammo to finish that last Necromorph off in time.
Overall the story of Dead Space wasn't bad, it's more or less a cousin of Event Horizon as far as plot goes. It gets a bit confusing when they start talking about The Unitarian Church. I never quite understood what was going on, even at the end. I had to do some outside research to really figure out what was going on. In order to save some spoilers I'll just say this: The Church thinks the Red Marker is an item of deep religious power, when in fact it's the harbinger of destruction once off of it's platform. The characters are more or less stereotypical, but when your living cast consists of 4 people they need to be. Even with the small cast the characters are well enough acted, even if they are yelling what is basically "get to tha choppah" every other time they talk to you. The most enticing part/ payoff is Issac's girlfriend. It's only hinted at throughout the game, but it comes into it's own at then end in a satisfying way. The game ends with most of the loose ends tied up (for better or for worse), but did leave room for a sequel.
I have yet to play Dead Space 2. I somewhat enjoyed escaping the gory horror that was the USG Ishimura, but I don't know if I want to do more of it. I knew it was a game that I could only take so much of so I made a point to 1000g it as fast as I could following my initial play-through. It will probably have to wait until it goes on sale, just like the first one, for me to take another shot at the Necromorphs.
Dead Space isn't a game for everyone. If you aren't a fan of Horror or Gore steer clear; but if you can stomach it; or really don't mind flailing severed body parts at every turn, then jump right in.
Overall: 8/10
It gets a bit repetitive once you get the basic mechanic down, but if you ever wanted to star in a horror/sci-fi movie this is one of the best ways to do it.
Reviewed By: K2theM