Dead Space is centered around an engineer named Issac Clarke. Issac and his crew travel through space to locate the USG Ishimura, a "Planet Cracker" who's job it is to literally tear chunks of planets out and use that huge chunk to locate valuable materials and resources. A call had come in that the Ishimura has gone dark, so Issac's crew has been called in to repair the ship. Simple job right? Wrong. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Wouldn't be much of a game if everything actually went according to plan.
Well, as things turned out, a scary and dangerous alien race has been unleashed upon the ship, and all the crew members aboard the Ishimura have been killed, or in immediate danger of being killed. So now that Issac is aboard the ship, and because of a little malfunction of his own ship, he's now stuck on the Ishimura, and has to deal with the aliens, called the Necromorphs, and has to find a way off the ship, alive. Oh, it's gonna be a struggle.
GRAPHICS/VISUALS
Graphically, Dead Space is freaking awesome. I just love the details of the characters, the environment, and the Necromorphs. It seems that no matter if you play the game for only an hour, or twenty hours, you would be struck by how awesome the visuals are. The graphics of Dead Space are eye catching, not only because of the wonderfully scary details of the environment, or the gore factor. Issac's suit is very detailed, as well as the weapons that you use. The moments in the game that take place outside the ship in deep space is a very disturbing site to behold. Looking out into the void of space as you make your way from one part of the ship to another is very striking. It's pretty creepy to witness.
The Necromorphs are also very cool to look at. The detail that presents themselves when you feast your eyes on these horrific things is stupendous. These freaky little creatures get more grotesque as you go through the game. The tentacles are placed in weird and unnatural areas, familar body parts are different and changed in horrific ways. The Necromorphs are a sight to see. It's quite unsettling.
SOUND
If the visuals didn't do enough of a good job, the audio really brings everything together. The sounds, the background music and the voice acting done for Dead Space really completes the game. All the tense moments in the game just before a Necromorph attack really reminds you of the class sci-fi horror movies. I loved the moments when it would be dead quiet, and then out of nowhere, a giant tentacle would come out of freakin' nowhere (how can that be you ask? You're on a ship! I know, but hey, that's what makes it scary) and grabs you, threatening to take you away. At that moment the tentacle comes out to get you, that excellent music plays, making you really jump.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay, like a lot of other games, is a very important part of the game. I felt like that Dead Space didn't disappoint. Although the camera is constantly behind Issac (unless you move it around him) the way Issac controls feels good. I loved how it feels to swing your weapon, and curb stomp your enemy's bodies into bits. The grunting sounds he makes really makes it satisfying.
The way you can handle your weapons is nice as well. Each weapon has a main mode, and a secondary mode. Each of these modes does something a little different. Issac's main weapon, the plasma cutter, has the ability to be rotated 90 degrees for an optimal angle for more effective dismemberment of the Necromorphes.
IN THE END
I felt that when I played Dead Space for the first time, I was satisfied at the end of my game session. I love being able to play a game like Dead Space at night, in the dark, with the volume up on the big speaker system. It's fun to play that way. It makes you jump. It could even make you scream like a girl when this disgusting alien creatures jump out of a vent and run towards you in the attempt to get a hold of you and steal your life from you as it would steal a bit of candy from a child. I figure that you should give this game a shot if you enjoy scaring yourself silly, or at least having a good scare while you're playing. It's all good fun. It's why we like watching horror movies right? To either get a gross out or scare ourselves half to death.
FINAL SCORE - 8.5/10
Sound like a really good game,
ReplyDeleteeven though it might scare some of the people.
You reviewed it very well!