Dead Space (PS3) Review

EA made a new IP. No, no. Take time to digest that one for a moment. The king of sequels made a new, viable IP that did not involve a license of any kind. Scary huh – but does it work? Like I’m gonna tell you that right away. Oh, you probably spotted the stars huh, damn logic !

So, all mucking about aside, EA have taken a chance on several ideas and titles this past year. Some have been commercially successful (Burnout for one!) and some not so much (BoomBlox I’m looking at you!) but all have been well received critically. So with this we now turn our “Brutal” gaze on Dead Space. Dead Space is at heart a survival horror, pure and simple. What it does do though is take some chances on the defined “norms” of the genre and produced a new and fresh experience. You take the role of engineer Isaac Clarke who, along with his colleagues, is being sent to repair the planet cracker class vessel USG Ishimura. But things don’t go to plan when they reach the stricken ship and after all but 2 of his team get wiped out he is left to battle a polymorphic, virus-like, alien infestation which turns humans into grotesque alien monsters called “Necromorphs”. All this not just to escape from the death ship but to try and locate his love Nicole, a crew member on the ship, who’s haunting message Isaac is watching as the game starts.

Graphically Dead Space is stunning ! No point beating about the bush on this guys and girls, the game looks damn fine. In fact the only thing I could find at real fault was that some of the shadowing was pixelated and blocky as times. That’s not the MAIN shadows mind you, these are the shadows of maybe an external aerial caught in the light of a sun and then cast across the interior of the ship – there is THAT much detail in this game. Character models are solid and weighty and just feel so right. The necromorph’s are suitably twisted and grotesque and scare the shat out of you at any given opportunity. Environments are richly detailed and littered with incidental objects that let you believe in the game space. For example you will find debris, posters, desk objects etc. They have spent a very long time making sure you believe in this game space before even moving around in it. There are special effects a plenty and blood goops and sprays all around when your in the thick of the action. Certain sequences of the game involve you undertaking tasks in zero gravity. When you lay waste to a creature in these environments even the blood obeys the rules and hangs in the air and slowly gloops around the place. As you would imagine in a survival horror the lighting has been set to “Silent Hill Dark” and it is then punctured by shafts of light, light from your torch or if you get close to an object the soft blue glow from Issac’s helmet lights it up. There really are too many neat graphical touches to mention.

So all glitter does not make a good game to plat right? Right! Luckily Dead Space has this covered as well. Where as the game is not perfect it is still an absolute blast to play. The faults leveled at it are indicative on the genre more than anything and I will get them out of the way first because they are trivial. Inventory management is tedious! Full stop. On any game having a inventory limited by your “bag” or in this case, suit, is bloody annoying. It’s a minor gripe but there you go Also, having to retread the same ground over and over gets old too. Dead Space deals with this in a good way, you find that doors are open that had been locked and you visit different areas of the same “level”. This said it still feels like a bit of a cheat. The shooting dynamics of the game are very well handled, you feel in full control at all times unlike other genre stable mates Resident Evil and Silent Hill. The weapons in the are not that great, but what you do have are very satisfying. You get to purchase (or in the case of the Plasma Cutter find) weapons at the in game stores after unlocking them by finding a schematic. This is the same for ammo and other items in the game. The weapons available to you are varied mining tools plus a triple barreled assault rifle. Each item feels and looks the part and the force in the animation and sound leaves a large grin on your face, especially with the Plasma Cutter and Line Gun. Each item in the game can be enhanced by using Power Nodes. You go to a upgrade “Bench” and you can spend your power nodes on what ever attribute you fancy – it works in the same way as upgrading weapons in Ratchet and Clank. I personally beefed up my suits (again you can find schematics for better suits around the ship and these increase your hit points, storage space and air level), the Plasma Cutter, Assault Rifle and Line Gun. You steadily make your way around the ship desperately trying to link up with your 2 surviving team members and looking for a way out of the ship. Each time and turn a new twist is revealed and, although fairly contrived at times, these keep the pace and plot moving along nicely.

As mentioned before you come across areas where zero gravity has been employed (the ship can manufacturer artificial pockets) and these can be great fun leaping about. They can also leave you feeling slightly disorientated and looking for the exit. I did have one of my best moment in the game in one of these areas though. A necromorph launched it’s self at me and I spotted it hurtling along. I popped a couple of rounds in it’s body with the Line Gun and bloody dolloped out in thick drops and both it and the blood drops continued flying along and over my head – it looked and felt awesome ! Pockets of the ship have been breached and as such there is no air. Your suit is equipped with a small supply of oxygen which you can replenish with cans of air that you find or buy. Also, the better your suit the longer your air supply. These sections of the game add real tension and help change up the pace nicely.

Now for some of the best bits. The game has not HUD. None at all. EA played this up a fair amount and I was like, “meh”. until I got my hands on it and suddenly appreciated the actual design work that must of gone in to removing the HUD and still giving you all the info you need. The “life” is a glowing strip on your characters back, as you take hits the line slowly goes down and as you use health it goes back up. Each weapon has a small projected display on it that shows you the number of rounds you have left before reload and, much like Bioshock (whose influence can clearly be seen on this game) you pick up Audio logs (and video ones too) that don’t pull you out of the game at all, the just run in projected screen infront of your character. Infact your inventory, maps etc all work this way and leave you free to move whilst checking things out. The other trick in Dead Spaces employ is that headshots count for nothing. Most games headshot = instant kill. in this game headshot = made things worse. You need to take the enemies limbs off to stop them in Dead Space – they call it strategic dismemberment. Head shots just make them go crazy. You can take down an enemy with several shots center mass but it uses way more ammo than removing the limbs. The dynamic works well as taking the legs off several rushing enemies gives you time to go back and pick them off. Be quick though as they will continue to drag themselves towards you

Sound wise the game is flawless! If you don’t have 5.1 surround – Get it! Sorry to be so pushy, but get it. This game uses the full Dolby 5.1 surround experience to produce a game soundtrack that is more impressive than the already great visuals. In this game, more than any other I can think off, the sound not only contributes to the overall experience but it really helps define it. There are suitable squeaks and groins from the life less ship. The sound of Necromorphs ripping apart the remaining crew member in the distance. Screams from behind walls you just can’t find a door to and when you do it’s just too late. You creep along the corridor, flash light glinting on the slimy walls then suddenly there is a crack behind you and an enemy streaks towards you from a vent jaws gaping and claws tearing at your suit. You pump a shot into it to push it away then take off it’s legs, walk to it and then stomp on it’s head until it dies. So, so sweet. I especially liked one section when you where creeping around the ship whilst someone sings a ghostly hollow version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star… pant wettingly good.

There is no multiplayer component to the game but you have varying difficulties and the chance to use the better suits that are unlocked each time you complete the game – not to mention this game has Trophy support too many have complained the game is relatively short but at around 12 hours I got my moneys worth for sure and was ready for it to end. Don’t get me wrong I really enjoyed my time in the Dead Space universe and I am looking forward to the sequel – it was just time for this story to end.

I really can not recommend this game highly enough. The fact that you can grab it for around £25 – £30 ($50) is a real steal. If your a shooter fan then this ticks all the boxes. If your a survival horror fan then this destroys all the boxes and adds new ones of it’s own! Sure the enemies repeat but then what games doesn’t do this!? And I would hazard the opinion that the game is a bit on the easy side for most and at times it gives you little idea of what next (even with an innovative way-point system) but overall this is a solid step in a new IP for EA and one that I will be eager for the sequel of – although that just fuels EA’s sequel culture, but hey.

So, to sum up: Survival horror is finally updated with a much needed shot to the arm (or knees – both work!)

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