The survival horror genre has been
fairly slow as of late. While established franchises like Silent Hill and
Resident Evil are still churning out titles and delivering scares to horror
fans, it’s been a while since something new has hit the fray. EA is looking to
change that with Dead Space, their new survival horror IP. Dead Space combines
some of the best elements of sci-fi and horror, making for a compelling and
frightening experience.
Dead Space borrows many elements
from other horror action games, most notably Resident Evil 4 and Doom 3. The
controls are easy to grasp, feeling a lot like RE4 in terms of over-the-shoulder
shooting mechanics. However, while the game does borrow a lot of elements from
related titles, it does offer some great new additions to the formula, making it
a solid and creepy survival-horror game that fans of the genre will definitely
want to look into.
In Dead Space you play as Isaac, an
engineer whose imposing appearance looks a cross between the Space Marine from Doom and a
Big Daddy from BioShock. Isaac and two other crewmen become trapped
on board of a ship that has become overrun by a disturbing alien species called Necromorphs. Through audio and video logs, you’ll be able to piece together what
happened to the crew and the ship as well as how the Necromorphs invaded.
One interesting element in Dead
Space is the lack of a proper HUD. Instead of having Isaac’s health, ammo, etc.
prominently displayed on the screen, there are indicators within the game that
let you know how much ammo or health Isaac has. For example, Isaac’s health
indicator is a light blue strip that runs up his spine, and his ammo counter is
an LED that appears on each weapon. While this can feel a bit gimmicky,
especially considering that your inventory and map screen will also pop-up on
the screen in holograph form when they could have just as well been their own
pause screen, it still mostly works well.
Another cool element of the gameplay
is the dismemberment system. In order to defeat Necromorphs, you have to use
your weaponry in order to knock off limbs and appendages from them. Depending on
the enemy type, you’ll have to either knock off a certain kind and amount of
limbs, be they arms, legs, tentacles, and so on. While you can take them out by
shooting them enough times, you’ll just end up wasting ammo. Dismembering your
enemies becomes an important way to strategically take them out, and is a nice
mechanic.
Your weaponry is pretty diverse.
You’ll be able to hold four different weapon types at a time, and they range
from functional tools like Plasma Cutters and Flamethowers, as well as Rail Guns
and Pulse Rifles and more that you can discover as you go. Aside from weapons,
you’ll also have special abilities that you can perform to defeat enemies or get
from one place to another, stasis and kinesis. Stasis will allow you to slow
down an object or enemy in order to get past them or take them out; while
kinesis lets you pick up objects in the environment in order to clear a path.
You’ll also be able to upgrade your
weapons, abilities, and RIG suit through the use of upgrade benches. These can
be found throughout the space station, and allow you to add improved stats to
your equipment by using nodes that can be found in the environment. You’ll be
able to add ammo capacity, damage ability, and so on to your weapons, while
adding oxygen capacity and increase hit points.
Unfortunately, while the game does
offer some great elements to the survival horror genre, there are some problems,
the biggest of which occur due to the linear nature of the game. The game is
divided into levels, each with their own centralized hub with a store for buying
new items and sections of the stage branching off from there. You’ll explore all
that each level has to offer before you move onto the next area. The game should
take most gamers a little over ten hours to complete, and aside from higher
difficulty levels, there is little to entice you to return for a second
playthrough.
Graphically, the game looks
fantastic. The art direction, featuring a mix of derelict sci-fi and Clive
Barker-esque gore, is pretty chilling, and the environments are very detailed
and well-rendered, and the character models look excellent. All in all, Dead
Space is a great-looking game.
The sound effects are also great,
with ambient noise adding a pretty intense mood to the game, making the game
even more terrifying.
Dead Space is a great addition to
the survival horror genre, taking some of its best elements and adding some
great new ones. While the linear nature puts a damper on the game’s replay
value, the game is definitely worth a look for horror fans on the lookout for
something scary this Halloween.
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Gameplay: 8.5
Even though the game can be repetitious and linear, the storyline and sense
of atmosphere is great, and the dismemberment system is a great feature.
Graphics: 9.0
With fantastic art direction and some fantastically detailed environments
and character models, Dead Space is a great-looking game.
Sound: 8.5
The sound effects lend a frightening ambience to the game, and can create
some really terrifying moments.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 8.5
Dead Space wears its influences on its sleeve, but also adds some great new
elements to the survival horror genre.
Overall: 8.5
Dead Space is a fairly linear affair that will take most gamers a little
over ten hours to complete. However, it is one hell of a ride.
