GameSpy Review of Dead Space

Drawing heavily on a multitude of science-fiction and horror themes, Dead Space might initially seem a bit formulaic, but rest assured that by the end of this roughly 15-hour saga of terror, you'll be left a blubbering mess huddling with your controller slack in your shaking hands. But surely that must be hyperbole...





It is not hyperbole.





Dead Space is an achievement that rivals greats like Half-Life 2 and BioShock. Its nuanced and labyrinthine plot, fully-realized characters and devastating attention to minute graphical details are beyond reproach. There are a few minor quibbles one could unearth (and we will), but these fail to mar what is one of the better-realized gaming experiences to date.





Call me Isaac





Chief among Dead Space's successes is the silent and humble hero that you control. Isaac is similar to Half-Life's Gordon Freeman in his curious ability to elicit empathic responses despite his never uttering a word (The Legend of Zelda's Link is another with such quiet cool). Isaac's not totally without means of expressing himself though, and his cries of pain and anguish when assaulted by the twisted alien necromorphs or wheezing gasps when running low on oxygen serve to punctuate the terror and desperation you share with him on his cursed journey.












There are hundreds of tiny examples like these that acquaint you with Isaac's character over the course of the game and what is amazing about Dead Space is how remarkably relatable Isaac is. This relatability pulls you into caring about him; worrying about him; necessitating whatever it takes to keep him safe and see him through to his goals and objectives. And that's just one character in the game, albeit the most important one.





There are a handful of other major players in Dead Space and each adeptly plays his or her role as sci-fi/horror archetypes. Hammond's gruff military persona puts his mission at top priority, with maintaining the well-being of those serving under him at a close second. Isaac's love interest Nicole practically haunts the poor guy throughout his trials and misadventures. Daniels plays the quintessential support geek, chasing Isaac through the ship's digital systems and unlocking doors to open paths ahead. These characters may begin as typical tropes to be exploited as any sci-fi sidekicks, but Dead Space takes them in directions that you probably won't expect and the richness they add to the plot make this among the best-scripted games in recent memory.















No U-Turn





Videogames aren't just about great stories (although having a good plot certainly helps). Luckily, Dead Space shines brightly in both controls and user interface. Isaac may lumber clumsily along at the game's outset, belabored by cumbersome engineering gear, but this underscores his nature as a non-action hero. Of course, acquiring new equipment upgrades also boosts mobility, so you eventually get serious responsiveness. You just have to work for it.





Isaac's host of cobbled-together weapons and abilities provides more than enough methods for dealing with his widely varying circumstances. What is surprising is that Dead Space doesn't insist on making you kill everything if you'd prefer to simply dash to your objectives... of course, you'd be depriving yourself of the fun of eviscerating some truly horrific monstrosities, but it's nice to know that you can skate past enemies when you really want to.










Augmenting Isaac's trove of energy-projecting blasters, most of which focus on delivering scythes of sizzling plasma, are his ancillary abilities: his stasis field and his telekinetic kinesis module. The stasis module temporarily freezes objects and enemies, slowing them down briefly so that you can slink by or put serious hurt on them. Stasis is mandatory for assaulting some enemies, and highlights a design philosophy rooted in variation.





Meanwhile, the kinesis module can be used in a surprising number of ways and although they may not all be apparent from the very start, you will come to rely on it heavily by the end. Or maybe you won't, because Dead Space gives you the freedom to decide on how you want to approach each encounter. If you're running low on ammo, however, the kinesis module is a life saver thanks to its ability to hurl objects (especially the dismembered claws of slain aliens) at lethal velocity.





Even though Dead Space's core combat mechanic trumpets "strategic dismemberment" as its primary methodology, you don't necessarily have to be a precise surgeon. While blowing off alien limbs definitely pays big dividends in terms of ammunition conservation (enemies go down faster when you take them apart piece by piece), simply blasting away at center mass gets the job done as well. Still, if you really want to see what Dead Space does best, you'll take the time to line up your shots properly and vivisect your foes. The gore factor is immensely gruesome and entertaining.





If you really love seeing things splatter, Isaac's melee attacks are satisfyingly savage. By no means the fastest method of dispatching aliens, melee stomps and swipes provide a feeling of real mass as Isaac grunts and swings his weapon in an exaggerated arc, demonstrating a little extra follow-through because he simply isn't strong enough to stop his swing once he gets it going. One of our favorite ways to conserve precious ammunition is to take the legs of a bipedal alien out and then run up and stomp it... fewer wasted rounds with a little extra gore? Great.













User-Friendly Lasers





It would have been nice to have a 180-degree insta-turn (as in Resident Evil 4), but there is a sense that adding that kind of feature might detract from Dead Space's realism. In a game that so eloquently displays blood globules that float silently through zero-G in undulating spheres, not being able to turn rapidly is a small price to pay for maintaining suspension of disbelief (after all, we can't turn around instantaneously in real life). Besides, you can always use the handy sprint button to put some distance between you and your foes.





It may seem like a small thing, but Dead Space's menu system and user interface are gorgeous. Using a simulated holographic display that emanates from Isaac's breastplate, inventory, video logs and an easy-to-read 3D map all appear to hover just in front of Isaac, hanging luminescent in the air. It's oddly satisfying to pan the camera around and look at the inverted images of Hammond or Daniels as they chatter on about where you have to go next and what you need to do when you get there. When you do this (and you almost certainly will at some point), be sure to notice how the images placed next to the text box in text logs float just above the frame, sticking out a little from the rest of the message... it's this kind of attention to detail that sucks you deeper into the fiction, because the science behind it seems to be working overtime.










The locator is particularly useful and for those of us who can't be bothered to keep a laundry list of tasks in our brains for more than half a second, it's essential. A laser-guided breadcrumb trail of sorts, the locator will plot the fastest way to your next objective with the press of a button, tracing a beam of coherent light and refocusing the camera to follow where it goes. It's very accurate and never fails to point you in the right direction (even when your goal is not exactly clear). It makes us wonder how we ever got along without this type of mechanic before.





Inventory Management





You can cruise through Dead Space without ever upgrading a single weapon, but the rich equipment advancement system is really a joy to use, so you'd really only be cheating yourself. While you start off slowly, gaining only a few of the Power Nodes that serve as upgrade currency, adding more damage and greater ammo capacity to Isaac's arsenal can get addictive. If you want to splurge, you can even buy extra Nodes from vendors scattered around the Ishimura. For those of us that like a little RPG in our action games, this is a dangerously attractive feature that sets Dead Space apart from your average run-n-gunner.





Even if you're not into boosting weapon performance, the automatic vendors make it easy to augment Isaac's space suit. Simply fork over some credits and the vendor will slap additional reinforcement onto your armor, enhancing Isaac's look as well as providing more inventory slots and greater toughness. Dead Space manages to smoothly integrate these largely optional features without taking the focus off of its oppressive atmosphere of terror.





Integrating some nice variety into one game while maintaining its decidedly action-oriented dynamics, Dead Space is appealing across a wide cross-section of gameplay styles. Wrap an engrossing plot that is a veritable warren of intermingling themes around this and you've got a game that is basically a guaranteed experience. Dead Space is a solid realization of several of our favorite gameplay mechanics in a way that we've only seen in blockbusters like BioShock, Half-Life and Resident Evil 4. Its quality is undeniable and we have no reservation in recommending its potent mix of panic-inducing plotline, furious action and deep customization.

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