If one wants to experience true horror action, Dead Space has you covered.
In the game you play as Issac Clark, an engineer who, along with his teammates, is responding to a distress signal sent from the deep space mining vessel the USG Ishimura. Upon arrival, you immediately realize that something terrible has happened. You are immediately sepertated from your crew mates and are surrounded by horrifying mutants called Necromorphs, which were originally the crew of the Ishimura. You'll have to use every ounce of courage and knowledge you have to make it off the ship alive. The story itself is rather compelling and certainly keeps you on edge up to the intense climax.
The game is set as an over-the-shoulder 3rd person shooter much like RE4, but it presents itself with key differences. The game doesn't have any displays scattered around the screen like a traditional shooter. Your health is integrated into the spine if Issac's suit and your ammo count is found on the gun itself. The menu screen is also brought up in real time, adding a new level of tension knowing that something can attack you at any moment. Even story elements are done in real time, usually from a holographic projector popping up.
However, the combat in Dead Space helps to truly differentiate itself from other shooters. Rather than relying on the classic headshot, you'll need to dismember the Necromorphs in order to kill them, which makes the average gameplay more challenging. Issac, being an engineer, will gain use from a variety of mining tools ranging from plasma cutters, to buzz saws, to flamethrowers, etc. You can even use stasis to pick up and throw things and even slow down enemies for easier kills. It's a good thing that the controls remain spot on to help you pull of this off easily.
With the variety of weapons come the variety of gruesome enemies that require different tactics for you to dispose of them. As you kill enemies that will drop credits that you can use to purchase items, like new weapons or nodes to upgrade your suit and weaponry, and the occasional health pack. They also have many ways of catching you off your guard. Often enemies will appear to be dead, ready to strike when you manage to come near. Or perhaps one will appear from an air vent from above. Even more terrifying, they will sneak up from behind. Very rarely are you safe, so you will end up being on edge from beginning to end. Unfortunately you don't really have a variety of missions to pull off. Most of the game consists of going from point A to point B. Thankfully this is but a minor gripe that doesn't detract from the overall fun you will have.
The visuals are simply gorgeous. Dead Space displays a fantastic use of lighting and no detail is left un-spared for the eerie environments and gruesome character models. Even better than the visuals is the game's brilliant use of sound. Bone-chilling music, groans echoing through hallways, banging metal giving you a false sense of emergency, and the disturbing call of Necromorphs; these help to completely engross you in this horrific adventure. It also helps that the voice acting during story sequences is solid.
To sum things up:
PROS:
-Fantastic visuals
-Brilliant sound design
-Strategic dismemberment is a great new mechanic
-Great variety of weapons and enemies
-Real time menu selection cause you to make much hastier decisions knowing you can get attacked at any time, which builds up the suspense
-Controls are spot on
-Scares the hell out of you
-Great story
CONS:
-A lot of missions are simply Point A to Point B
If one is looking for a true horror action experience, than Dead Space offers more than enough.