Starts off amazingly, but gradually loses its appeal.
The plot is nothing unique to this genre of games. But that doesn't mean it's bad, in fact, several twists maintain it interesting for the whole duration of the game. We are in an undefined age in the future, and you are Isaac Clarke, professional engineer. One of the best mining ships of the C.E.C. has suddenly lost radio contact with the operative base, and you are dispatched to solve the problem. This mining ship is called the USG Ishimura and our hero of the situation has also a personal interest in this trip. In fact, he received a mysterious message from none other than Nicole Brennan, officer. Eager to clear things out and repair whatever's broken, Isaac and a small crew finally begin their trip. Just when you arrive, you simply know something really horrible is going on. Soon after the beginning of the game, you are separated from your team, and left alone with your radio as only communication. The plot twists as you uncover the terrible secrets of the USG Ishimura, but your main concern will always be the same: to survive.
But now, let's not reveal anything more and start talking about the game...
...With eye candies. Because sci-fi games are known to have lots of them. And in fact, the game looks excellent for a console port, and the developers played around with lights and shadows until they obtained an almost flawless effect. There are also several huge rooms that would probably leave most of the players speechless the first time they see them. But this is not what strikes you most once you start playing through the first chapter. In fact, you'll probably be too busy shivering.
And so I was really happy. Finally, a game that manages to actually creep me after years and years. But alas, I was wrong. On the second chapter, it already started feeling different, and the tension I felt moments before began vanishing.
What this game does, in fact, is to anesthetize the player over time so that he, or she, slowly doesn't care anymore about sudden shocks and gruesome apparitions. After some time, you begin gaining deadly weapons and you figure out that there's just going to be a damned monster behind that spooky corner over there.
And in fact, there turns out to be one! That's what's wrong. The game gets predictable, it fails at surprising you, and that's just where it fails as a horror game. And that's also where it becomes something more similar to Resident Evil rather than a more psychological Silent Hill.
Additionally, the controls and overall gameplay suffer from being directly ported from the console. If you don't have a gamepad, you're bound to feel the despair of not being able to switch your weapon because of the awkward selection system (You cannot scroll through your equipped weapons with your wheel, you're bound to choose them by tapping its hotkey), and end up getting hit more than you would've if the controls were at least decent. Close-range combat, merely based on stomping and punching, is absolutely useless from the very beginning of the game as it's very slow and as a result often misses the target or fails because in the meantime your enemy got a grip on you.
But I don't want to sound too harsh, because this game luckily doesn't rely on the "scare" factor too much, and it has other ways to entertain the player if you can overlook the controls. Puzzles, for example, while not being mind-twisting, are bound to keep you intrigued for some time and give you a relief from the usual mutant-shooting. The environment itself, while not being so diverse - as the whole game takes place inside the Ishimura spaceship - manages not to be repetitive, and the developers deserve a credit for that.
Still, most of the game will have you fighting disturbing beings, almost incessantly, and the plot remains pretty much linear all the time. You will be given missions and even have a "mission" tab, but the player has barely any freedom other than keeping to move forward. And when you cannot move forward, it's most likely because you have to backtrack and discover that a new door was opened.
The other features that I did not mention are the ones that any survival horror worth its name should have, but do not add anything new to the genre. We're talking about an inventory that's always too small for your needs, and that at the same time is always too empty and lacking of ammo and medpacks, occasional shops where you can deposit your items, buy and sell, and an equipment upgrading system. Also, once finished, the game rewards you with some very special gear that can be used in a fresh new game.
So, if you're interested in the genre, buy it immediately. Especially if you're a Resident Evil fan. If, though, you're looking for an obscure, subtle horror game that will keep you creeped from the start till the end, then know that this is not what you're looking for.
My very personal and subjective opinion is that this game has got everything in order to be a perfect Survival Horror masterpiece, if it wasn't for the fact that it lacks of the horror factor. And that's one big, major flaw. Thus the 7.5.
I'm sincerely looking forward to Dead Space 2 with my fingers crossed. Thanks for reading.