Combine Resident Evil, The Thing, Doom, and a bit of Half Life 2 and you have Dead Space, one of the best horror games.
When I first got this PC game as a Halloween gift I was intrigued, and a little skeptical. Sure it looked to have great graphics, dark atmosphere, and a horror theme, but could it deliver on the promise of a survival horror game that was actually horrifying and not horrible?
After 7+ hours of game play I can say with certainty, it delivers better than any "horror game" this gamer girl's enjoyed in the past 5 years.
Graphics:
Graphically the game is beautifully sickening, providing plenty of gore and horrific atmosphere, from the light refractions off of the enemies slimy bodies and the dull reddish brown of congealed pools of blood and putrescence, to the metallic shine of your weapons and crevices of your EVA suit..
All of it blends well without feeling over done or unrealistic. Lighting is dim and gloomy as to be expected, but not so dark you can't easily see the horrors surrounding you. (and there's a easy to use brightness adjuster for those with darker or brighter than average monitors)
On the highest settings at 1024x768 it ran smooth at 65fps on my NVIDIA 8600 GT PCI-EX, but those with lower end cards may need to tone down the settings for good performance.
Sound:
!/2 of the horror in such games comes from not only the ambience, but the soundtrack itself, both of which Dead Space delivers on perfectly. Enemies squish, hiss, and skitter about with eerie echoes, and the distant hum of malfunctioning machinery only adds to the oppressive and tense atmosphere as you make your way through the levels. The sound track is often dark, subtle and menacing, often only playing dimly at key moments to add to the suspense without becoming over bearing.
The voice acting for this game is top notch, with the emotions of the actors very well conveyed, and the voices fitting wit the appearance of the characters naturally. As the storyline unfolds the acting feels more like that of a 5 star movie than a video game, only adding to the immersion factor.
Interface:
DS takes a extremely minimalist approach to the interface, deeply adding to the atmosphere by making all of the key character info as naturally appearing as possible. (health, ammo etc..)
Your health bar is displayed by a glowing energy line down the back of your characters suit, giving you an easy way to gauge your relative remaining health status at a glance. Ammo count for your weapons is only displayed when you raise the weapon to fire, appearing as a integrated part of the weapon.
Even the menu screens and video uplinks are displayed as if your character is seeing them on a holographic interface, making it all fade into the atmosphere naturally during game play.
The only downside to the interface is saving can only be done at a "save station" which are frequently scattered throughout the game. Although a quick save feature would have been nice for us pc games, when you die there is a convenient "rewind" feature, that automatically restarts you about 20 seconds back from where you just died, giving you an instant "re try" without having to progress all the way back from your last save.
Play Control
Perhaps the most important issue in making such a game either enjoyable or a frustration, especially on a port from the consoles. DS feels a little awkward at first, but after a short time game play comes naturally. The camera position is third person, set behind the right shoulder of the character making it feel a little awkward for the first 10 minutes or so while you get used to it. (There's also the option to remap the controls as you desire if need be)
Unlike most survival horror games, juggling key items in your inventory isn't an issue, as there is a separate area they are stored automatically, leaving your main inventory free for ammo, med kits and other survival necessities.
Movement and shooting feels natural compared to most any other fps game, and anyone who's familiar with the "press and one hold button to aim then another to fire will feel right at home. While there's no jump or crouch buttons, your character does have the ability to do impressive leaps in zero gravity and some basic melee attacks for when enemies are close at hand.
There's also the addition of two handy items you'll acquire during the first couple chapters of game play. (don't worry you can't accidentally overlook them ) The first is a "Stasis Control Device" which slows down time on whatever you cast it at, making enemies move in slow motion, or environmental objects to respond more slowly (such as automated doors)
The second is a "Kinetic control device" similar to Half Life 2's gravity gun, and provides much the same function in this game, allowing you to remotely manipulate heavy objects, and even hurl them at enemies.
On top of all of this are "upgrade benches" allowing you to improve your weapons and armor by spending modules you find throughout your adventures.
Also off Interest is the in game shops, the allow you to buy extra equipment, ammo, health kits etc.. with the money you find scattered through the game, and sell off extra ammo and supplies you don't want.
In addition the store also comes with a free storage safe, you can store extra ammo, health kits, etc.. in to take with you at a later time. (you can access the same storage box it from any store in the game)
Storyline:
I won't say much about it, except to assure you it's suitably horrific and suspenseful, with a definite dark, almost hopeless atmosphere that leaves you scared but too enthralled to see what's going to happen next to stop playing.
Compared to other survival horror games it's easily among the most enjoyable and reminds more as the plot of a hit movie in the way it unfolds then that of a mere game.
I'll conclude with a quick recap of the good, bad, and ugly.
The Good:
-Minimalist natural feeling interface
-Excellent atmosphere and story
-Lengthy Play time through 12 chapters (roughly 4+ hours per chapter on harder difficulties)
-Good play control
-Awesome voice acting and very good graphics
The Bad:
-No save anywhere feature
-Somewhat Linear storyline
-Average replay ability
The Ugly:
-The Monsters (incredibly well detailed and absolutely revolting, perhaps the best eye candy in the game)
Over all if you enjoy Survival Horrors like the Resident Evil series, and horror sci-fi movies like Event Horizon, this game is sure to give you many hours of enjoyment and some good scares.