As bad as EA usually is, they're the first ones to give video games it's very own taste of what Aliens did for movies.
Strategic dismemberment is buzzword that was tossed around a bunch in previews and when I actually played the game I don't think I could have came up with a better word to describe combat and the main means of survival. The weapons in Dead Space aren't meant to simply impact a character's body and cause massive internal trauma, if that were the case then there would be no survivors in this game. Thankfully most of the weapons are mining tools used to sheer rock and uncover ore and they double as perfect weapons to slice off arms, tentacles and legs. Using this dismemberment system is the best way to slow down these creatures and ultimately kill them.
But if it was just cutting arms, heads and legs off creatures throughout the whole game Dead Space wouldn't be that interesting so throughout the game is a continuous evolution of this alien species ranging from simple cannon fodder mutants to mutated infants to faster then hell mutated space marines. There are many more surprises that constantly keep the game challenging and engaging.
I played the first time through on hard with just a Plasma Cutter which is just a fancy name for a pistol like device but on the second play through I tried out all the weapons and can easily say that each one feels different and has its pros and cons. A slow crawling enemy is easy prey for a flamethrower but use that on a mutated marine and you'll be introduced to the loading screen. Each of these weapons can be upgraded throughout the game making them more powerful and balanced in the end. That's the main reason I was able to survive the game with just the initial weapon.
The main protection in the game comes from an equally upgradeable suit and a couple of neat devices. The suit is multifunctional in this game providing armor, a display for live and oxygen levels, a base for the characters stasis and kinetic beams, storage and also and log interface. This pretty much boils down to one of the best HUDs I've seen in a game as everything is located on the character's back except for ammo amounts.
There's a store or two conveniently located on almost every floor and this is where schematics and credits are turned into useful items, trade and inventory management occurs. It's makes these places almost as precious as save points, although there are many save points located in each level. These shops are important to stock up on items and hold other items over for a rainy day or purchasing new weapons and ammo.
One thing I didn't find too survival horrorish is that there was really never a shortage of money in this game which translates to there never being a shortage of ammo or health packs. Sure there were times where I was unprepared for a run in with some enemies that ended up in a quick death, or a few times I didn't check how much ammo I had left but most of those times could be easily prevented by finding a store.
Graphically the game is beautiful or horrible in positive ways. A lot of time went into designing the ship and it's truly a wonderful local that only feels repetitive during certain parts of the game. Each section has a different look and there's overall a cohesive flow visually throughout the whole game. However Murphy's Law is the theme of this game and often means that the same corridors will be traveled on two or three times before the game is over.
That's the main problem with the game. No matter what your character does, it ultimately fails do succeed in anyway throughout the game until the very end. Thankfully the main character is such a good sport because if I were that guy risking my life over and over for failed attempts it would be strategic self decapitation for me.
Keeping along with the graphics theme and also tying into the physics and sound theme would have to be the zero gravity, vacuum of space portions of the game. They are literally amazing in everyway visually and aurally. Dismember a foe in zero g and watch as the limbs float gracefully across the screen while copious amounts of the red stuff beads up and trickles out into the air. Walk around in a vacuum and hear the character's heartbeat and breathing take the foreground while gunshots and creature screams are muffled in space.
The gameplay isn't all about shooting things because occasionally there are parts that have small puzzles where the suit's stasis and kinetic abilities come into play. Stasis lets the character slow down foes or fast moving objects such as doors or mechanical arms to make them easier to manipulate. Kinetic lets him move things far too heave for him to move naturally or things that are simply out of his reach. Rarely do these puzzles involve backtracking even though there's a fair share of backtracking in the second half of the game.
All of these weapons and abilities equip Isaac to handle any of the regular creatures and the few bosses that pop up now and then with a little bit of trial and error. It's a survival horror game so there's going to be personal death every now and then.
Story progresses through audio tapes, text tapes and contact with your fellow crew members that survived the crash shuttle the main character was in. The rest of the game is spent trying to find out what happened to the ship and ultimately get off the rotting thing. However, like all plots, greedy people make it difficult. The animated movie is a great tie in and complements the game pretty well.
I really enjoyed the game and can't say too many bad things about it. I have to give praise to EA for taking such a chance with a game that hadn't been established yet. I hope it pays off for them in the run. As bad as EA usually is, they're the first ones to give video games it's very own taste of what Aliens did for movies.