The survival-horror genre has been lacking as of late ever since Resident Evil and Silent Hill have lost the 'scare' appeal that they had in the past. Enter Electronic Arts with their first attempt into an almost forgotten gaming genre. And quite frankly, the developers of Dead Space literally struck gold cause this is one of the immersive gaming experiences in recent memory.
You play the role of Isaac Clarke, a CEC Engineer, partnered alongside a group summoned to uncover the reasons behind the oldest and most successful planet mining colony The USG Ishimura as to why it suddenly lost all contact whilst on a typical mining expedition. In actuality, Isaac is only there to find out if his girlfriend is okay onboard. But what they uncover may be the very last thing that they see.
As with any survival-horror, you are isolated from everyone and must find a way to escape The USG Ishimura alive while uncovering the mystery as to how a standard planet mining procedure turned one of the most famed mining ships/colonies into a chamber of horror. The gameplay of Dead Space resembles that of a traditional 3rd-person shooter, much like Resident Evil 4. At the beginning of the game Isaac has nothing to defend himself and must evade the monstrosities roaming this massive ship (for a short period of time) before obtaining his first line of defence: the Plasma Cutter (the equivalent to a pistol in Dead Space). Usually in typical shooters, you have to nail your foe right in the face to put him down for the count or stun them to get a quick melee attack in. Not so for this game as headshots are the last thing you want to do here. Instead the method of killing enemies is almost unique in itself, strategically remove the limbs of them. And seeing as how this game mixes up the enemies that you face fairly quickly, a different strategy is always on hand when encountering an enemy.
Meet Isaac's tormentors throughout the whole 16-hour campaign of Dead Space: the Necromorphs. What were once the crew members of the USG Ishimura have now been transformed, literally, into reanimated corpses of various types. A lot of enemies you encounter will bomb rush you upon sight in an attempt to kill you or in regular cases, be smart and try to outmaneuver, flank or stealthy sneak up from behind to get the jump on you. There's the Slashers, reanimated male corpses what (as their name suggests) slash at any living target that you come across and are the most common creature you will face, Spitters which are the female equivalent to the Slashers plus it's difficult to distinguish the difference between the two (until one of them stops and starts staring at you from a distance...hint hint), Guardians which are disgusting mounds of flesh on the walls of the Ishimura that will kill you instantly if you venture too close to it and many more monstrosities you shall meet within the confine of the massive USG Ishimura.
Never fear (well you should), but never fear. As a CEC Engineer, Isaac Clarke is handy with a wide variety of tools and guns to assist him in fighting the Necromorphs. As stated, he starts off with the Plasma Cutter (standard pistol) and in due time will come across Store outlets to purchase ammo, health items, stronger armor to carry more items as well as provide more protection from enemies and other innovative, futuristic weapons. Also a slightly innovative trait to these weapons is 'alternate fire.' Each weapon has a different method of taking out enemies with every press of the 'R2' button, adding more depth and strategy to surviving the onslaught of the USG Ishimura. However, the Necromorphs become more stronger the further you go and require more 'punch' from your arsenal to take them down, especially on the harder difficulties. During the whole journey, Isaac will come across 'power nodes' which are rather rare to come by and easily the most expensive non-weapon item in the entire game. You come across upgrade benches needed to upgrade your weapons to fire more ammo, reload faster, increase the firepower or increase how much damage you can sustain before you die.
Another innovative thing about Dead Space is its unique presentation. In the past, the screen would be filled with various HUDs such as HP, ammo reserves and etc. All of that is replaced with the gameplay. A glowing bar on Isaac's back represents his HP and while aiming your weapons, a number appears in a small window indicating how many shots you can fire in a single clip. Also when accessing the inventory the game continues to run in the background as opposed to it pausing each and every single time. This keeps the game in a frantic pace, leaving Isaac vulnerable to everything around him and must be a last resort if you really need an item of major importance.
Last but not least, the sounds and graphical designs of Dead Space are a feat to behold. The massive amount of blood and gore that roam the halls and floors of the once 'pride of the galaxy' USG Ishimura paints a picture of the massacre that occurred during the ship's last moments when it was fully active before all hell broke loose. Dead bodies roam the hallways as we venture forward, panels of the ships are ripped off the hull, items float in zero-gravity rooms and etc. But the sounds is what puts the scare in scary. As you progress through the ship, the sounds of the Necromorphs moving through the vents can make players nervous as to how alone they truly are and no clue as to when you will be attacked next. Voices of potential survivors clinging to life before their lives are ended in a horrifying way add to the gloomy feel among other things. In the presence of vacuums, the loud thumping of Isaac's feet as he tries to find air to stay alive is a well added boost.
Presentation is usually the key to a game's success, along with gameplay and Dead Space nails them both. Bloody, gory, scary, suspenseful, puts you on the edge of your seat and a downright fun ride with a lot of survival-horror franchises slowly dying. Step aside, Silent Hill and Resident Evil. There's a new king of survival fear and its name is Dead Space. Easily one of the best gaming experiences out there and a recommended buy for the PlayStation 3.