In Dead Space no one can hear Isaac Scream.
You play the role of Isaac Clarke, a space engineer that is accompanied by 2 other people: Kendra & Hammond(Interesting Note:this character is interpreted by the Persian from the movie 300 that was kicked in the bottomless pit by King Leonidas; -Madness? -This, is, Dead Space!) on a space shuttle sent to investigate a giant mining-ship called The Nostro...called the USM Auriga...i meant the USG Ishimura that emitted emergency distress signals.The shuttle crash lands on the docking bay of Ishimura & soon the crew discovers that everybody on the space-ship is missing.Then they encounter hostile forces(after which Isaac gets separated from Kendra & Hammond) namely some creatures called Xeno...Necromorphs which turn out to be non other but the crew members of the Ishimura which have been infested,transformed, mutated into these horrible creatures.During the game, Isaac encounters human survivors, all of them showing forms of dementia, namely 2 doctors:a evil one(Dr. Mercer) & a good one(Dr. Kyne).They play a huge role in the story of the game.During the 2nd half of the game our hero discovers a strange artifact called The Red Marker, that looks like a spiral shaped crystal & seems to be the source that "animates" these Alien creatures.Near the end of the game he will retrieve this artifact to the planet LV-426...i meant to the planet Aegis VII where originates from.There will be some unpleasant surprises & of course a Final Epic Battle followed by the cliche sequences:escape with the shuttle & watch the planet explode etc...& of course the game is not without it's plot twists...On the Ishimura, Isaac surprisingly sees his girlfriend Nicole which works on board, another "key person" while the game unfolds.
That's the story of the game in "short lines".
Dead Space has graphics similar with the ones found in Metroid Prime from 2002, i don't know what to say if this is a good thing or a bad thing but anyway they aren't needed here so much because the game is mainly a dark corridor shooter, there are only a few illuminated open Areas that "require'' top of the line Graphics.
There is a total of 12 Chapters & the game itself is named after the last one, the only Chapter that takes place entirely outside the Ishimura.
Inside the Ishimura, there some sort of a Hub World, interconnected by a Tram System.You begin & end each Chapter of the Game in the Tramcar that connects the Areas of the Game.My Favourite Area is Hydroponics, one of the longest Chapters of the Game, because it inevitably reminds me of System Shock 2 where we have a similar area.Here, your mission is to eliminate the source that pollutes the air.At the end of the exhausting Chapter you also get a Giant Sized Boss Fight.
You are guided to the next mission objective via the Locator, which is a Blue Line showing you the exact path.
The scale of the Game is quite Epic sometimes.Another Chapter that stands out is "Obliteration Iminent" where you get to pilot a Gun Turret in order to pulverise the Space debris that might Destroy the Ship.In those moments you basically have a "Game within Game" which makes it very Entertaining.There are also some sections in the Game where you outside the Ship, you're in Zero Gravity & your Air Meter is Decreasing while you're being under attack by Necromorphs which makes the game even more exciting that blasting some Space Debris.
Isaac Clark wears a Suit called the R.I.G. which can be upgraded at the many Store Stations you Encounter in the Game.You purchase items with "Credits".These Stores, when you Acces them, they show you 3 Sections:1 where to Buy Items, the second where you see the Items in your Inventory & the third one which is a Safe where you deposit items that have no more room/space in your Inventory.Throughout the game you find Valuable Objects like Gold/Ruby/Diamond Semiconductors that can be sold for a lot of credits.Other Stations you encounter are "Bench" Stations where you upgrade your Weapons/RIG/Statis/Kinesis Modules etc via "NODs", the equivalent of credits.Some rooms/chambers in the game require you to spend a NOD in order to acces that room.Usualy these rooms are full of "goodies".Other rooms can be unlocked by short-circuiting the side panel with your weapon.& other rooms can be accessed by plugin a Power Cell in to the receptacle. The third type of Stations are "Save Stations" where you save the progress of your game.After you finish the game once, you receive a lot of Bonus Stuff & you can overwrite your Final Progress to Begin a New Round with what you've Achieved untill that Point, just like in Resident Evil 4.
Isaac's R.I.G. gets upgrades with a lot of elements like the Statis & Kinesis Module.The first one generates an electric pulse that slows down enemies & even malfunctioned doors.It depletes so you have to recharge it at the Stasis Stations you encounter of the corridors of the Ishimura.The Kinesis Module is infinite, it cannot be depleted you can use it as many times as you want; it helps you to grab/throw objects that stand in your way or grab some ammo that cannot be reached or is too far from you.Much like the Psyonic abillities from SS2 & the Plasmids from Bioshock.This game is more similar with SS2 because they both take place in the future on a space ship unlike Bioshock which has a Retro-Feel to it & takes place underwater.The same type of strange Writings & Markings on the walls from these 2 games is also present here in Dead Space.
Another module that Isaac has is the Air Module, that must be replenished from the Oxygen Stations.You need Oxygen when you enter Vacuum Areas.All these modules can be upgraded at the Bench Stations.
The game has no in-game HUD, everything that you need to know is transmited via holograms from your R.I.G., namely the mission objectives, Text/Video Logs your receive from Kendra & Hammond throughout the game & other people.This is obviously a console port because there many keys to be pressed in the game:one to bring up the Inventory, one for Mission Objectives, Quick Use of the Medipacks, Aiming, Stomp the Enemies etc
Another cool aspect about Isaac's R.I.G., besides the holograms, is the Health Bar which is located on your back & it resembles your spine, it's colored Blue & it drains when you receive damage.
There are some cool weapons in the game, like "Ellen Ripley's" Flamethrower & Pulse Rifle.Other cool weapons include the Cutter, the Force Gun, the Line Gun & some others.It has an OK variety, not too many to choose from but not too few also.You have only 4 Slots for Weapons in your Inventory & it's always good to have the Pulse Rifle among these 4 because it's the most reliable weapon of the game.The melee attacks are good only when you run out of ammo.It takes more time to kill an enemy this way.
The parts i hate the most in this game are when you Enter the Zero-Gravity Areas where you are forced to jump through the air from point A to point B, it's tedious.To do this kind of jumps, first you must aim your weapon & then press a certain key, in those moments the camera becomes chaotic & hard to handle even after you land.
The gameplay is not so good.First of all, you have the type of Tank Controls from RE4 but fortunatelly now you can finally shoot while moving.Isaac is somehow misplaced on the screen, he's centered in the left part of the screen while moving & running it feels out of place but i managed to adapt myself to these not so good controls after playing the first 2-3 chapters.During the first playthrough i had a hard time with Dead Space because i was new to the game & my weapons & RIG were barely upgraded but during the second playtrough when i had everything Maxed out & i already knew where to go & what to do it was literally a Walk in the Park.I played on the Medium Difficulty where there are numerous sections when Necromorphs just keep coming & they don't even seem to stop, wave after wave & during those moments, the Mother/Computer of the Ship declares Quarantine & locks all the doors & basically there's no way out untill you kill them after which the Computer lifts the quarantine & unlocks the doors...
The best & most obvious musical part of the game is when the song Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star can be heard in elevators & other areas, otherwise there's really nothing else to remember.
These Necromorphs look & sound really scary & some of them resemble enemies from RE4 like the Brute for example, which is obviosuly a clone after the El Gigantor.You have to shoot them in the back once they become a 'nutshell" in order to kill them.Another obvious rip-off is the Hunter, the creation of Dr. Mercedes...i mean Dr. Mercer.They resemble the Regenerators from Resident Evil 4.You shoot to death but after a while they regenerate themselves, the only solution is to cut off their limbs to buy some time & then slow them down with the Statis Module after that run to safety & find a way to anihilate them.You have to leave these Necromorphs limbless, make them Rayman's brothers, systers & cousins lol.
Dead Space has great replayability.Once you finish the game, you immediately feel the need to play it again & maybe for the third time too.After all, those RPG elements is what makes this game so enduring.Dead Space completely lacks originality but this type of game, Third-Person Shooter coupled with RPG elements & Sci-Fi/Horror, i feel it defines Modern Gaming, how a Standard Modern Game should really be like.
The most obvious Ripp-off in the game is the Shooting-Gallery located at Chapter 9-it's basically a "Modern" version of the one found in RE4.
Dead Space has a cliffhanger ending...& the sequel needs to be played in order to know the rest of the story.