Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Immersive"

In the world of gaming, the heroes and heroins that fight off blood thirsty aliens hell-bent on destroying man-kind, are quite the humble and calm characters. Samus Aran of "Metroid", Gordon Freeman of "Half-Life", and that dude from "Doom 3". Add Isaac Clarke to that list. Isaac, an engineer, and a few other people are off to a space station to make some repairs. Don't they know that they won't even be able to land safely, but instead crash land, and find themselves stranded on the ship only to find that nearly all of the humans on the ship have somehow morphed into monsters? Isaac and two of his buddies, Kendra, and Zach, are the only survivors from the ship. With so few people and so many enemies on a ship, you just know this will be a thrilling, haunting experience.

"Dead Space" plays a lot like a third person "Doom". Except more smart and cool. There are plenty of disfigured, ugly monsters of all sorts of shapes, sizes, powers, strengths, and weaknesses, called Necromorphs. The best way to kill a Necromorph is to take the limbs off first, and go for the head. Being unfaithful to this strategy will cost you. At first the limb thing may feel tedious, but you realize how it adds to the game's challenge, and uniqueness in shooter combat. Isaac's sole weapon at the start of the game is the Plasma Cutter. A simple beam gun with three tiny reticles. Later in the game you will be able to purchase other weapons such as a machine gun, flamethrower, and other powerful beam weapons too.

The weapons can be upgraded through a machine that looks like a copy machine, called a "bench". Weapons can be upgraded with nodes, which are thick circular tokens which are quite rare in the game. Money for weapons can be acquired by defeating enemies or selling items at the digital stores, which are spread throughout the game. Isaac also acquires a power called "stasis". Stasis comes in two forms; slowing time, and gravity. The stasis which slows time can slow enemies and other items and things in the environment necessary for survival and completing the mission. The gravity stasis is an exact of the gravity gun in "Half-Life 2". And is used in similar ways, for the best.

"Dead Space" brings to the table, a good mixture of survival-horror, action, and strategy. Pressing in on the right analog stick will make Isaac face his palm towards the ground, and create a blue beam of light which directs him on where to go next. This assures that the game's fast pace always keeps a steady rhythm. There are a good share of clever puzzles and slow-paced survival scenarios which require some light thinking, great timing, and skill. In many cases, the environment around you will become a vital part to your survival.

Some areas in the game have zero gravity, where you can jump from ceiling to wall to floor. Sometimes you find yourself in a vacuum in which you have one minute to get out before Isaac loses oxygen. In vacuums and zero gravity areas, as the game progresses, enemies, puzzles, and other obstacles come into play, making for a more tense and satisfying challenge. "Dead Space's" story didn't interest me much in particular, but it is very well represented and plotted. You may personally love it. "Dead Space" thrives in so many other ways however. The controls, visuals, and sound are all top-notch. In fact, it's easily one of the most beautiful games ever created. And the haunting sound effects are crystal clear and is part of what makes "Dead Space" such a chilling experience. You will probably jump out of freight a few times, but also find yourself in heavy combat, at times, begging the game to give you a break. This is one of the most gory and disturbing games of all time. One with enemies and experiences you will not soon forget. The game maintains a good steady pace, and rarely gets repetitive. The game's blend of problem solving, conserving weapons and energy, emphasis on survival, and solid story-telling keep it on a fresh course for the entire single-player experience. The single-player is a little on the short side, but a fan of the game will want to play through it more than once. Bottomline: I recommend this game as a buy. Third person shooter fans and fans of thrills and chills will not want to pass this one up.