Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

I have always found space a haunting setting, not only for its seemingly endless boundaries but also for its emptiness and silence. Electronic Arts seems to share the same feelings as is evident in their new survival-horror game "Dead Space". Apart from "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill" this genre has fallen off the face of the planet, thanks to dozens of terrible titles over the past decade. Yet with "Dead Space", EA shows that there is still plenty of life in this style of games, and plenty of hairs still to be raised.

You play as Isaac, an engineer who has been dispatched to an enormous colony-like mining ship called the "Ishimura" that has recently gone dark. Apart his duties he is also searching for a woman named Nicole who had sent him a cryptic message. Of course as soon as the team arrives it's obvious something is very wrong. Everyone aboard the Ishimura is dead or insane and hideous creatures are running rampant in the shadows. What has happened to the ship? Who is the woman in the messages and what is her link to Isaac? Well that's all part of the mystery that immediately grabs you from the opening scene. Though the premise is admittedly well worn territory and its creatures aren't particularly scary, it's far more successful in creating a slow-burn sensation and unsettling atmosphere. Around the three hour mark when you begin to see that something more is at play than just simple monsters is when things really begin to compel you down the Ishimura's darkened corridors.

"Dead Space" draws most of its inspiration from "Resident Evil 4". The game takes place over Isaac's shoulder and he can utilize an arsenal of weapons against swarms of monsters. What you'll immediately notice about "Dead Space" is there is no HUD throughout the entire game. No map in the corner, no weapon/ammunition window, nothing. Everything you need to know is cleverly displayed on Isaac's bodysuit. The tube on his spine represents his life gauge and when he readying a weapon the amount of ammo is shown on it. Another unique aspect of "Dead Space" lies in its combat. Pumping enemies full of lead won't get you very far; the "Necromorph" creatures have incredibly resilient bodies and can withstand a harrier of bullets. Therefore the best way to bring them down is to dismember them. Blowing off their legs, arms, tentacles, head, whatever you can is the only way to defend yourself adequately in "Dead Space". It's also impressive to see enemies that have been torn to pieces still crawling towards you with whatever limb they may have left.

You'll also encounter areas with zero gravity in which Isaac can leap from wall to wall as he pleases. It's hard not to be impressed by these areas as you find yourself walking on the ceiling and see corpses and blood silently floating across the room. You'll mainly experience these rooms when solving one of the game's various puzzles, which is where my first complaint arises with "Dead Space". The puzzles are fine in terms of players being able to solve them themselves without resorting to checking a guide every five minutes. Unfortunately a "wrong" solution will typically result in an instant death. While the game usually does give you a checkpoint right before these moments it still has to load after your death. My other complaint is that in a few levels the rooms you are in will lock and waves of enemies will start pouring in, which makes the game feel like a mindless shooting gallery. "Dead Space" also isn't designed for combat against multiple enemies as your field of vision is very limited, making it hard to notice the two enemies creeping up behind you as you're fighting off others.

There's a decent arsenal of weapons at Isaac's disposal. From routine offerings like a pistol and assault rifle, to more unique choices like the "Ripper" that suspends a saw in front of you allowing you to chew through any enemies in your path. All of these can be upgraded as well as your body armor with items called "Power Nodes" hidden through the station. Upgrading will allow you to do more damage, extend your clip size and reload faster. What's nice about this is it prevents your weapons from ever becoming obsolete. Even an upgraded pistol can bring down the most powerful enemies in the game with ease. It took me about 12 hours to finish "Dead Space" and it was a hell of a ride. There's also plenty of incentive to play again and not just because of its exemplary survival-horror gameplay, but also thanks to the ability to transfer your completed game data to a new game allowing you to keep all of your upgraded weapons and armor.

Graphically "Dead Space" is undeniably one of the prettiest games to grace the 360. Everything from Isaac and the necromorphs to the environments have been rendered down to the finest detail. Character animations look terrific and you can expect plenty of gorgeous lighting effects throughout. The sound design is outstanding as well. The voice acting cast is universally good but it's the sound effects that steal the show. The environments are alive with foreboding sounds of enemies crawling through crevices in the distance or even whispering from unknown areas. "Dead Space" manages to even make hearing it's rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" an unnerving sensation.

It's unfortunate that "Dead Space" was somewhat overshadowed with the horde of big name titles being released in the weeks following it release. Yet this is a game that absolutely deserves your attention and more importantly is capable of standing firmly alongside games like "Fallout 3" and "Gears of War 2" If you write "Dead Space" off as just another entry to a decaying genre, that's your loss. This is one of the year's ten best games.