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Dead Space (2008)
Topic Started: Aug 16 2011, 03:16 PM (201 Views)
Cy-FoxPosted Image Aug 16 2011, 03:16 PM Post #1
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Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Survival Horror Third Person Shooter
Release Date: October 20, 2008
Number of Players: 1
Platforms: Microsoft Windows (reviewed), Playstation 3, XBOX 360

Minimum System Requirements
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz (single-core), equivalent clone brand or higher-grade processor
Operating Systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista & Windows 7
System Memory: 1 GB (Windows XP), 2 GB (Windows Vista/Windows 7)
Hard Drive Space: 7.20 GB available and uncompressed
Graphics Card: Dedicated graphics card with 256 MB of onboard memory with capabilities equal to or exceeding that of the nVidia GeForce 6800 or the ATI Radeon X1600 Pro
Sound Card: DirectX 9 compatible sound card

Cy-Fox's System
Processor: AMD Athlon II P320 (clocked at 2.1 GHz, dual-core CPU)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium x64
System Memory: 8 GB
Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 4250 HD (256 MB, shared)
Sound Card: Realtek HD Audio Codecs (DirectX 9 and 10 compliant)

Having just completed Dead Space after purchasing it about a year or two since its release and with the earlier release of Dead Space 2 this year, I know it may sound a bit funny to review it now. But every game is unique and every reviewer's perception is as equally unique. At the very least, on these grounds, please bear with my weird sense of timing : P

Dead Space is mechanically a third person shooter meshed in atmospherically with the science fiction and survival horror genres. You play as Isaac Clarke, a systems engineer that works for Concordance Extraction Corporation, or more familiarly abbreviated as the CEC. Clarke is part of a three person team posted on a shuttle called the USG Kellion, which was dispatched to assist a massive mining ship known as the USG Ishimura, a Planet Cracker class ship that (as the class name implies) cracks into a target to extract precious metals.

Sitting dead near a planet known as Aegis VII, which features a human settlement, the Ishimura had experienced at face value, an unexplained systems failure. It seems like something which would take a bit of time to resolve, which would be fine in Isaac's eyes because his girlfriend Nicole Brennan is on the Ishimura's medical staff. While attempting to dock, the Kellion hit a piece of debris and had to make an emergency crash landing into the Ishimura's flight deck. Clarke and the rest of the team disembark to find themselves in the same state as the ship they were sent to rescue, adrift and in serious danger.

While looking for components to make repairs, Clarke comes across horrifying biological creatures known as Necromorphs, which serve as the game's primary antagonist. From there, he must fight his way through the ship while piecing systems together and learning about the events that brought the Necromorphs to the Ishimura.

There are two modes of combat here in Dead Space. With the default control configuration, Isaac can use the weapon in his hand for melee with the left mouse button and he can stomp on floor-bound enemies with the space bar. There's also of course shooting, which is done by aiming with the right mouse button and firing with the left. A special alternate firing mode can be triggered by pressing the space bar while in aim mode. For instance, this special firing mode causes the Plasma Cutter to orient from a horizontal firing pattern to a vertical one and back.

Isaac can only carry four weapons, and aside from that, the other important piece of equipment that he has is his RIG armor suit. Starting off at the beginning, the Level 1 RIG leaves little to be desired for protection and inventory space. By collecting credits, he can buy weapons, ammunition, supplies and a new suit (if he finds the schematics for each new suit) at special Store kiosks. Another important system to note is the Bench, which allows for equipment to be upgraded with Power Nodes, found throughout the Ishimura.

Aside from the Necromorphs, the environment can also serve as your antagonist, with things like fire vents, fan blades, zero gravity and oxygenless environments serving as a small piece of the grim surroundings in which you find yourself. A special stasis function in your suit can allow you to bypass some obstacles, and in zero gravity, you can move from platform to platform by going into aim mode and hitting a special key, as long as you are oriented properly. If you get lost, you can find your current objective by pressing another key that projects a blue line from the palm of your hand to the objective.

Overall Dead Space is a good game, if you can face up to the difficulty that it provides. Even on Easy mode, it is not what it says on the tin. Trying to run and gun will only cause you to become an overwhelmed meat pie for the Necromorphs. In some cases, you have to either fight intelligently or run. The game brings about vibes of System Shock and System Shock 2, which is no surprise because of the original plans to make Dead Space a possible System Shock 3 before licensing issues came about. About the only qualm that I have is with the fact that as a three year old game, it's still being sold for $20 on both Steam and EA's own download store, Origin.

Interface
8/10 - Your health bar is actually on the back of your suit, and the interface itself isn't in your face. At the same time though, it can be a little bit cumbersome to manipulate the RIG's computer. Full keyboard mapping are at your disposal, but the mouse sensitively can sometimes be off the wall. Also keep in mind that your Dead Space saved game can carry over to Dead Space 2, if you have them both.

Graphics
8/10 - Compared to the games of today, of course Dead Space isn't really going to stack up, but the visuals are still good and terrifying.

Gameplay
9/10 - It's like Resident Evil 4 on a space ship, making Dead Space fairly easy to pick up on. Events that focus on reaction time and button mashing, along with certain environmental hazards can be frustrating though. Co-op and multiplayer (competitive multiplayer was introduced in Dead Space 2) would have been nice in retrospect.

Story
8/10 - The story seems pretty brief at the beginning, paper thin until it builds up with the help of logs scattered around the Ishimura and certain encounters. There's alien artifacts, people going insane, biological monsters and heavy doses of WTF.

Sound
6/10 - While the sound effects and such are good, there's little music here. Music can make a good game an awesome game. It's a good thing that there's some excellent music in Dead Space 2!

Total
85% - It's a good game, but I'd wait for it to come down to about maybe $10-15.
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Ark Rotarl Aug 16 2011, 03:33 PM Post #2
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 Personally, I'd rate the controls sub-par due to the various issues the game has with V-Sync which EA refuses to acknowledge as a legitimate problem, leaving the casual gamer kinda screwed for sanity. Control sensitivity dramatically plummets when you enter the aim mode in battle, making tactical movement a little bit of a headache when you need to turn around and shoot at something.

The various bugs that occur, often causing core crashes at specific points in the game (also unscheduled for patching) is a real boner in this otherwise fantastic game. I find myself often having to work around and spend an hour or so looking up how to deal with these systemic errors in order to continue.

The story itself is wonderful and very well directed. One of the few horror games I've ever taken such a shine towards. The psychological elements as well as the otherwise haunting environments of the Ishimura keep me wanting to explore every nook and cranny of the ship to make sure I haven't missed something.

I especially loved the weapons, RIG suit designs, and overall feel of the technologies involved in making up the world of Dead Space. The strongest thing I took a liking to was the game's interface above all else. The fact that the vital bar is marked on the RIG suit itself along the spine makes cutscenes and reactions of players and characters seem so well blended that it's like watching a movie to some extent. Completely uninhibited experience; uninterrupted by annoying HUDs and fixed camera angles which seem to plague a majority of 1st/3rd person games today.

My personal rating of this game is a 8 / 10. And like Cy said, wait till you can find it for 10 or 15 in your area. While it's great, it does come with some mechanically inclined caveats. EA really needs to step up the pace with fixing these seemingly half or if at all untested games they put out on the market.
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