Dead Space Review
A Review - By Gaetano Prestia
The survival horror genre is a challenging one for developers. Not only do they have to tackle engaging gameplay that compliments the thrilling and scary environments, but the narrative has to be strong enough to genuinely frighten the player as well. Putting a gamer into a dark, scary environment just isn’t as effective if the story to back it up isn’t strong. This is what EA Redwood Studio’s faced when they began development for Dead Space, a title that has been highly anticipated ever since it was announced. Alongside Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space is a perfect example of how EA have really turned the tide, focusing on new IP’s rather than old ones that sell, no matter how bad the new iterations are. That said, does Dead Space successfully reignite the survival horror genre after several mediocre additions, or is it dead in the water?
Dead Space takes place a few years in the future, where the Earth has been stripped of all of its natural resources. Space ships like the USG Ishimura travel to planets across the universe to strip them of minerals and other necessities, which are then brought back to Earth. However, the USG Ishimura loses communication without warning on a mission and a crew of investigators is sent to check out what’s happened. Much like how Mirror’s Edge had narrative elements that could be associated with contemporary lifestyle, Dead Space focuses on an issue that has concerned humans for the past decade. While it’s doubtful that EA are trying to get a hidden message across, the story isn’t so outrageous as it would have been 15 years ago. It’s an intriguing plot that’s simple but still allows for a chilling story that fits in well with the genre.
The single-player campaign puts you into the shoes of Isaac Clarke who has several friends – as well as a girlfriend – awaiting rescue on the USG Ishimura. When Isaac and his crew reach the stranded ship, their own vessel is destroyed, leaving them to fend for themselves on a malfunctioning space ship that is infected by terrifying creatures known as Necromorphs. It’s probably unfair on Dead Space to make this comparison, but think of it as Resident Evil 4 in space. The gameplay isn’t quite as polished as that title (especially the Wii version), but the environments and enemies are just as aggressive and terrifying. Dead Space does a fantastic job of creating a tense environment and there won’t be a moment where you’re not at least a little anxious and scared. The narrative is polished and very enjoyable and definitely leaves the door open for sequels.
As Isaac searches the ship for survivors, he’ll come across workbenches, which are his main source of weaponry. There are no hard guns or genuine weapons in this game. Instead, you’ll have to make use of mining equipment that doubles as devastating weapons. Isaac will also be able to re-wire some “weapons” to make them more effective and aggressive and this adds a few customisation elements to the gameplay, which is good. Isaac uses “power nodes” to make the changes to the items, such as faster reload times. The nodes can also be used to make improvements to his suit, which acts as his body armour. The power nodes system is a great one as it allows you to customize and change items in a realistic sense rather than through a random store or guy that happens to roam the ship to sell you upgrades.
There’s no HUD in Dead Space, which makes the gameplay slightly more challenging and unpredictable. Isaac’s suit acts as the health meter and you can see how much ammo you have left through a holograph that appears above the gun. Isaac will also receive transmissions that occur in real-time, so if you’re listening in to an incoming transmission, you’re still open to attacks from Necromorphs. The gameplay never really stops and the environment doesn’t stop for you to listen to a transmission and this is great as it adds even more to the tense atmosphere. The developers have a done great job of creating a world that is constantly frightening no matter what you’re doing.
Dead Space plays in a third-person perspective, with solid controls and an accessible aiming and combat system. The best aspect of the over-the-shoulder view is that it adds to the tense atmosphere. You’re guiding Isaac through the ship, rather than playing as Isaac if it were first-person. It makes the atmosphere feel far more refined and terrifying and because the environment is so frightening, you can’t help but feel sorry for Isaac as he searches through the hallways of the ship.
Still, the gameplay is not without its issues. While many of the game’s problems are minimal and don’t really hurt the experience, they are problems that highlight the fact that it’s a “first go” for the developer. Firstly, there is a hell of a lot of backtracking. Because there is no HUD, it’s easy to get lost and sometimes you’re made to go back in the direction you’ve just come from. The exclusion of a HUD is an ambitious move and does make the game feel slightly more realistic and tense, but the ship isn’t so accessible and linear that you’ll know where you’re going the entire time. With most of the backtracking, it’s relevant to the story, but it kind of feels lazy on the developer’s behalf for not creating separates areas to venture through.
Secondly, there are some zero gravity areas where the handling is far from perfect. Kudos to the developer for implementing a unique aspect to the gameplay, but it needs to be fixed if it’s going to be included in future iterations. It’s sometimes difficult to judge the distance between platforms and jumping and moving is slightly difficult to master. It doesn’t feel like it’s been made to be difficult on purpose either. It’s more like it’s just not a very well developed controlling system.
The third most notable issue is the fact that once you finish the game on a particular difficulty, you can only replay the game with all of the unlocked weapons and suit upgrades on that same difficulty. If you change difficulties for the second playthrough, you’ll start right at the beginning with no upgrades and improvements, which is a major disappointment. It does add a bit more value and challenge to the title, but perhaps including an option where you can decide whether or not to bring over the upgrades items to the new difficulty would have been a wise move. Furthermore, you’ll unlock a new difficulty once you complete the game a first time. “Impossible” mode is just that, with an experience that is 10 times as scary and 100 times as challenging as the closest difficulty.
The environments in Dead Space definitely help generating a fighting experience, with great rendering, fantastic lighting and overall fantastic level design. The creatures you come across all have a unique and terrifying design and the detail put into the creatures and environments is top notch. The weaponry and movement physics are both of extremely high quality and detail and it’s great to see the Necromorphs move and dodge around your attacks. It’s extremely satisfying when you blow off one of their limbs and see them crumble to the floor.
The voice actors do a brilliant job of adding to the tense atmosphere, by providing believable and aggressive voice-overs for the characters. The soundtrack further compliments the title and the sound effects – such as the weapons, creatures and sounds of the ship –are all great.
The Final Verdict
Dead Space brings back the survival horror genre from the dead. Condemned was a decent effort as a launch title for the 360, but the sequel disappointed. With Dead Space, we get a terrifying title that is thoroughly enjoyable and deep. You’ll get anywhere between 9-12 hours from the single-player, but you’ll want to play through it again on higher difficulties. It might not be as revolutionary or refined as Resident Evil 4 was, but this will tie us over until Resident Evil 5. Dead Space is a scary, intense, edge-of-your-seat game that surprises you, scares you and throws everything including the kitchen sink at you.
Gameplay
8.9/10
No in-game HUD may cause you to head in the wrong direction and there’s a fair bit of backtracking. But those shouldn’t deter you from the overall experience, which drags you in. The narrative is strong, the story should please most sci-fi fans and the challenge is encouraging. Not being able to use your upgraded weapons in different difficulties is disappointing, but in a way it adds a bit more challenge to the title.
Graphics
9.2/10
Scary and tense environments with thrilling creature design. Lighting effects are great and animations look really, really cool. The real-time aspects of the body suit – such as the transmissions - are great as well.
Sound
9.0/10
Great voice-overs with a chilling soundtrack and great sound effects.
Value
8.0/10
You’ll get between 9-12 hours from the single-player on the first play through, but you’ll want to play it again.
Overall
8.9/10