Good afternoon everyone.
Today I will be reviewing a personal favorite of mine that has received an amazing amount of positive reception.
Dead Space.
Story
Set in the year 2508. You play as engineer Isaac Clarke who is on the USG Kellion as part of a rescue team to answer a distress signal is sent by the USG Ishimura, a ship designed for "Planet Cracking" in order to mine for resources to bring back to Earth for humanity to survive.
Upon arrival, the crew discovers the ship is abandoned with no signs of life until they are attacked by an unknown being. These beings kill the crew except for Isaac Clarke, Commander Zach Hammond and Computer Specialist Kendra Daniels.
The three make it through the ship trying to understand what happened to the crew, how these things got onto the ship and how the three can escape.
Records show that the crew had uncovered something down on the planet Aegis VII, soon after uncovering this strange object, cases of dementia, suicide and murder began to run rampant on the mining colony on the planet and came back to the Ishimura. The mystery behind what these things are and what the object is remains to be uncovered, Isaac, Zach and Kendra need to survive to answer these questions and to escape.
Backing up this story is great voice acting, audio, video and text logs as well as short in game cutscenes, combine all of those aspects and you have a great story that captures your imagination.
Presentation
Dead Space is a heavy atmospheric game with a remarkable graphic presentation, it combines an Event Horizon like atmosphere with a dark, terrifying yet stunning visual quality.
The Ishimura is both amazing yet horrifying. It's an amazing ship(even if most of the ship has gone to hell) it's almost like Rapture from Bioshock, it's quite a sight to see but yet you can't help yourself to still be terrified of it at the same time.
The hallways of the Ishimura have been stained with blood or littered with the bodies of the crew that used to inhabit the Ishimura, you don't want to find out what's around the corner but you know you must or else nothing would get done.
You will be rewarded for your courage however.
Gameplay
Dead Space is an over the shoulder third person survival games, that I must admit copies many ideas from the Resident Evil series.
The over the shoulder perspective had been seen in Resident Evil 4 prior to the launch of Dead Space, however what Dead Space does that Resident Evil did not, was bring an in-game interface of your inventory, when you open your inventory you can still see the environment around you while also seeing all of the medical supplies and ammunition you have collected through the time you've played the game. The only time this does not happen is when you go to the Weapon Bench and Stores located in the Ishimura.
Unique also to Dead Space is a strategic dismembering system that requires the players to kill enemies by shooting of limbs of the Necromorphs. Shooting the head or chest will not kill the enemy and will instead result in ammunition being wasted.
What Dead Space also does differently than Resident Evil was allow the player to move while aiming your gun, something that we didn't see even in Resident Evil 5 that was released one year later.
Dead Space also includes two tools that you can use in game for both combat and puzzles you find in the game. The Telekinesis tool allows Isaac to pick up objects in the environment to use as weapons against the enemy as well as moving objects into specific locations in order to solve an environment puzzle to proceed through the game, this design was similar to the design in Bioshock which was released in August 2007.
The Stasis tool is used to slow down enemies in combat situations as well as slowing down fault machinery in the environment to avoid being killed.
However I do have a nitpick about the game due to the lack of enemy variety, I exclude bosses however as these boss battles are some of the most unique and engaging fights I've ever been apart of in a survival horror shooter, you'll see the same enemies quite often, taking away some of the "strategic" element of the combat seeing as how you could use one particular weapon on the same particular enemy you killed a few minutes ago.
Unique also to Dead Space is the type of weapons you use. Unlike in most third person shooters where you get the pistol, the shotgun, the machine gun, the sniper rifle etc. you instead get a set of Engineer tools that Isaac uses to kill the Necromorphs.
The most iconic of these weapons still to this day is the Plasma Cutter, Isaac's first weapon we see him use in the series. These weapons range from the Plasma Cutter, to a flamethrower, a line gun, a disc ripper and force gun, these weapons are fun to use and feel very powerful in your hands.
With an array of unique weapons as well as a new approach to interacting with the game in managing your inventory and the world around you, Dead Space is guilty of copying certain elements from Resident Evil but still does many things right that makes it stand out from other survival horror shooters.
The Verdict
Dead Space is not a perfect game but it still is a game that you should not avoid playing.
It combines a great story with an outstanding visual presentation, something that survival horror games need or else the game will fail greatly.
It's a horrifying experience with excellent gameplay.
I give Dead Space an 8 out of 10
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.
Next is my 100th post. I'll be taking some time to think of something special to do for the next post.
Until then, farewell.
Today I will be reviewing a personal favorite of mine that has received an amazing amount of positive reception.
Dead Space.
Story
Upon arrival, the crew discovers the ship is abandoned with no signs of life until they are attacked by an unknown being. These beings kill the crew except for Isaac Clarke, Commander Zach Hammond and Computer Specialist Kendra Daniels.
The three make it through the ship trying to understand what happened to the crew, how these things got onto the ship and how the three can escape.
Records show that the crew had uncovered something down on the planet Aegis VII, soon after uncovering this strange object, cases of dementia, suicide and murder began to run rampant on the mining colony on the planet and came back to the Ishimura. The mystery behind what these things are and what the object is remains to be uncovered, Isaac, Zach and Kendra need to survive to answer these questions and to escape.
Backing up this story is great voice acting, audio, video and text logs as well as short in game cutscenes, combine all of those aspects and you have a great story that captures your imagination.
Presentation
Dead Space is a heavy atmospheric game with a remarkable graphic presentation, it combines an Event Horizon like atmosphere with a dark, terrifying yet stunning visual quality.
The Ishimura is both amazing yet horrifying. It's an amazing ship(even if most of the ship has gone to hell) it's almost like Rapture from Bioshock, it's quite a sight to see but yet you can't help yourself to still be terrified of it at the same time.
The hallways of the Ishimura have been stained with blood or littered with the bodies of the crew that used to inhabit the Ishimura, you don't want to find out what's around the corner but you know you must or else nothing would get done.
You will be rewarded for your courage however.
Gameplay
The over the shoulder perspective had been seen in Resident Evil 4 prior to the launch of Dead Space, however what Dead Space does that Resident Evil did not, was bring an in-game interface of your inventory, when you open your inventory you can still see the environment around you while also seeing all of the medical supplies and ammunition you have collected through the time you've played the game. The only time this does not happen is when you go to the Weapon Bench and Stores located in the Ishimura.
Unique also to Dead Space is a strategic dismembering system that requires the players to kill enemies by shooting of limbs of the Necromorphs. Shooting the head or chest will not kill the enemy and will instead result in ammunition being wasted.
What Dead Space also does differently than Resident Evil was allow the player to move while aiming your gun, something that we didn't see even in Resident Evil 5 that was released one year later.
Dead Space also includes two tools that you can use in game for both combat and puzzles you find in the game. The Telekinesis tool allows Isaac to pick up objects in the environment to use as weapons against the enemy as well as moving objects into specific locations in order to solve an environment puzzle to proceed through the game, this design was similar to the design in Bioshock which was released in August 2007.
The Stasis tool is used to slow down enemies in combat situations as well as slowing down fault machinery in the environment to avoid being killed.
However I do have a nitpick about the game due to the lack of enemy variety, I exclude bosses however as these boss battles are some of the most unique and engaging fights I've ever been apart of in a survival horror shooter, you'll see the same enemies quite often, taking away some of the "strategic" element of the combat seeing as how you could use one particular weapon on the same particular enemy you killed a few minutes ago.
Unique also to Dead Space is the type of weapons you use. Unlike in most third person shooters where you get the pistol, the shotgun, the machine gun, the sniper rifle etc. you instead get a set of Engineer tools that Isaac uses to kill the Necromorphs.
The most iconic of these weapons still to this day is the Plasma Cutter, Isaac's first weapon we see him use in the series. These weapons range from the Plasma Cutter, to a flamethrower, a line gun, a disc ripper and force gun, these weapons are fun to use and feel very powerful in your hands.
With an array of unique weapons as well as a new approach to interacting with the game in managing your inventory and the world around you, Dead Space is guilty of copying certain elements from Resident Evil but still does many things right that makes it stand out from other survival horror shooters.
The Verdict
Dead Space is not a perfect game but it still is a game that you should not avoid playing.
It combines a great story with an outstanding visual presentation, something that survival horror games need or else the game will fail greatly.
It's a horrifying experience with excellent gameplay.
I give Dead Space an 8 out of 10
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.
Next is my 100th post. I'll be taking some time to think of something special to do for the next post.
Until then, farewell.
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