Dead Space Review
Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Rating Guide: How I Review Games
Screenshots: Available Here
Audio Recap:
Review:
There comes a time in every man’s life when he must stand up against all that is evil but when that evil is a menacing species called Necromorphs that often keep coming at you even after losing their heads, then I submit to you that it’s okay to run. It would be wise if you just turned around and ran for your precious life (or what little is left of it). But what’s the fun in running when you can stand there and dismember every freakish looking Necromorph around?! These decisions are but a small taste of what to expect when playing Dead Space.
I am Isaac Clarke. Blasting the limbs off of foul creatures and following the kill with a brutal face stomp is what I do.
Gameplay, Graphics and Sound
Dead Space is the latest original IP from EA that will disturb you in ways that other countries would have you not enjoy. You’re Isaac Clarke, an engineer expert, who unfortunately finds himself on board the USG Ishimura where a rabid alien species called the Necromorphs have taken hold. These aren’t the types of creatures you take home to domesticate. You have to unravel the mystery surrounding what happened to the crew. Once on board, you find yourself tasked with a series of objectives to complete that will guide you to discovering what the hell happened. Watch all the video files, read the text files and listen to the audio files to piece the puzzle together.
Controlling Isaac is surprisingly very user friendly. With all of the things going on in the game, I expected a more challenging control setup but that wasn’t the case. The Left trigger aims; Right trigger fires your weapons primary while the RB button fires its secondary. Each weapon has a primary and secondary fire mode. The secondary fire on the Line Gun is a work of art if you time it right. LB button controls your sprinting which you’ll defintely need because Isaac doesn’t move very fast without it. I understand making him so slow adds to the fear but still.
You have seven main weapons and two alternate powers in the game. You have the Plasma Cutter, Line Gun, Flamethrower and a couple of others. The way your ammo count is displayed was one of my favorite things. It’s a hologram-like screen as you aim that shows how much ammo you have. You don’t have a high ammo count on your weapons in the beginning but you can adjust that as well as other aspects of your weapons. You can even melee with the R trigger and face stomp with the RB button. Curb stomping (I call it Limb/Face stomping) looks and sounds so brutal!
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:44 am
well said Desol
November 1st, 2008 at 4:57 am
There were times in the game that I forgot I was playing a video game and felt more like I was watching a movie, the mood it sets up has you jumping at every little noise there were times I would turn around and discharge my weapons because I thought somthing was running up behind me or see a shadow move threw a light source that was behind me and turn around expecting to be attacked it even made my boy friend scream like a little girl and he wasnt even playing it now that is a great game
the HUD display when I first saw it I rotated my camra around it to admirer how nicly done it was I dont get excited about many games any more but this one was masterfully done
Jennifer
November 5th, 2008 at 10:58 am
this game is the scarist shit in stores
November 11th, 2008 at 9:01 am
[...] Space is one of this year’s biggest surprises in my book. There aren’t many games that I can play through more than once and get the same amount of [...]
November 13th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Best game of the year for me. Fantastic in every way. I loved the vacuum decompression & zero-G scenes. I’m not much for 3rd person shooters, but this one blew my mind. I’ve been playing the PC version and it rocks none the less.
Going to have to check out the animated movie now… Bring on Dead Space 2!!!!!!
November 24th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
[...] you’ve read my review of Dead Space, then you’ll know that I rather enjoyed this game. And remember, you can queue up the demo [...]
November 26th, 2008 at 2:23 am
[...] the internet, Dead Space is getting praised as a fantastic game. There’s a good reason for that. It’s a great [...]
December 7th, 2009 at 9:34 am
[...] for a while so let me just get this out of the way and say that it’s finally official. I loved the first Dead Space and I’m like a little kid right on on Christmas morning now that I can start my official [...]
December 10th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
[...] to scare you and invoke all kinds of tense moments but which does it best? I loved Dead Space as you probably already know by my review. I don’t think any game in 2008 managed to come out and live up to every bit of [...]
February 14th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
This game is about survival and being confined with these necromorphs is about the only thing that scares the s**t out of me. I see dead soldiers doing stuff like staring at me as i walk in a room and walking away, and i just pause the game and take a deep breath and play on.
November 6th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
I wouldn’t feel I’ve ever seen a website on this a lot of comments on it!
December 21st, 2010 at 10:23 am
[...] into the Necromorph killing mode baby! I was a huge fan of the first game. You’ve read my Dead Space review right? Isaac Clarke and the Ishimura provided a thrilling experience. I’m skeptical about the [...]
January 12th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
[...] capture the same awesomeness that the first one did. I enjoyed the demo but strictly because I loved the first one…not really in a “this is better” kind of way. But I’m all up for killing [...]
January 27th, 2011 at 11:53 am
[...] review of this up alongside my Dead Space 2 review after both launch. You should know I’m a big fan of Dead Space so I’ll be all over these two [...]
October 17th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
[...] A few years ago Glen Schofield worked at Electronic Arts and his team introduced the world to Isaac Clarke. I met Glen Schofield while covering the game and he was one of the most genuine studio execs I’ve ever met. He was seriously passionate about making Dead Space as kick ass as possible. And you all know what I thought about Dead Space. [...]