A True Must Play
2008 was actually a pretty good year for IP. 360's best IP, by most accounts, was this title. Dead Space is published by EA, who is, simultaneously, the most innovative AND repetitive of developers.
In Dead Space, you're engineer Isaac Clarke who is trying to locate his missing love on a basically-dead spaceship. When you and your party land, you learn that the ship is laden with aliens who are mean and, in a bit of a change, a bit resistant to head shots. To kill most of them, a head shot does little good for you. You must engage in what they refer to as "strategic dismemberment", which basically means you must sever multiple limbs to kill them.
Yeah, the game is just a wee bit gory.
The weaponry you're given to use feels great. The basic gun is actually unbelievably lethal when powered up. It is, quite possibly, the best gun in the game --- so you're not stuck with weak little weapons that don't do a heck of a lot. The other guns are beautiful. Line guns, flame throwers, energy guns -- all feel just right. Most have alternate fire modes which are also amazing.
The enemies don't have amazing AI, more going for success by volume of attacks, not brilliance of tactics.
The game, though, nails ATMOSPHERE just right. The ship just feels creepy and dead. You feel like you can be killed at, literally, any moment. That there are hundreds of human corpses littered all over the place only helps it. The plot is decent with a bit of a surprise at the end (though, and this is a bit of a spoiler, if you look at the first letters of the 12 titles of the chapters, the secret is given to you)
This is a phenomenal game that looks like the start of a really good franchise. It's almost as scary as Condemned (nothing is as creepy as Condemned, let's be honest) and it is a great balls-to-the-wall action game. A must-have in every sense of the word.
