You'll be dead in space quite a few times - and love it.
Dead Space was one of those games that I heard about at E3 this past year, and was kind of unsure of. I saw the same thing I had seen in a lot of recent games - a horror themed shooter with good graphics and a little girl creepily singing "Twinkle twinkle little star". I kind of shrugged it off. Then I started seeing actual game play footage, some of the features like zero gravity areas, and realized what Dead Space really was. This is the next evolution of "survival" games, which for me really shined last with Resident Evil 4. Those who played RE4 would instantly recognize the similarities when they picked up Dead Space, and you would love it for that.
This doesn't mean that Dead Space is simply Resident Evil set in space. While it most definitely draws a ton of inspiration from RE, it stands on its own and does plenty of new things that really separate it. Things like the aforementioned zero gravity areas, where you can leap from any wall, floor or ceiling to another; things like the stasis module that can slow enemies to a crawl, and the kinesis module that can lift and throw objects, and the implementation of "strategic dismemberment" as it has been called. These are just a few of the things that really bring this game to life, but even without all of those, the core game itself is as solid as anything I've ever played.
This game controls beautifully, and I would not change a thing about it. Its story is somewhat predictable, but still entertaining, and the characters and dialogue all serve there part to move things forward. There are plenty of design choices that made this game the most immersive experience I've ever had. Enemies crowd the ship as you move from area to area, and they could come from anywhere at any time. Ambient sounds and noises float around you, really helping to polish the blood stained environment, and even when you are listening to audio diaries of fallen crew, or checking your map, or even managing your inventory, you never know if you are really safe.
Really, there are just too many good things about this game to go into detail. I'm just going to simply say that I can't find fault with anything that is in any way significant. This is certainly one of my recent top games.
