Dead Space preliminary review

I received dead space in the mail about 4 days ago and now am about half way through it so I thought I would write down some brief opinions about it so far.

It is decent so far there are definitely some scary moments like the first elevator ride was awesome, and the scarcity of ammo/health combined with enemies that take several shots to kill and dish out some pretty good damage makes it feel very much like a more traditional survivor horror game. RE4 is a great game one of my favorites in fact but the series seems to have gotten away from it survival roots and adopted more of a action horror feel, so it is nice to be playing an intense survival horror game again.

Some things I like so far are:

-strategic dismemberment is very fun and feels fresh and new

-the music is very scary and sometimes I feel myself panicking and feverishly looking around to figure out why it has just flared up, although several times it does so for no reason and can get slightly annoying screeching in your ear while just doing some simple shopping.

-the subtle triggering events, when you are walking down a hall and hit that invisible spot where something scary happens, but it may be as subtle as a canister gently rolls from around the conner. It makes you stop and think twice before moving on again.

-the sound effects are great from the monsters moaning many rooms away, or the creepy human whispering and even the clang from a monster crawling above you in an air duct, very effective and very scary.

-the voice acting seems good and the story is at least good at making me feel like I am not just completing random missions, so far.

-I also like the ideal to break up the game into chapters it gives you clear starting and stopping points and helps you feel like you have actually done something after beating a chapter.

Some things I don't like

-the camera is just to close, and really limits your field of vision and because almost every time you are attacked it is by multiple enemies from multiple direction it is easy to kill one and then be attacked from behind by a monster you didn't even know was there, and with life low and damage high this can get some what annoying

-sometimes what you are suppose to be doing is not very clear and although there is always a lighted path telling you where to go at just the click of a stick it can be a little confusing, not to mention if you have to map a buttons specific purpose to point you in the right direction perhaps your game isn't all that clear to begin with

-collision detection, in a game where you have to shoot off skinny ankles and wrists bullet detection needs to be very specific, there are times when I shoot an ankle and it doesn't even register a hit at all, but in all fairness this is rare and maybe I need to be more precise with my aiming

-increasing the abilities in the games is personally a little to difficult for my taste power nodes for upgrading you weapons, armor, and abilities are very rare with only 1 or 2 per level and sometimes requiring 2 to 3 to level you weapon just 2 points of damage, you can buy power nodes but they are steep and you will need the money for new armor suits, weapons, ammo and even buying health packs from time to time.

well that is what I think so far I am defiantly enjoying the game and am eager to complete it and run through it a second time. Also I am working on a specific review format so that I will adhere to the guidelines for all future reviews. Check back soon.

I received dead space in the mail about 4 days ago and now am about half way through it so I thought I would write down some brief opinions about it so far.

It is decent so far there are definitely some scary moments like the first elevator ride was awesome, and the scarcity of ammo/health combined with enemies that take several shots to kill and dish out some pretty good damage makes it feel very much like a more traditional survivor horror game. RE4 is a great game one of my favorites in fact but the series seems to have gotten away from it survival roots and adopted more of a action horror feel, so it is nice to be playing an intense survival horror game again.

Some things I like so far are:

-strategic dismemberment is very fun and feels fresh and new

-the music is very scary and sometimes I feel myself panicking and feverishly looking around to figure out why it has just flared up, although several times it does so for no reason and can get slightly annoying screeching in your ear while just doing some simple shopping.

-the subtle triggering events, when you are walking down a hall and hit that invisible spot where something scary happens, but it may be as subtle as a canister gently rolls from around the conner. It makes you stop and think twice before moving on again.

-the sound effects are great from the monsters moaning many rooms away, or the creepy human whispering and even the clang from a monster crawling above you in an air duct, very effective and very scary.

-the voice acting seems good and the story is at least good at making me feel like I am not just completing random missions, so far.

-I also like the ideal to break up the game into chapters it gives you clear starting and stopping points and helps you feel like you have actually done something after beating a chapter.

Some things I don't like

-the camera is just to close, and really limits your field of vision and because almost every time you are attacked it is by multiple enemies from multiple direction it is easy to kill one and then be attacked from behind by a monster you didn't even know was there, and with life low and damage high this can get some what annoying

-sometimes what you are suppose to be doing is not very clear and although there is always a lighted path telling you where to go at just the click of a stick it can be a little confusing, not to mention if you have to map a buttons specific purpose to point you in the right direction perhaps your game isn't all that clear to begin with

-collision detection, in a game where you have to shoot off skinny ankles and wrists bullet detection needs to be very specific, there are times when I shoot an ankle and it doesn't even register a hit at all, but in all fairness this is rare and maybe I need to be more precise with my aiming

-increasing the abilities in the games is personally a little to difficult for my taste power nodes for upgrading you weapons, armor, and abilities are very rare with only 1 or 2 per level and sometimes requiring 2 to 3 to level you weapon just 2 points of damage, you can buy power nodes but they are steep and you will need the money for new armor suits, weapons, ammo and even buying health packs from time to time.

well that is what I think so far I am defiantly enjoying the game and am eager to complete it and run through it a second time. Also I am working on a specific review format so that I will adhere to the guidelines for all future reviews. Check back soon.

I think what you said about the camera angle is what helps keep it scary by limiting your field of vision.

I think what you said about the camera angle is what helps keep it scary by limiting your field of vision.

Judging by the demo, it's pretty decent, but, although this whole "stategic dismemberment" thing, it's still rather generic and seems like it might be boring at times

Judging solely off the demo, it's a good try, just held back by what it's trying to achieve, which is, well, not much really