Dead Space

  Dead Space manages to borrow from genre specific games and movies, mix in an original storyline, and a chilling

atmosphere to make one of the most compelling titles on the X-Box 360. It’s one part Resident Evil 4, one-part Aliens, and a whole lot of awesome.

   The story of Dead Space starts long before Isaac ever sets foot on the Ishimura in a series of comics, a prequel movie, and an online adventure. You can tell that the developers have a huge world, woven very delicately through the different mediums to tell a complete story. But even without all of that back content, the tale of Isaac's journey to uncover the mysterious alien life form that has taken over the mining vessel is solid. Arguably, there's nothing particularly new at work here, but it's still an entertaining and complete story, and that's nothing to shake a fist at.
   Gameplay for Dead Space plays very similar to Resident Evil 4. While RE4 locked the camera behind the shoulder, Dead Space allows players to maneuver it 360 degrees around Isaac with the right stick, getting a nice glimpse of not only your character but also the environments. It also helps you appreciate all the details of Isaac's inventory HUD, floating just a foot away from his body. The game's lack of player-specific HUD is admirable, helping to really pull players into the immersive world EA has set up. The fact that they try and keep everything, even the save points, specific to Isaac's world is remarkable.

   Players take control of various weapons, starting first with a plasma cutter, and leading up to fun toys like the flamethrower and remote buzz saw. The point of most of these weapons is to, and you'll hear this a lot, strategically dismember your foes. A typical headshot won't ever be enough, because these corpses will keep coming for you. Firing  at the body will eventually defeat your foe, but it will consume infinitely more ammo. Also, some enemies punish you for killing them in this way by erupting into a bunch of smaller critters. The game moves remarkably solid, and gunplay is everything you'd want it to be. Drawing your weapon is similar to RE4's hold to fire system, however, Dead Space allows you to slowly move about while in aim mode, so people who weren't fans of sitting still should enjoy the difference.

   The visuals of Dead Space are ridiculously awesome. The game suffers little to no hiccupping or texture popping; everything is very solid on a technical level. What's really amazing is the visual style. The setting is absolutely gorgeous, with overwhelmingly immaculate details. Everything is done right to help keep you feeling trapped and afraid. Not alone, however; you never feel alone. You can always see something climbing around the next corridor, or hopping into a vent to pop out at you later. It's a wonderful trick, and it’s puzzling that it took this long for anybody to use anything similar.

   Dead Space's greatest achievement is arguably its attention to detail. The ship is constructed like old, gothic buildings; filled with ribbed structures and with an overall oppressive attitude. Little animations, especially when being dragged by some large monster, really help the player feel like he's a part of this world. The details to the story, delivered through audio logs, video logs, and paper logs, all cement the immense mythos that has been set up. As mentioned earlier, the graphical details are astounding. Also, when you're in the zero-oxygen areas, the game's attention to finer detail sticks out once again. There is no sound coming from outside Isaac's suit, and oxygen pipes leak liquid oxygen into space. The first time you walk into one of these areas is both majestic and terrifying. 

   If this game doesn't take Game of the Year, it should at least be awarded best sound design. The game's audio is perhaps one of its best tools for creating an atmosphere of sheer terror. Whether it's the sound of something clanking around while you're walking in a hanger, or it's the eerie lack of sound while your being attacked in zero-oxygen zones, the sound is always on top of you. The audio cues when you are attacked always help to add to the terror, because they're just as instant as the attacks themselves. The tension of this game owes much of its thanks, and so do I, to the sound technicians behind the game.

   A personal favorite feature, the "new game +" mode allows you to carry over your equipment and play through again, in order to further capture your achievements. Resident Evil 4 taught me that this is exactly what you need to make a masterful game even better. Sure, once you want to up the difficulty, you have to start back over from scratch, but that's the point of a higher difficulty, no? The point is, there's plenty of reason to play the game again and again, because you won't get everything on your first run.

   The game doesn't really have any specific set pieces that stand out, and yet the game as a whole is a remarkable experience. The first time you drift around in a room with zero gravity, the first traverse through an oxygen less environment, and the numerous scripted scares all blend together into one of the most unique gaming experiences this year. If you're a fan of action games, or horror games, or Game-of-the-Year contenders, than this is an absolute must own. The game takes about 10-15 hours to play through once, but I would recommend multiple playthroughs. If the season has you bogged down, but you're on the fence of at least taking a look at this game, I pretty much would take you in a headlock until you at least rented it. You have to play Dead Space this year, and there's no two ways about it.

-Make it a Good One,
Randy "Dr. Randle" Marr