Dead Space is a solid 1 player game, and nothing else!
Dead Space was the first original, new, creative IP for EA and the Xbox 360. In a time of numbered squeals dominating the charts, Dead space was considered a departure for EA, showing us that doing something new and creative can still yield decent, if not pretty good results!
You start out as Isaac Clarke, our silent hero and crew heading for a distressed “Planet Cracker” orbital mining vessel. The story is nothing new for sci-fi or horror fans, yet is suitable and does a decent job of keeping you on your toes and moving things along with twists and turns. The game controls much like a modern shooter and is quick, and really responsive. It’s been said that Resident Evil 5 fans wanted just this, in their controls for their game. The sound design is by all means “awesome” if you have the means for a 5.1 crank it up and turn the lights down. The sound design on this game really should go on to win some awards. The game play is a 3 person shooter style, and you must “sever the limbs” of your foes. This means you can fire 6-8 shots into the enemy’s chest before he goes down vs. chopping your foes up into pieces in 3-4 shots. It works quiet well! Your devastating blasts keep your eyes open, glued to the results that do a great job of making you feel like a badass, cutting the baddies into chunks of meat. The ship you’re fighting on and repairing at every turn is standard sci-fi fare, dark, dingy, and brown. It even comes with a bit of Mass Effect, adding the much dreaded “elevator load ride” There is only the story mode, 1 payer fare. You can finish the game in 7-10 hours depending on how you play through. And that’s where my faults with the game start.
There is nothing to keep you coming back. There are multiple difficulty levels, yet when you beat the game, and new save starts for you with your rewards for beating the game on the first go around. Yet, the new save file with all the goodies is on the same setting it was when your first went through. It’s a mess, and it’s sad =[. The enemies also feel kind of generic, and the weapons, all except the default blaster, are lame and not nearly as fun to use as the first one you get. You can make it through the entire game using only that weapon and the game even grants you some gamer score points for doing just that. The game play in Dead Space feels super tight, and is totally solid, but sadly by the end of the game you are left feeling disappointed by a game the is begging you to come back but does not make it easy for one to go on the ride more then once.
