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Great horror games: Dead Space
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When the name Nostromo is uttered to a Sci-Fi/Horror fan a small tinge of fear causes the heart to skip a beat. Images of a glossy black monster start to invade the brain as well as a tightening of the chest cavity from the fear of a chest busting baddie emerging from gestation. When the film Alien welcomed audiences aboard the Nostromo, it put them in a world that was not only intensely horrific, but memorable.
The same thing happens to Survival Horror fans when the Ishimura is brought up.
When Visceral Games set out to create this space horror, they took quite a few pages out of the Alien book (not to mention Event Horizon and The Thing), but this game is not some derivative rip off. Dead Space is its own experience, and that experience is awesome.
Players take the reins of Isaac Clarke, an engineer hailed to repair a com tower on the USG Ishimura. Trouble starts as soon as Isaac’s team boards the ship. Monstrous creatures start attacking and these gruesome fiends are not easy to kill. After getting over the initial shock that the ship has be compromised, Isaac and his team must find a way to survive the encounter and secure a safe way off the ship. But the story certainly doesn’t stop there. Dead Space is rich in culture and surprises and it would be a horrible shame to spoil them in this review.
As far as graphics go, Dead Space has some of the best around. The dark corridors and leaky lighting help make the situation all the more startling, as they hide potential monsters. The sound is pretty fantastic too. This is a creaky ship and it’s a pretty solid bet to say that if a noise is heard, it’s probably because something in the room created it.
So far Dead Space has a great story, beautifully ugly graphics and freaky sound. What about the gameplay?
That is yet another innovative aspect of horrors lurking in the Ishimura. The monsters, known as Necromorphs, can’t be taken down with a simple head shot. Players must forget all they’ve been taught about blowing the noggin off of approaching bad guys if they want to survive these monstrosities. The Necromorphs are vulnerable to dismemberment; meaning that they can only be taken down by blowing off their limbs. This intensifies the atmosphere of the game tenfold. Strategic Dismemberment, as the control scheme came to be called, really pushed Dead Space to the forefront as far as innovation goes.
At least Isaac has a lot of cool weapons and powers available to deal with his foes. The ‘guns’ available for use actually play into his engineering background. The weapons are actually tools that would have been used to repair the ship, now they are his instruments of dismemberment. His suit is also pretty great because it allows him to utilize two different kinds of powers: kinesis and stasis. Kinesis allows him to pick up large objects and move/throw them. Stasis will slow movement, which really comes in handy when a pack of Necromorphs is on his tail.
Even the HUD (Heads Up Display) is cool in this game. Isaac’s health and stasis reserves are visible on the back of his suit; making the game feel more organic. His inventory screen is revealed as a live projection emanating from his suit. The screen is opened in real time, causing a sense of urgency for the player to hurry up and finish their business before another monster pops up to take them down.
Simply put, Dead Space is not just a game, it’s an experience. From its sleek graphics to the chilling voices that seem to whisper in your ear, this game is a title not to be missed by fans of the genre.
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