Drift Into the World of Dead Space

If you played the demo of Dead Space and were unimpressed, it was admittedly flawed and reflected poorly upon this amazing sci-fi horror survival game, which just may be the best next-gen game of its kind. Sent to answer a distress beacon from a damaged space mining vessel, you are sent in to repair and escort the vessel back home, but things continue to go from bad to worse in this fast-paced, intelligent shooter from EA games.  You’ll have to think quick and learn ways to conserve your ammo, which is a rare commodity on the harder stages of this game.  One of the best ways to do this is to aim not for your foes’ bodies, which are all but invulnerable, but to aim to shoot off their various limbs.

One of the things that sets this game apart from other shooters is the fact that you’re not playing the role of some army commando packing guns and other weapons or with a lot of military training.  You’re playing as Issac Clarke, an engineer who was going to do a lot of the repair on the mining vessel Ishimura.  Only one weapon in the game actually is intended to be a weapon, the others are all mining tools that Issac discovers the schematics for, then uses tech benches to improve the design for combat.

Which improvements you choose to make to your weapons or suit is a very important decision, because, like ammo, the power nodes needed to make the upgrades are also very scarce.  You won’t find enough to maximize everything in a single play through, but you can play through the game again using your already improved equipment.  That helps to give the game more life and a reason to be enjoyed again after the credits have rolled.

The atmosphere created by the game is the reason to pick this one up.  Things happen suddenly and without warning and the game creates an air of tension and maintains it.  Not only that, but the slow turning radius and moderately slow movement speed in the suit Issac wears, coupled with the cluttered, narrow passages and rooms, give a claustrophobic feel to the Ishimura, which contrasts nicely with the wide open expanses of some of the zero-g portions of the game.

In addition to your weapons, your suit has a built in kenetic ability, allowing you to grab and manipulate some objects from far away.  These can be used to solve puzzles or to find makeshift weapons and conserve ammo.  Your suit also has a stasis module, which allows you to slow time for a single enemy or object in the game, making some of the harder tasks a little less daunting.  Other upgrades available to the suit are more health and greater oxygen capacity, allowing you more time in the zero-g areas of the game.

EA released a number of supplemental materials for those who are engrossed in the storyline and want to learn more about the setting, including an animated movie and a graphic novel.  Shortly after the release of the game, new skins and upgraded weapons were made available, which, while completely optional, are definitely helpful on the harder levels, as the add-on weapons shoot faster and do more damage than those included with the game.  Still, given the fair price of this amazing game and its long storyline with very high replay ability, it’s a great value, even with the almost necessary download content.  Play this one with the lights off, if you dare!

Author: Jessica Kosinski