Dead Space

My most recent game obsession has been this newly released sci-fi horror game called Dead Space. In the game, you play as Isaac Clarke, a space engineer sent out with a small crew to help repair a spaceship that sent out a distress message out in a remote part of space. Once you arrive though, everything goes to hell, and you end up fighting for your life against a bunch of aliens. While the plot and visual style of the game are pretty similar to those found in movies like Event Horizon, The Thing, and the Alien franchise, what really makes this game great is its execution of the details.

First off, like any true survival horror game, Dead Space is reluctant to allow you too much ammo or too many opportunities to save your game, thereby making it much more frightening walking around when you know death is that much more likely. There is however a light RPG upgrade element to the game, and this is certainly part of what propels you through its 12 levels. In fact, one of the best features of the game is that you are allowed to continue working on Isaac's stats after you finish the story by uploading your current upgrades to a new game, thereby allowing you to revel in some of your hard-earned awesomeness. As such, I beat the regular game on medium within a week of purchase (it took about 20 hours), but now I'm two thirds of the way through my second playthrough. That said, I still have plenty of upgrades left to get, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to have to start a third playthrough to get them all...

Although the story for the game is nowhere near as solid as BioShock's, it's certainly good enough. Ultimately though, what really makes this game special is the art design, the sound, and some innovative features that are sure to inspire some other games in the future. A few of these features include the elimination of the HUD (heads up display) from the screen and instead showing all of Isaac's attributes through his outfit. Also, all of the menus you pull up are via a hologram projection that Isaac watches as realtime continues, therefore keeping you immersed in the game as you remain vulnerable to attack. Another new feature is Isaac's ability to jump to any wall surface within a number of anti-gravity chambers; you essentially just jump to one wall, and once you arrive, it becomes the new floor. It's easy to get disoriented in these rooms, but the visual effect is really striking. Finally, the best mechanic in the game is the preferred method for killing aliens: strategic dismemberment. Although you CAN kill them by just shooting them a bunch of times, you kill them MUCH faster if you sever their arms and legs from their bodies, and some of the weapons at your disposal are particularly designed for this task.

Ultimately, although this game is nowhere near as deep and intriguing as BioShock, it's definitely a bit scarier, and as such is possibly a little more addictive. I've almost unlocked all of the available achievements for the game, but even once this is through, I'm sure I'm going to want to keep coming back...