The USG Ishimura floats listlessly in the ever-reaching vacuum of
space, sunlight glinting off of it's dark hull. Looking from afar your
un-named character watches as the repair shuttle closes in and then
you see the huge chunk of planet beyond, ripped from the ground upon
which it had been joined, the Planetcracker class mining vessel
immediatly inspires awe. But this the only moment of peacefull
tranquility you are likely going to get as a repair mission soon turns
into the nightmare that only kids could have after playing Doom back
in the mid-ninties. Welcome to Dead Space.
 
The opening scenes for Dead Space were filled with intense and
hostillic atmosphere reaching fevel pitched as your ship crash lands
in the hanger bay due to a guidance error.
 
You play Isacc, an Engineer wearing a full body RIG (some kind of
amour suit, with holo interfaces) who has volenteered for the mission,
he has a girlfriend onboard the Ishimura hence the reason he joined
the repair team. Upon arrival, they soon find that the ship is
apparently desserted, and Isacc is soon cut off from the others when
they are attacked by a... thing... a thing that was once a living
breathing human being. It's mangled face all the humanity that
remains. Soon you find yourself armed with a Plasma Cutter, which
fires a straight horizontal or vertical waves of energy to slice through
the limbs of the "Necromorphs" as we learn what they are called later.
 
Creeping through the dark tight confines of the ship, the sound
ambiance is excellently chilling as you hear Isacc's metallic
breathing, his heart thumping with increasing vigour when he is
freightened, the sounds of clanging and reverbrating metal as the
creatures move about the air-filtration system; the occasional scream.
And the gruesome sound of squishing, blistering and tearing flesh is
captured wonderfully. Just pump up the volume, turn off the in-game
music and close your eyes and listen. An amazing experiance alone. The
story in total comprises of many twists you don't expect. And the end
is shocking.
 
The gameplay is some of the best I've played in years, having to shoot
off the Creatures limbs to take them down is a great mechanic and
forces you to be more tactfull in your approach. While the Obsidian
Suit I downloaded made me look a lot cooler while Necro-smashing
having all black armour, purple eye sensors, meleeing the Necro's is
satisfyingly hefty and pleasent. I soon found myself checking every
corner and shadow as I proceeded along the corridors. It is a good
puzzler, presenting you with obstacles to rival Tomb Raider.
 
I had, unlike Bobfish's controller speed issue, no problems with the
controls, finding they bore simularities to Resident Evil 5 and Call
of Duty in the shooting department, though while aiming, turning is
much slower than the PC version according to Bobfish, I can say; with
my outing of the game on PS3 that whilst aiming, your character turns
at a realistic pace for a man in a heavy Hazard suit and holding a
hefty Line Gun (indeed one of the most devestating in the game) though
my favorite was always being able to fall back onto the Pulse Rifle
which is baically a machine gun. Whilst not aiming I found Isacc to be
quite responsive having been swarmed by many of the creatures having
often to fend off my own body with a tap of R1 to swing my fists about
untill I could select another weapon.
 
The pause screen, and general in-game interfaces are all 3D holograms
that are emitted by your RIG. So much innovation in one game, and the
zero-g battles, and vacuum runs are chilling and tense. And the
collecting of funds to spend on your weapons and finding power nodes
to upgrade your equipment is a joy.
 
I know I must play the game again on one of the higher difficulty
settings and I'm sure the fight through the Ishimura will go from
challenging to damn near impossible.

All in all a must play. And top form for EA.

Score:
Graphics: 8.5
Gameplay: 9
Sound Design: 10
Plot/Story: 9
Replayability: 8 (its chillingly addictive)
Overall Score: 8.9

Personal Score: 9 (Silver Award)
 
Verdict: If you haven't played Dead Space yet, then you had better
have a good bloody excuse for letting this little gem slip by. One of
the best games in years from EA. Great game.