Raz Review: "This is a survival horror game that got it right. It'll
scare the crap out of anyone who isn't completely desensitized to
horror - and even those folks will end up jumping in their seats more
than once before laughing nervously and settling back into the game.
Scary
factor: Dead Space nails it from the beginning. No lengthy introduction
- just a short trip through hyperspace and a crash landing, and you're
on board the Ishimura...along with a host of alien zombies. Zombies in
space; it sounds odd but damn, it works. Not your typical slow-moving
"braaains" zombies, either - these suckers are FAST. I really can't
express how disturbing it is to have two blade-limbed monstrosities
streaking toward you at inhuman speeds out of nowhere, only to turn
around and discover an even nastier one right behind you.
It's
not predictable, though; sometimes you'll pick up a seemingly innocent
item only to have it trigger a lockdown and a wave of nasties, and
sometimes you'll flip an obviously dangerous switch...only to sit there
with your finger shaking on the trigger as absolutely nothing happens.
Innovations:
To make the experience as visceral as possible, you don't have an HUD
cluttering up the screen. Instead, your health, energy and air are
displayed as part of your suit - just look at your back to see if a
boost is needed. Your inventory, map, data logs and so forth are
displayed as a holographic projection from your character IN REAL TIME.
That means you can't stop in the middle of battle to browse for that
energy pack - you need to find somewhere safe to pause and rummage. I
like that; it brings another element of realism to the game and makes
it a little more challenging without being annoying. The interface
takes a little getting used to, but the learning curve is extremely
fair; so don't worry.
There are also two kinds of 'special
environments' - zero gravity and vacuum. Zero-grav rooms allow you to
jump to pretty much any surface (wall, ceiling, floor), and the physics
on this look pretty good. Vacuum will start your air counter; you'll
start to choke with about 30 seconds left, but oxygen stations and Air
Canisters boost the amount of time you can spend in these areas. Your
suit's oxygen capacity can also be upgraded.
The coolest
innovation by far is the fact that center-of-mass shots don't do very
much in this game; from the beginning, the focus is on what they call
'strategic dismemberment'. That's right - gibs galore! These things are
like organic Terminators; shoot their legs off and they'll pull
themselves toward you with their arms. The difficulty setting, I
discovered, determines how many limbs you'll have to sever before the
vile critters finally die. On easy, all it takes is a couple kneecaps.
Normal setting means you'll have to take at least one arm as well. Hard
likely requires complete dismemberment.
With over 12 campaign
levels (multiple missions in each) and three difficulty settings,
there's plenty of gameplay value - you won't beat this in a night like
some other games I could mention. EA really put the polish on this one.
If you don't own it yet, I only have one question: what planet are you
from?"
Online: No
Rated: 9/10
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