dead space

Game Corner: Dead Space 3 (Xbox 360)

Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 5 February 2013
Developer: Visceral Games
Also Available For: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X (Backwards Compatible)

The Plot:
Three years after narrowly surviving a Necromorph outbreak on Saturn’s moon, Titan, former engineer Isaac Clarke and his allies explore the frozen planet Tau Volantis to discover the origins of the Necromorphs and oppose the fanatical Unitologists, who wish to “cleanse” humanity through the Necromorphs.

The Background:
Taking its cue from seminal survivor/horror franchises like Silent Hill (Konami/Various, 1999 to 2012) and Resident Evil (Capcom/Various, 1996 to present), Glen Schofield and his small (but committed team) shook up the genre with Dead Space (EA Redwood Shores, 2008). Highly praised and selling over one million copies, a sequel was greenlit almost immediately. The team worked hard to improve and refine Isaac’s gameplay and character, which was reflected in Dead Space 2’s (Visceral Games, 2011) equally positive reviews. Unfortunately poor sales meant that development of Dead Space 3 was almost cancelled, so the team scrambled to up the focus on action to appeal to a more mainstream audience and increase sales. Halfway into production, the decision was made to incorporate a co-op mode, which required an adjustment of the mechanics and enemy AI to allow for simultaneously two player gameplay. Environments in Dead Space 3 were bigger than ever, resulting in larger locations, new ways to play, and the inclusion of a rappel system to take advantage of the bigger play area. In anticipation of Dead Space 3 being the final game, the developers sought to wrap up Isaac’s story, expanding on both his character and the lore behind the Markers, while also using the new, frozen setting to tweak and refine the Necromorph designs. Consistent with its predecessors, Dead Space 3 released to generally positive reviews; reviews praised the action-orientated gameplay, co-op mode, and use of horror. Although sales started strong and the game was bolstered by some downloadable content, Dead Space 3 failed to meet EA’s expectations and tentative ideas for a fourth game were scrapped. Largely considered the worst of the trilogy, Dead Space 3 was criticised for its length and repetitive gameplay, and it is generally regarded as a fall from grace for a once-promising franchise.

Gameplay:
Like its predecessors, Dead Space 3 is a third-person survival/horror game set in the vastness of the cosmos many hundreds of years into the future. You’re once again placed into the role of Isaac Clarke, a former engineer now turned disgraced nobody thanks to the traumatic events of the last two games. This time around, you have a few control options available: you can pick from three control schemes or, if you’re feeling very fancy (or very stupid), you can use the Kinect to play! Obviously, I didn’t do this and went with the default control scheme, which sees you aiming with the Left Trigger, firing or bludgeoning enemies with a melee attack with the Right Trigger, and reloading with X. You can press and hold the Left Bumper to run or tap it for a handy (if occasionally clunky) dodge roll, tap the Right Bumper to stomp on enemies or crates or use your weapon’s secondary fire mode when aiming, and drop a temporary waypoint marker towards your next objective or destination by pressing in the left stick. Pressing in the right stick sees you crouch, which is somewhat handy when you engage in firefights with Unitologist leader Jacob Danik’s forces, and you can quickly replenish your health or stasis meter by pressing B and Y, respectively (as long as you have the associated items in your inventory). A is your action button, used to pick up items, open doors and interact with panels, switches, and such. You also press the left stick to take off and land when in zero gravity environments, where you’ll speed about using the bumpers but must collect air cannisters to avoid suffocating. Eventually, you’ll reacquire the use of your telekinetic abilities: while aiming with LT, you press B to interact with certain doors or objects and move them about, blast them with RB (skewering enemies with their own limbs in the process), or press Y to temporarily freeze enemies or hazards (such as large cogs or crushing weights) so you can pass them or easily decimate them.

Between the co-op and rappel sections, there are glimpses of a fun horror adventure here.

So, overall, the gameplay and controls are as you’d expect from Dead Space. Where Dead Space 3 primarily differs, though, is in the inclusion of a two-player co-op mode. Playing with a friend will require to you switch discs at a certain point, but you can play alone and avoid this option and also won’t have the benefit (or handicap) of an AI-controlled partner to worry about (John Carver appears in cutscenes but not alongside you like in other co-op games). While the option to play online is probably disabled now, you can still play in couch co-op, but I’m not sure how much this impacts the gameplay. There’s a certain hacking puzzle where each player guides a circuit to a certain point and presses A but that’s it, and it’s easily bypassed in single player by using both analogue sticks. There are no other areas where two players need to press switches or activate doors so I barely even noticed it as a function, though a late game objective would benefit from two players as you’d be able to split up and cover more ground. The co-op mode may also explain the abundance of Necromorphs (Feeders are especially abundant and annoying in single-player mode) and resources to be found. Another new aspect is a rappel mechanic where you and your partner zip down (or up) walls, shafts, and inclines, hopping across chasms, avoiding debris and hazards, and picking off Necromorphs. It was an okay mechanic but wore out its welcome pretty quickly and became more aggravating by the third of fourth time I endured it. Zero gravity sections are few and far between this time around, replaced by more open-ended sections set in the vast bleakness of space. You’ll float and fly about retrieving key items and activating doors in these sections, but they’re not as prominent in the previous games. One cool section sees you guiding a shuttle towards a planet as it crashes. You need to stay in the pre-set guidelines, blast at space debris, and even repair the ship’s engines to stay on course, which was quite fun.

Puzzles and space-faring sections are short breaks between all the gunplay and gore.

While some familiar Dead Space puzzles return here, they’re also far less prominent than in the previous games. You’ll still be hacking open doors by rotating a cone of light and pressing A on the blue sections, moving batteries to power up lifts and doors, and freezing hazards so you can slip past, but the focus is much more on seemingly never-ending, bloody combat this time around. You’ll make more use of your telekinetic abilities to power up generators and open certain doors, and there are a few puzzles where you use it to move plates into the correct order or awkwardly bend and twist alien architecture to match hieroglyphics or turn large structures to activate power nodes. However, the trickiest parts about these sections are the waves of enemies that’ll burst in the spoil your concentration. Later in the game, you must pay attention to film reels, onscreen prompts, and blood smeared around to activate alien translator devices, and take shuttles to new and previous destinations to explore other areas or take on optional side missions for new loot. You will also frantically tap A or make movements with the analogue sticks to succeed at quick-time events (either during dramatic cutscenes or when enemies grapple with you), and occasionally be forced to explore without your handy compass. Opportunities to use stasis and kinesis in interesting ways are few and far between here; you won’t be freezing bridges or moving about the environment to create new paths all that often. Instead, you search for key items to cobble together at workbenches and insert into something else, diverting power from one system to another to power up lifts or allow you to burn away the Necromorph infestation with a volatile gas, and blasting about through high-speed teleportation tunnels. You can pick from four difficulty modes, each of which increases the aggression of the enemies, and you can use the resources you find from crates, lying about the environments, or pick up from bodies to upgrade your suit and weapons, but you can only carry two weapons at a time and this time you need to craft new ones. I found this to be very aggravating; I wasn’t always able to create new weapons as the resource cost is so high, so I ended up playing most of the game with an upgraded version of the default Plasma Cutter. Furthermore, while it’s fun seeing flares scattered about and revisiting different areas to find new enemies and challenges there, I quickly became frustrated by how often the game simply throws a barrage of enemies at you in place of more intimate encounters and meaningful puzzles.

Graphics and Sound:
Graphically, Dead Space 3 may be the most ambitious of the entire trilogy. While human character models suffer from the same issues that dogged most games of this generation (namely, appearing to be little more than action figures or oddly-rendered puppets pretending to be flesh and blood), the environments, scope, and lighting effects are better than ever. You see this right from the beginning where, in a first for the series, you’re stuck on a frozen ice world and bombarded by snow and limited visibility before running through a gritty, futuristic city that’s ripped right out of Blade Runner (Scott, 1982). Although environments remain cramped and claustrophobic, there’s a grander sense of scale on offer, especially in the zero gravity sections. Far from being confined to scuttled spaceships, you can now blast through the openness of space using your suit’s thrusters and rocket along at blinding speeds thanks to alien technology. The writing and character interactions are also far more dramatic this time around; Isaac is at his lowest, estranged from his love, Ellie Langford, and constantly butting heads with her new lover, Robert Norton. Twists and turns are abundant as the Unitologists infiltrate and brainwash people to their cause, adding greater stakes to the gameplay as you race to rescue or protect Ellie and the other disposable side characters are killed off for dramatic emphasis. I still don’t really like that Isaac is so chatty now, but he’s given a little more weight and characterisation here. He’s not only still struggling with the traumatic influence of the Markers and the previous games, he also has intense rivalries with Norton and Danik and builds a rapport with new character John Carver that makes their poignant decision to stay behind and give their lives to save Elli (and the world) all the more impactful.

Drama, gore, and ominous alien architecture is at the forefront here.

All of this is merely window dressing for what I consider to be the strength of this franchise, and that’s the unsettling, ominous environments you explore. Blood, bodies, and flickering lights all add to the tension, as do the randomly falling grates and corpses, crucified torsos, non-playable characters who commit suicide or are reanimated before your eyes, and the many ominous messages written in blood over the walls and floors. Enemies burst from vents, crawl up through snow, explode to shambling life when infested with parasites, and clamber around walls and over railings to get to you. If you can’t fight them off or get pummelled too much, you’ll be treated to a gory death scene, and body parts will be sent splattered around as you target the Necromorph’s limbs to dispatch them. As ever, Isaac’s meters and ammo are displayed on his suit and weapons rather than a traditional heads-up display, though you can still bring up a live inventory, map, and objective screen and Isaac receives regular incoming video and voice messages from enemies and allies to clog up the screen space. Environments are similar to before, but noticeably different in same areas. You’ve still got dark, confined corridors, barracks, and other areas on spaceships and space stations, but you’ll be in steampunk-like facilities, genetic labs, and Necromorph infested outposts, too. Much of the game is set on a frozen planet, where snow and ice are naturally abundant, and you’re buffeted by snowstorms and crossing crumbling ice caverns. Perhaps the most visually interesting location comes in the final stretch of the game where you’re exploring an alien city, caverns filled with Markers, and a degenerating moon home to a gigantic eldritch abomination that really ups the ante for the finale.

Enemies and Bosses:
Many familiar Necromorphs return in Dead Space 3. As ever, no matter their appearance or attack pattern, your best bet is to target their limbs, severing their blade-like arms and their legs to slow them down and reduce their threat, though many are more than capable of attacking even without a head or reanimating if you don’t pick off the spider-like parasites infesting them so don’t forget to freeze them with Stasis when in a tight spot. “Slash” Necromorphs burst up from corpses, out of vents, and around corners without warning, leaping at you, slashing, and grabbing you to try and rip your face off, so be sure to keep your distance wherever possible. Only a handful of Necromorphs can fire projectiles, but these can be the trickiest to hit. Small variants scuttle about on walls and ceilings firing from their lashing tentacles, “Pukers” cough up acidic bile to slow you down, and the fatter variants spawn tiny parasites that’ll quickly consume you if you’re not careful. Spider-like parasites can infect corpses, making them zombies who shamble after you with wrenches and frantically blast you with assault rifles. The odd wall-mounted Necromorph also reappears, and you’ll again have the “joys” of encountering “Regenerator” variants who can only be slowed and fled from as there’s no dramatic way of putting them down this time. Mine-like cysts will blow you off your feet, large tentacles will block your path, and the aforementioned “Feeder” variants will swarm all around you from overhead vents. In addition, you’ll also get into firefights with Danik’s troops. These guys take cover, fire assault rifles and laser-guided rockets, and can even toss grenades at you that you can throw back using your Kinesis ability. Luckily, if Necromorphs are about, you can hang back and let the two groups battle it out, thinning their numbers to make your life a lot easier.

Despite some horrific Necromorphs, the game suffers from a lack of boss battles.

One aspect of Dead Space 3 I was quite disappointed by is the lack of bosses. Bosses have always been a bit of a weak spot in the franchise and Dead Space 3 noticeably suffers from a lack of tangible boss moments. Some Necromorph enemies can be analogous to bosses, such as the ever-annoying Velociraptor-like “Stalkers” who hide behind crates and rocks and charge at you from out of the blue and the large, skeletal Alien Necromorphs that gore you like a rhino. Easily the most persistent boss in the game is the crab-like “Snow Beast”, a gigantic crustacean you’ll battle in three separate locations, with the main strategy repeating each time but with less options for cover and resource replenishment. The Snow Beast lunges at you and tries to squish you with its spiked legs, only being vulnerable after you sever the whipping tentacles on its back and blast at its exposed mouth/underside. Stasis is useful for keeping it at bay but you’ll need to time your dodge roll well to avoid its lumbering attacks. Eventually, you drive it away but it pops back up again later, this time with crates in the way and no opportunities to recharge your meter, and a third time in the middle of a snowstorm where it’s joined by regular Necromorphs. This time, you use Kinesis to activate two generators and then lure it into the path of two harpoon guns that finally tear it apart. Far more visually interesting is the gigantic, Lovecraftian “Nexus” creature. This squid-like thing tries to crush you with its tentacles limbs, spits up Feeders, and tries to suck you into its maw. You must dodge and dispatch these annoyances and blast its tumour-like growths before targeting more globules inside its digestive tract! Finally, you battle the Tau Volantis Moon itself! The very surface crumbles and changes around you as an eldritch nightmare looms overhead, throwing rocks and depositing Necromorphs onto an unstable circular platform. Luckily, there’s a glowing circle here that will super charge your Kinesis and Stasis abilities, allowing you to slow and dismember enemies and launch large blue rocks into the thing’s eyes. Blast its tentacles when it tries to suck you in and repeat this three times, then succeed at a simple quick-time vent and you’ve won the day.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
It’s hard from me to talk about Dead Space 3’s weapons as I struggled with the system. This time, you start with the standard Plasma Cutter and can add attachments and circuits to increase its stats (damage, reload time, clip size and such), which is fine, but you also use these same resources (alongside blueprints found scattered throughout the game) to craft new weapons. While many can be pre-made from these blueprints(providing you have the resources), others are cobbled together to give a sense of customisation. Unfortunately, the cost to create and upgrade weapons is so high that I often found myself relying on the standard Plasma Cutter. I created a rapid-fire submachine gun and a shotgun variant, but they were so weak that I rarely used them. A flamethrower proved much more reliable but you can also craft weapons that shoot lightning or acid rounds, darts, and explosives. I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t get to experience much of this, however. One of the appeals to games like this is naturally acquiring new weapons, but I found it difficult to craft new ones and their benefits lacklustre compared to upgrading the Plasma Cutter. A big reason for this is that the same resources are used to upgrade your suit. While Isaac gains new suits as the story progresses, you can spend resources upgrading your maximum health and armour, extending the range and recharge time of your kinesis meter, and improving your oxygen supply. It seems to be much more stripped down and barebones this time around, but these benefits are useful as you have limited inventory space for things like health and ammo. When you reach a workbench, you can store items in a safe for later use, which is useful, and this is also where you scavenger bot will deposit more resources after you deploy it. It’s worth taking the time to smash enemy bodies, crates, and explore your surroundings for pick-ups as they’ll frequently drop ammo, health, and resources to upgrade and craft your equipment. Recharge points for your abilities are also common and you can occasionally make use of environmental hazards (drops, explosive barrels, and laser traps) to dispatch enemies.

Additional Features:
There are fifty Achievements to aim for in Dead Space 3, many of which you’ll get from a simple playthrough. You get Achievements for beating the various difficulty levels, for example, dispatching the Snow Beast, crafting a weapon, and retrieving resources from a scavenger bot, all things you’d do without even trying. Some are a bit more obscure, such as shooting a deer head in an office, using the gas to destroy five Cysts, and not taking damage in certain sections. Others are a little more grindy: there are audio and text logs and alien artifacts to be found, blueprints and weapons to collect, and limbs that need to be severed if you want to tick off all the game’s Achievements. You’ll also need to play in co-op mode, use different weapons and melee attacks, and complete all optional missions to get the full 1000G associated with the game. Finishing Dead Space 3 on any difficulty unlocks “New Game”, which allows you to restart with all the upgrades and weapons and such from your last playthrough, access a new suit, and acquire better upgrade parts. If you have a save file from Dead Space 2, you get access to the “Planet Cracker” Plasma Cutter. Finally, if you managed to download the game’s additional content, you can play an epilogue story that comes with eight additional Achievements and sees Isaac and Carver escaping Tau Volantis, battling Dik’s cultists, and learning of an impending Necromorph invasion of Earth!

The Summary:
I’d heard that Dead Space 3 was the weakest of the original trilogy. Nothing specific comes to mind regarding that statement, just a general consensus that it’s not as strong as the first two games. I went into it with this in mind but expecting more of the same and, in many ways, that’s true. Dead Space 3 doesn’t stray too far from the previous formula of exploration, puzzle solving, and Necromorph slicing, but it adds a few wrinkles and changes things around just enough to drag it down a little bit. The crafting system, for one, was a major headache for me. I really didn’t like that I couldn’t swap to different weapons to break up the action as I lacked the resources to craft and/or properly refine the other weapons. It also took a lot of the fun out of the exploration when all you’re rewarded with are parts to cobble together weapons rather than an actual gun. The puzzles were extremely stripped down, and nowhere near as prominent. Sure, sometimes you have less time to hack a console or need to craft something to open a door, but ultimately the game failed to utilise the Stasis and Kinesis abilities in interesting ways compared to the last two games. It’s the same for the zero gravity sections. Yeah, it’s fun flying through space but these are merely distractions from the main gameplay rather than being standout sequences since the game would rather waste your time on frustrating rappel sequences. The lack (and recycling) of bosses hurts the game, too. I like fighting big, monstrous creatures but these encounters were few and far between. It’s also weird to me that you don’t get an AI partner in single-player and the game didn’t lean more into the co-op aspect. I honestly forget John Carver was even there as he only appears in cutscenes and scripted sequences, making you wonder why they bothered with the co-op function at all. Ultimately, there was a lot to like here – the game is as horrific and nerve-shredding as ever – but I can’t help but feel as though something was lacking. The soul, perhaps? I can’t quite put my finger on it but it was definitely a far less enjoyable and much more aggravating experience compared to the first two, which is a shame considering the core gameplay and mechanics are just as appealing.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Dead Space 3? How do you think it compares to the previous two games? What did you think to the co-op mechanics and the new rappel gimmick? Were you also disappointed by the lack of boss battles and frustrated by the increased enemy swarms? Were you able to craft some decent weapons or did you also struggle with this system? Did you ever find all those artifacts? Which game in the franchise is your favourite? What horror-theme videogames are you playing this October in anticipation of Halloween? Whatever your thoughts on Dead Space 3, drop a comment below.

Game Corner: Dead Space 2 (Xbox 360)

Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 25 January 2011
Developer: Visceral Games
Also Available For: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X (Backwards Compatible)

The Plot:
Three years after his nightmarish encounter on the USG Ishimura, former engineer Isaac Clarke arrives on the Sprawl, a civilian space station built on the remains of Saturn’s moon, Titan, only to find that a new Necromorph outbreak has been unleashed.

The Background:
Inspired by survivor/horror franchises like Silent Hill (Konami/Various, 1999 to 2012) and Resident Evil (Capcom/Various, 1996 to present), Dead Space (EA Redwood Shores, 2008) was the brainchild of Glen Schofield and a small but committed team of developers determined to shake up the genre’s gameplay mechanics. Highly praised and having sold over one million copies, development of a sequel began immediately following the first game’s release. In that time, Electronic Arts’ Redwood Shores rebranded to Visceral Games, who gave the game makers a great deal of autonomy over the project after all the good will they’d built up on the first game. Pushing themselves to improve and refine Dead Space’s unique presentation, concept, and mechanics, the developers sought to expand Isaac’s movement and combat options, incorporate destructible environments to be used as weapons, and tone down the difficulty of the game’s puzzles to fit this new action-orientated approach. His personality was also greatly expanded, with him evolving from a silent character to a speaking one, and the grotesque Necromorphs were greatly expanded upon to better fit the game’s bigger and more varied environments. Like its predecessor, Dead Space 2 was very well received; critics praised its foreboding atmosphere, the deeper dive into Isaac’s fractured mind, and the focus on gory, fast-paced action shooting. There were some concerns about repetitive sections, the abundance of dialogue sections, and the downloadable content (DLC) but, overall, Dead Space 2 is regarded as one of the best entries in the franchise and a top title in the survival/horror genre.

Gameplay:
Dead Space 2 is a science-fiction survival/horror title in which players once again assume the role of engineer Isaac Clarke, a psychologically damaged individual who must cut through swarms of monstrous undead in a bid to prevent the Necromorph outbreak spreading further. If you’ve played the first Dead Space or other third-person action shooters then the control scheme will be very familiar to you: A lets you interact with the environment, open doors and crates and pick up resources and such, B and Y lets you quickly use any Med Packs or Stasis Packs stored in your inventory, and X lets you manually reload your weapon. To aim and fire your weapon, hold down the Left Trigger and press the Right Trigger; when not aiming, RT allows you to deliver a close-range melee attack. Holding down the Left Bumper sees you run without fear of a stamina meter, while the Right Bumper triggers your weapon’s alternative fire mode when aiming or sees you stomping on crates or crawling enemies outside of aiming. You can quickly switch weapons on the fly using the directional pad and bring up your inventory screen with the ‘Back’ button; here, you can use or drop items in your inventory and review your mission objectives but be careful as enemies can still attack you in this state. Finally, you can press in the right stick to briefly be shown the way with a glowing waypoint marker and trigger a zero gravity jump by pressing in the left stick.

In between chopping up Necromorphs and floating around in zero g, you’ll be hacking a lot of panels…

As before, Dead Space 2 kind of goes against usual conventions; normally, you’d expect to aim for the head or torso to take out zombies and demonic monsters but, instead, you’ll stand a much better chance if you target the limbs of your Necromorph enemies. Luckily, Isaac is well equipped to handle this; even his default Plasma Cutter is extremely effective but, just like before, he has a couple of extra abilities on hand to help. When aiming, you can press Y to unleash a “Stasis” blast; this will temporarily freeze any enemies it touches, allowing you to target their weak spots to sever their limbs, but is also necessary to freeze obstacles in your path. You’ll need to use it to slow down fan blades, crushing pistons, and similar hazards in order to progress and solve puzzles. If you press B while aiming, you’ll grab nearby objects, ammo and collectibles, and even limbs and bodies with your “Kinesis” ability. These can then be flung at enemies or other objects with RT and this ability is how you’ll be solving most puzzles as you’ll need to move power cells, explosive canisters, and even dead bodies in order to restore power, move heavy doors and obstacles, or get past biometric security doors. Kinesis is also used to move platforms, slot gears and batteries in place, and to remove panels from walls to allow you to hack them. This hacking mini game crops up quite a bit and sees you rotating a cone of light on a display scene and pressing A whenever it goes blue; press A when it’s red or take too long and you’ll receive a shock of electricity, though you don’t have to worry about any gun turret sections this time around.

Isaac’s abilities and your steady hand and button mashing are needed to solve the game’s puzzles.

As mentioned, there are once again many times when you’re forced to float around in zero gravity, usually to get from one section of the space station to another but sometimes you will be out in the void of space, battling giant Necromorph tentacles and solving puzzles with Kinesis. Zero gravity doesn’t seem to show up as much as before and isn’t as frustrating as I remember from the last game; you press the left stick in to take off or land, floating around is easy enough and you can orientate yourself at the press of a bumper, and you don’t encounter that many enemies in these sections this time, either. Instead, you’ll mostly be floating to platforms, moving large objects by attacking explosive cannisters to them, or inserting or removing power cells, perhaps dodging the odd flame burst or instant death hazard as you go. Again, you’ll also find yourself in a vacuum, often in these zero gravity sections; here, you need to keep an eye on your rapidly depleting oxygen meter, topping it up at refuelling stations as you complete puzzles and boost past hazards with LB, but it’s nowhere near as aggravating as some of the sections from the first game were. You do have to be careful when fighting Necromorphs, though; a stray shot or explosion will shatter the protective glass and see you sucked out to your death, so be sure to quickly shoot the switch to save yourself from a grisly demise. There seems to be a greater emphasis on button mashing, too; you’ll need to tap A whenever Necromorphs pounce or swarm over you or when Isaac’s hallucinations get out of control, which can be tricky as you really have to mash the button to shake them off. Occasionally, you’ll need to fire at laser traps, dodge incoming fire from gunships, and fend off hordes of Necromorphs as your allies work to restore power but easily the most memorable section of the game comes near the end when you need to hold down A when the reticule is blue to successfully pierce Isaac right through this pupil! Finally, while you’ll no longer be travelling between train stations in obvious segmented sections, the game’s story is still split into chapters and you’ll be making use of vents and elevators to progress from one area to the next, often with minimal chances to backtrack past a certain point.

Graphics and Sound:  
Dead Space 2 certainly ups the ante with its visuals. Like the first game, every environment has a decidedly “lived-in” feel to it, with much of the sci-fi aesthetic drawing upon films like Alien (Scott, 1979) and especially Event Horizon (Anderson, 1997). The Sprawl has been absolutely desecrated by the Necromorphs; blood, bodies, and debris are everywhere, turning bright and cheery elementary schools and once-bustling social areas into ominous hellscapes. Messages are scrawled on the walls in blood, power and lights are out all over the facility, dead bodies drop from above and non-playable characters (NPCs) are offed (or kill themselves) with gory malice, all while the endless dark void looms outside of every window. In zero gravity environments, debris floats around aimlessly; water becomes as bubbles and even fire billows around with impressive effect. If you breach a window, you must fight against the pull of gravity, which sucks everything in the vicinity outside, and there are all kinds of different locations found throughout the Sprawl. You’ll visit an ornate and elaborate church, a cyro lab, and the fuel processing facility, all while passing through areas done up more like something out of Doom (id Software, 1993) with their foreboding candles and flickering lights. Dead Space 2 is so much bigger than the first that it’s spread over two discs; during the second part, you’ll return to the Ishimura from the first game and revisit several key areas, now stripped back to the insulation and under repair as part of a salvage operation, which was both really cool to see and where Isaac’s mental instability really escalates.

The game explores Isaac’s fractured mind as much as it does its new and old locations.

All throughout the game, Isaac’s bombarded by nightmarish visions of Nicole and his experiences from Dead Space, which cause the environment to burst to life or enemies to suddenly attack you, only for it to be revealed to all be in Isaac’s head. As he ventures deeper into the mines and closer to the Marker, these visions only escalate, to the point where he’s forced to literally confront his ghosts head on. It’s because of this greater narrative focus on Isaac and his mental state that he now has a voice; he’s constantly talking with his hallucinations or relaying information back to one of his many allies, allowing for a deeper insight into the previously mute character but also interrupting the atmosphere with these blatant loading times. While the character models skew towards being marionettes at times, the gory deaths and the twisted, unsettling appearance of the Necromorphs more than makes up for it. Isaac’s intimidating suit is also a highlight, and still displays his health and other stats build into it to keep you immersed in the dread of your surroundings, and there were some interesting set pieces to engage with. It was fun floating around outside, realigning the solar panels; I also enjoyed fending off waves of Necromorphs on the back of a giant drilling machine, and every area has some kind of horrific visual to throw at you and keep you on edge. This tension is aided by the fact that the Necromorphs can literally spring from anywhere; they clamber over walls, up from below, drop through grates, and even burst to life from dead bodies, meaning you constantly have to be on your toes and wary of even the slightest sound as it could indicate oncoming danger.

Enemies and Bosses:
As before, the primary enemy you’ll be facing here are the Necromorphs; these disgusting, unsettling alien lifeforms have overtaken human hosts both alive and dead and attack through a variety of means. Capable of scuttling about using vents and walls alike, they primarily attack with bladed, scythe-like appendages and can pin you down if you’re not careful. Some will spit acid-like vomit at you from afar which dramatically slows you down; others are smaller, firing projectiles from a distance or crawling at you like babies to explode on contact. A flying variant will latch onto dead bodies to spawn new enemies and tries to suck your face off if it gets too close; gangly ones burst into tiny Facehugger-like variants; and the more obese ones simply explode in a shower of gets. There are Necromorphs with a huge, explosive club-like arm, ones growing out of walls who’ll rip your head off if you get too close, and really annoying, fleet-footed ones that dash about behind cargo containers to distract you so another member of the pack can catch you off-guard. In most instances, your best bet is to keep your distance and sever their limbs but be warned as Necromorphs are more than capable of scurrying along the floor with half a torso and attack in swarms this time around, turning even simple sections into a bit of a gauntlet at times.

Larger, tougher enemies often take on a boss role, with the Marker itself being your final trial.

This appears to be the game’s way of making up for the fact that there really aren’t too many boss battles, in the traditional sense. Some of the larger Necromorphs substitute for bosses, and then will reoccur as larger obstacles you need to bypass. Large, plant-like Necromorph growths spit explosive projectiles at you when you’re in space, for example, and you’ll again have to battle large, ape-like brutes who charge at you wildly and need a taste of your Static to slow them down so you can target the weak points in their armour. A recurring larger Necromorph is the tripod variant; at one point, a whole bunch of these attack you as you’re riding an elevator, requiring you to blast at their joints to fend them off. You’ll also venture into their nest, where a gigantic, Lovecraftian mess of muscle needs to be blown apart using nearby fuel cannisters as the beasts attack you in an arena of sorts. One of the most memorable boss encounters is against the gigantic, spider-like Tormentor; you’ll need to blast its joints to free yourself from its grip before frantically running from it down a narrow corridor. When you get blasted out into space, quickly target the fuel cannisters surrounding it to finish it off before it pops you like a balloon! In the final section of the game, one of Dead Space’s most annoying enemies, the Regenerator Necromorph, reappears to pursue you; although you can slow and freeze it, this thing constantly regenerates anew to be a pain in the ass and there’s no way to destroy it permanently this time, so you’re better off dismembering it, freezing it, and running away. In the finale, you incur the wrath of Director Hans Tiedemann as the massive Marker goes haywire around you; simply mash A to wrench the arrows he shoots out of your body and then fire his gun back at him to finish him off. The final boss itself is more of a metaphysical battle between Isaac and his memories of Nicole; when she warps you to a grainy hellscape, she’ll one-shot you if you get too close and send glitchy Necromorphs to swarm you. However, concentrate your fire on her and she’ll vanish, exposing the Marker’s core for you to shoot; repeat this a couple of times and the game will be won in somewhat anti-climactic fashion, especially as you appear to have infinite ammo for this final challenge.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
Although all Isaac’s abilities from the first game return here, you’ll need to pick them up as you explore and fight through Dead Space 2’s morbid environments. You begin the game unarmed, strapped into a straightjacket, and must acquire a flashlight, your trusty Plasma Cutter, and the ability to use Kinesis and Static once again all in the opening moments of the game. From there, you’ll find ammo, credits, Med Packs, and more in crates and dropped by defeated Necromorphs. Credits, ammo, weapons, and coloured items can be sold at the various shops scattered throughout the game, often near save points. Here, you can shuffle your inventory, moving items out of your active inventory and unlock new suits and weapons to use by exchanging the schematics you find on your adventure. Each suit increases your armour, offers a discount, or reduces the cost of your abilities, but you can also upgrade these elements at the benches you’ll also come across. Here, you can spend Power Nodes on upgrading the capacity, reload speed, and damage output of your weapons, adding a special element to them (such as shots setting enemies on fire), and on increasing your health, air, and the duration of your abilities. Power Nodes can also be used to open special doors to areas filled with rare loot, and you can buy them at the shop as well if necessary. Isaac has an array of weapons available to him, each with an alternative fire mode, such as the arrow-firing javelin gun, the flamethrower, the detonator (which fires out proximity mines), the ripper (which spits out a spinning buzzsaw for gory up-close dismemberment), and the intense power of the contact beam.

Additional Features:
There are fifty Achievements up for grabs in Dead Space 2, with about sixteen being easily acquired simply by playing through the story. You’ll get Achievements for buying suits, scoring a kill with every weapon in the game, upgrading one and then all the available weapons, severing 2,500 limbs, and killing fifty Necromorphs while they’re frozen. There are some oddly specific ones, such as impaling a Necromorph to a wall, cutting up a statue, and making use of the decompression mechanic to suck enemies into space, and other more predictable ones, such as beating the game on harder difficulty settings. At the start, there are four difficulty modes available, with even the easiest setting being a bit of a challenge at times; a fifth is unlocked after completing the game, as are a couple of new suits and a “New Game+” mode that carries over your progress to a new save. There are a bunch of audio logs to be found that flesh out the story, a specific piece of treasure to nab for an Achievement, and the game can be expanded through DLC packs that add eight extra Achievements in addition to a multiplayer component to the game. Finally, if you have a save file from Dead Space on your profile, you’ll gain access to a more powerful Plasma Cutter, for free, at the first shop you go to.

The Summary:
I put off Dead Space 2 for way longer than I wanted to; I really enjoyed the first one thanks to its dark, gory, and oppressive atmosphere but life and my backlog meant it took some time to get to the sequel. However, I easily slipped back into this gritty and macabre world and was still able to appreciate the return to familiar, but changed environments from the first game. Conceptually, Dead Space 2 is definitely bigger; there are more locations available to you, ones that are more visually diverse than the first game and which continue to impress with their fantastic use of lighting and blood to make every area akin to a slaughterhouse. I wasn’t massively impressed by Isaac’s chatterbox demeanour but I do think it was necessary for the progression of his character and the story. Seeing him struggle with his mind, memories, and the influence of the Marker made for some effective jump scares and really helped to keep the atmosphere oppressive and dangerous at all times. The combat and Necromorphs continue to be a highlight; you get just enough resources to survive each encounter but it doesn’t take much to leave you relying on those survival/horror instincts as you regroup and reload what little ammo you have left. It seems as though a lot of the more frustrating elements from the first game have been removed or refined; the zero gravity and vacuum sections are far less aggravating, though the hacking mini games and abundance of vents got old pretty quickly. I was also a bit disappointed by the apparent lack of new enemy variants or big, gross boss battles but the abundance of enemies and the variety offered by most encountered meant that the difficult stayed at a fair but challenging level even on the easiest setting. In the end, Dead Space 2 offered more of the same, expanding on the first game visually and in the refinement of mechanics and combat, while delivering the same level of scares and mounting dread as you explore, solve puzzles, and slice up those screwed up zombie monsters.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

What did you think to Dead Space 2? How do you think it compares to the first game and do you think it still holds up today? What did you think to the focus on Isaac’s mental instability and the use of jump scares? Were you also a bit disappointed by the weapon and enemy variety on offer? What did you think to the visuals of the game and the increased focus on gore? Which Dead Space game is your favourite, and would you like to see more from the franchise? What horror-theme videogames are you playing this October in anticipation of Halloween? Whatever your thoughts on Dead Space 2, drop them below or comment on my social media.

Game Corner: Dead Space (Xbox 360)

Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 13 October 2008
Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Also Available For: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X (Backwards Compatible)

The Background:
Dead Space was the creation of Glen Schofield, who was inspired by the likes of Silent Hill (Konami/Various, 1999 to 2012) and Resident Evil (Capcom/Various, 1996 to present) and attracted the attention of a small, but committed, team of developers and Electronic Art’s (EA) Redwood Studios. The team worked tirelessly to put together a proof of concept and push the game within the company, and constantly tweaked the different gameplay mechanics to keep things action-packed and tense. Crucially, Dead Space opted to forgo a traditional heads-up display (HUD) and render cutscenes and story sequences using the in-game engine to avoid breaking the player’s immersion, and combat became more about dismembering enemies rather than mindlessly blasting away. Dead Space is an extremely well-regarded title; reviewers praised the innovative mechanics and horrifying atmosphere, though the story faced some criticism. Still, the game sold over one million copies and kicked off a successful new survival-horror franchise that came to be comprised of animated tie-ins, two sequels, and even a next generation remake.

The Plot:
When a massive deep-space mining ship goes dark after unearthing a strange artifact on a distant planet, troubled engineer Isaac Clarke joins the repair mission. There, he finds a nightmarish bloodbath as the ship’s crew have been horribly slaughtered and infected by alien scourge known as Necromorphs.

Gameplay:
Dead Space is a third-person, survival/horror action shooter with an emphasis on atmospheric horror, light puzzle solving, and exploration. Players are placed into the mute boots of engineer Isaac, who spends pretty much the entire game garbed in a steampunk-like work suit and hiding behind a glowing helmet. Isaac comes armed with a Plasma Cutter by default, but has a few options available to him when it comes to combat: players can hold down the Left Trigger to enter aiming mode (and, crucially, can move while aiming and shooting) and press the Right Trigger to fire their weapon. Outside of aiming mode, you can press RT to throw a slow, clunky, and awkward melee attack to fend off Necromorphs, hold the Left Bumper to jog along a bit faster, to press the Right Bumper to deliver a big stomp to downed Necromorphs or break open crates. There’s no jump or dodge function, but you can press A to interact with consoles or shake off Necromorphs when they grab or claw at you; providing you have some Med Packs on hand, you can heal yourself by pressing X, the directional pad (D-pad) functions as a shortcut to your weapons and allows you to quickly switch between up to four guns on the fly, and you can reload by pressing LT and A or switch to an alternative fire mode by pressing LT and RB.

Dismember enemies, move objects with Kinesis, or freeze them in place with Stasis.

While most of this is standard third-person fare, Isaac also acquires a couple of “modules” that allow him to perform a few unique tricks: You can activate the Kinesis Module by holing LT and pressing B, which will allow you to move certain obstacles out of the way, activate certain consoles, and move platforms and doors to progress further and solve problem. While you can use this as much as you like, the Stasis Module is limited by a meter than can only be replenished at refill stations scattered around the game’s locations or with a pickup. Stasis can be used to freeze enemies in place for a limited time, slow fans or other hazards, and is crucial to keeping you safe from attacks or the game’s many instant-kill traps. Unlike many other videogames, Isaac’s health, ammo, and Stasis meter are all displayed either on his suit or on his weapon, a system that easily allows you to see how well you’re doing or when you need to reload or replenish your meters. You can access your inventory, map, and current objectives by pressing the ‘Back’ button (though this won’t pause the game) and are given the option of dropping items if your inventory is full, or dropping them in a safe at Store stations found around the game’s environments. While the map isn’t too clear, you can press in the right analogue stick at any time to drop a light that will briefly point you in the right direction, which is super helpful; slightly less helpful is the abundance of text and holographic imagery that appears onscreen to advance the story and mask the game’s loading screens, though this does flesh out the story and point you towards your next objective. Although you have to manually save the game at save stations, the game does actually contain checkpoints; so, if you die halfway between save points, you’ll respawn pretty close to where you were split in two by a Necromorph.

Puzzles involve activating or repairing consoles, avoiding hazards, and eliminating Necromorphs.

Dead Space’s story is split into twelve chapters, with each one separated by a tram-like system around the ship, and can initially be played on Easy, Normal, or Hard difficulty settings, with additional difficulties being unlocked after you complete the story. You cannot replay previous chapters at will, so if you miss any of the pick-ups or collectibles, you’re either going to have to start over or make multiple save files. For the most part, it’s pretty simple to figure out where to go and what you need to do but the camera is placed very close to Isaac at times; when aiming, I found that his character model took up quite a bit of the screen, which made it difficult to get off a good shot (something that’s pretty important considering you need to dismember the Necromorphs to kill them rather than shooting at their bodies). Isaac’s objectives don’t tend to get more complicated than exploring a foreboding area of the ship, fending off Necromorphs, and recovering key items such as a key card, a piece of machinery, or other object and bringing it (or them) back to another area or non-playable character (NPC) to repair a console, machine, or other part of the ship or progress further. Sometimes, areas will get locked down as a quarantine is put into effect and you’ll need to hold out against waves of Necromorphs; other times, the ship decompresses or starts exploding around you; but, mostly, you’ll need to use Stasis or Kinesis to slow down hazards, move platforms, or activate switches to get closer to your objective. While you’re often tasked with moving big batteries around with Kinesis to power up lifts, you’ll also need to kill special Necromorphs that are poisoning the air in the botanical gardens, watch out for air vents, whipping power lines, and laser cutters that threaten to splatter or skewer you or your enemies, clear an area of radioactive material in order to restore gravity and power, and dash through (or shield yourself) from bursts of flame while shooting electrical panels to open doors.

Watch your air supply in a vacuum, jump around in zero gravity, and blast asteroids with gun turrets.

Indeed, a prominent aspect of Dead Space is the presence of zero gravity areas; here, you need to hold down LT and press Y to leap across the environment, often while fending off Necromorphs, moving items with Kinesis or activating consoles. You can’t jump to every part of the environment, and the game will notify you when you’re trying to jump to the wrong part of the floor (or ceiling), and it can be a bit disorientating trying to direct yourself in these areas, though they do help to break up the gameplay a bit. There are also many sections that take place either in a vacuum or out in the depths of space; here, sounds are suitably muted, your flamethrower won’t work, and you are in a race against time to cross through the vacuum to the next air lock before your oxygen supply runs out. You can replenish your oxygen supply at refill stations or with items, though, and increase your capacity using Power Nodes; sometimes, you’ll have to deal with zero gravity and a vacuum at the same time. A little more variety is added to the game in a couple of sections where Isaac takes the controls of a massive gun turret to fire at incoming asteroids or a gigantic Necromorph using LT and RT (both separately and at the same time) to keep the ship from being destroyed, but don’t get too trigger happy or you’ll have to wait for the turret to cool down from overheating.

Graphics and Sound:
If I had to use one word to describe Dead Space, “atmospheric” would spring instantly to mind. Players spend the majority of the game exploring a deep space mining vessel, the Ishimura, which has been absolutely wrecked by the outbreak of the Necromorph virus. Dead bodies, blood stains, claw marks, and even dismembered NPCs are all over the place; sometimes they’re still alive and shoot themselves in a frenzy, other times they’re torn apart by Necromorphs, and there’s one harrowing moment where it looks as though a mass suicide has taken place. Ominous words written in blood can be seen everywhere and you can never be too careful when turning a corner as Necromorphs have a nasty tendency to burst out from air vents, glass capsules, or from every nook and cranny to attack you. Sometimes, a massive tentacle will grab at you and drag you around by the ankle, forcing you to blast at its tumour-like weak spot, and visibility it often low thanks to a foreboding darkness, intermittent lighting and power failures, and bursts of flames and electrical sparks in the flickering darkness.

The environment is suitably bleak, blood-soaked, and teeming with atmospheric horror.

The best way to describe this game is by calling it Resident Evil meets Event Horizon (Anderson, 1997). The technology and environments all have the same “lived in” feel of that gloriously entertaining space horror and the sense of dread that constantly hangs in the air is just as palpable. Nowhere is this comparison more apt than in one particularly annoying mission where you have to plant markers on a giant asteroid being mined by lasers; the asteroid is protected by huge concentric rings that will slice you in two and is heavily reminiscent of Event Horizon’s Gravity Drive. Other notable areas of the ship include a cargo bay medical facility, the aforementioned botanical gardens, and the main bridge, all of which are crawling with hazards or Necromorphs waiting to pounce on you. You’ll find workstations in disarray, ammo, credits, and collectibles in lockers and crates, and areas frozen from exposure to the void of space. At one point, another ship crashes into the Ishimura and you have to help guide and load up a shuttle with the dangerous “Red Marker” that is the cause of all this chaos, a mission that also forces Isaac to face up to some unsettling truths on the hellish planet of Aegis VII for the finale.

Isaac may not say anything, but he gets lots of video messages and is a surprisingly complex character.

You don’t really interact with too many NPCs outside of holographic messages, video calls, or seeing them shielding behind glass or trapped in other rooms. There are some exceptions, however, such as Isaac’s frequent encounters with his wife, Nicole, who he thought was dead and whose voice and memories haunt him throughout the story. Although Isaac himself doesn’t actually talk (always a weird decision for a third-person shooter, I find), you can review his thoughts in his mission log and objectives, and he cuts a formidable and interesting figure. His suit and helmet are instantly iconic and, though they hide his face throughout the game, they make him seem almost as horrific as the creatures he encounters and his grunts of pain and panting wheezes when in a vacuum or running low on health really add to his otherwise blank personality. Transferring the HUD to Isaac’s suit and weapons is a great way to keep the screen from getting too cluttered, and the use of ambient sounds (particularly a haunting rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”) really add to the game’s horrifying, ominous sense of dread and claustrophobia. Even brightly lit or familiar areas aren’t always a safe haven as the ship can be thrust into a lockdown or dead bodies can suddenly burst to life as Necromorphs, often even while you’re trying to save the game.

Enemies and Bosses:
Isaac is hounded throughout his treacherous and nightmarish mission by demonic Necromorphs, which come in all shapes and sizes and are the result of a horrific alien virus that reanimates corpses and transforms them into shrieking, taloned beasts hungry for human flesh. The most common variant is the Slasher, a blood-soaked, malformed corpse that sports blade-like appendages and shambles towards you either alone or in groups. As with the vast majority of the Necromorphs, these are best dispatched by targeting their limbs rather than their central mass; dismember their insectile arms to keep them from skewering you, and cut off their legs to slow their movement, but be sure to make sure they’re really dead as these bastards have a tendency to take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’! Other common enemies includes the Lurker (a sort of disembodied head that sports three tentacles, hops all over the walls and ceilings, and fire projectiles at you), the Leaper (which, as its name suggests, leaps at you (appearing to float in zero gravity areas) and scuttles across surfaces whipping its scorpion-like tail at you), and the bulbous Pregnant (which lumbers about and bursts forth a swarm of tiny Necromorphs that can quickly whittle down your health bar). Rather than facing off against a boss at the end of each chapter, Isaac will generally encounter newer and deadlier variants of the Necromorphs in each area: The Exploders shuffle about and try to blow you up with their huge, explosive arm (which you can shoot to blow them up, and any nearby Necromorphs), bat-like Infectors will try to attach themselves to you and cause any nearby corpses to burst to life as dangerous Necromorphs, and the corpse-like Dividers are gangly, gory corpses that split into smaller, equally dangerous Necromorphs after being downed.

Some massive monstrosities await you in Dead Space, but most have nice, obvious weak spots to shoot.

Large Brutes often act as sub-bosses and must be slowed with Stasis so you can target their various weak spots across their armour-like hide, and you’ll encounter Guardians merged with the walls and have to fend off the Pods they spit out, watch for their instant-kill attack, and severe the tentacles tying them to the Corruption that covers the environment. That’s not to say that there aren’t encounters that could be called boss battles in the game; the intimidating Hunter regenerates lost limbs and tissue so fast that, at first, all you can do is hit it with Stasis or temporarily immobilise it while running to safety. To properly destroy these creatures, you’ll need to lure them into a cryogenic chamber or behind the thrusters of a space shuttle and hold them in place with Stasis and get them into their regeneration animation to put them down once and for all. You’ll also battle the gigantic Leviathan in the food storage area of the ship; this battle takes place in zero gravity and sees you dodging tentacles and firing at the tumorous lumps on its appendages to kill it off. A similar creature, the Slug, attaches itself to the outer hull of the Ishimura and begins ripping it apart, forcing you to man the controls of a gun turret and blast at its tentacles and the debris it throws your way. After being tricked into activating the Red Marker, Isaac must face down the Hive Mind on Aegis VII; this eldritch abomination is a mess of flesh, tentacles, and teeth but sports yellow/green tumorous growths in its gaping maw that you can shoot to damage it. As long as you avoid its massive tentacles and target these areas when its rib cage opens up, you can put this beast down pretty quickly and bring the Necromorph threat to an end.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
Isaac has a decent variety of weapons at his disposal; the Plasma Cutter he begins the game with is pretty much capable of taking care of every enemy you come across, but you can also pick up a Pulse Rifle for rapid fire, a Line Launcher to shoot out explosives, a flamethrower, and the Ripper, which shoots out buzzsaw-like blades that you can direct to chop up incoming Necromorphs. Each weapon has an alternative fire mode and some are more useful against different enemies; you can charge up the Contact Beam to blow apart bigger enemies, for example, but it’s probably best to use the flamethrower when swarmed by little Necromorphs or to subdue large groups. It pays to explore your environment from top to bottom, and to ransack the corpses of the Necromorphs you kill, to find ammo, health and restorative items, credits, and other items. These are often found in smashable boxes, crates and lockers or strewn around the environment, but be wary as you only have a limited inventory. You can, however, expand your inventory, health bar, Stasis meter, and the power, capacity, and reload speed of your weapons at Workbenches. Here, you can spend Power Nodes you’ve either found or bought on the skill tree of each weapon, your modules, and your suit, though you’ll need a hell of a lot of them to upgrade all of Isaac’s weapons and equipment. You can also find blueprints to allow you to buy new weapons, better restorative items, and even better suits that increase your maximum health, meter, and air supply, so be sure to search all around and focus your efforts on upgrading what works best for you.

Additional Features:
There are forty-eight Achievements on offer in Dead Space, with one popping after you complete each chapter. You’ll get Achievements for dismembering a certain number of limbs, killing a certain number of enemies with each weapon, acquiring every weapon in the game, and completing the story, and for upgrading every weapon and piece of equipment available to you. There are also audio logs to be found to flesh out the story and earn you some G, secret areas to find, and mini games to play that will pop an Achievement. These include a shooting gallery and a zero gravity ball game, and you’ll also get Achievements for keeping the ship’s hull integrity above a certain percentage when shooting down incoming asteroids. After finishing the game on Easy mode, I unlocked a new suit for Isaac, additional logs, 50000 credits, ten Power Nodes, and “Impossible Mode” (which, I assume, is a one-life-only type of mode). While you don’t get to replay specific chapters, you can replay the game from the beginning with all of the weapons, upgrades, and gear you’ve collected, but the lack of a chapter select means that tracking down the last of those Achievements can be a bit of a slog.

The Summary:
Being a big fan of the Resident Evil franchise, and having largely exhausted the games available to me in that series, I was eager to get my teeth into Dead Space and found that it more than scratched my itch for an atmospheric, claustrophobic survival/horror experience. Infusing a desolate sci-fi aesthetic into the genre was an ingenious idea and had me constantly thinking back to films like Event Horizon and games like Doom (id Software, 1993) thanks to the merger of horror, sci-fi, and demonic imagery. While I could have done with the camera being pulled back just a tad and Isaac could be a little clunky to control at times (a quick-turn function really would have helped), and it was pretty much impossible to upgrade all of his gear in one playthrough, I found myself really enjoying the ominous aesthetic of the game, the tight dark corridors, and the thrill of each encounter and managing my resources. I was worried that the limb-targeting system would be difficult to get the hang of but I picked it up pretty easily and was soon dismembering Necromorphs left and right, but even on the easiest setting the game offers a decent challenge as enemies can take a fair bit of damage before finally going down and it’s easy to get overwhelmed or blunder into traps and instant-death hazards. Still, the game had a fantastic atmosphere, tight controls, and intriguing premise, and a suitably morbid and gory presentation and I found myself thoroughly entertaining as I ploughed through each chapter, splattering Necromorph (or Isaac’s) guts all over the walls and clear just one more chapter and I’m excited to tackle the second game in the near future.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Have you ever played the original Dead Space? How do you think it compares to other survival/horror titles and do you think it still holds up today? What did you think to the game’s enemies, aesthetic, and mechanics? Did you like the mixing of sci-fi with survival/horror or did you find the game a bit derivative? Which of the game’s weapons and was your favourite and what did you think to Isaac as a protagonist? Which game in the Dead Space franchise is your favourite and are you looking forward to the remake? What horror-theme videogames are you playing this October in anticipation of Halloween? Whatever your thoughts on Dead Space, drop them below or comment on my social media.