Dead Space PS3 and 360 Review

Dead Space is perhaps my favorite atmosphere-focused game since Bioshock. Coming out of the EA Redwood Shores development team, it’s a fantastic science fiction third-person action/horror game set in the confines of a grizzly, alien-infested spaceship. You’ll take on the role of Isaac Clarke, an engineer who finds himself in the midst of an epic adventure for survival. From the thrilling opening to the amazing final boss battle, Dead Space is a wonderful game that keeps you engrossed for every moment of its gameplay.

The game starts with an opening sequence that’s right up there with Half-Life 2, Metal Gear Solid 2, Escape From Butcher Bay, and all the other iconic openings in videogames. It opens with the main character Isaac joining a small crew onboard a shuttle dispatched to repair the USG Ishimura, the oldest operating large-scale mining vessel in Earth’s fleet. Upon arriving at the Ishimura, the shuttle is forced into a harrowing emergency landing procedure, and it’s from this moment that the game grabs hold and never lets go. The game stays in a third-person perspective over Isaac’s shoulder throughout the duration, similar to the view seen in Gears of War or Resident Evil 4. You’ll move through 12 chapters, and the story thankfully wraps up all of its loose ends by the end credits. There might be room for a franchise here, but this a well-developed, self-contained plot, and for that I’m very thankful.

The actual gameplay is largely centered around combating enemies and powering-up your weapons and armor. The combat revolves around what EA calls “strategic dismemberment.” Basically, all of the alien enemies can be torn up in a variety of ways. The weapons are almost all various mining tools, but there are some more conventional weapons as well. The design of the game is largely unique among the sci-fi videogame world, in that all of the technology feels like natural progressions of today’s technology, rather than requiring you to overly suspend your disbelief in order to understand how something works. The interface to the game is projected entirely out of Isaac’s suit, so you’ll never have to leave the game environment to access menus or inventory. The combat is quite enjoyable, and the dismemberment mechanic actually works. There’s a full upgrade system in place here, requiring you to collect Power Nodes to upgrade your suit and weapons, as well as cash. Each item in the game has its own skill tree that allows you to upgrade its effectiveness, and there are stores throughout the ship where you can buy new items. It’s a great system, and encourages replaying the game to try new upgrades and different weapons.

Presentationally, the game is top-notch and among the best on the market. The game uses a proprietary graphics engine with some of the best lighting I’ve seen in a game. Everything casts a real-time shadow, and the game uses post-processing effects to make sure environments look different every time you walk through them, which is good since there is some minor backtracking involved in the game. Sound got even more attention, and this has the best sound mix I’ve ever heard in a game. The game is able to mix sounds and music in real-time, which keeps the tension high throughout the entire experience. Fidelity is really impressive, and the sound will probably make you jump even more than the graphics will. The game performs equally well on the PS3 and 360, with the PS3 taking a slight edge in texture quality and sound quality. There’s also a PC version available, but I’ve not had the chance to play it before this review.

EA have created a smooth, polished, highly fun game here. The game runs stable throughout, and even the load screens are tuned to be short and keep you in the experience. If you have any interest in sci-fi videogames, horror, or third-person shooters, you owe it to yourself to play this game. I completed the game the first time in just under 10 hours, but there is a new game plus option here that allows you to play through the game again on the same difficulty, keeping all of your upgrades and gaining some bonus items. This is a phenomenal game, and a strong contender for the best game released in 2008. It’s got four difficulty levels, and it tunes the ammo pickups to what you’re carrying, so just about anyone with an interest in the idea should be able to complete it, while those of you looking for a challenge can crank up the difficulty. Recommended whole-heartedly for horror, sci-fi, or action fans. This game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, check out deadspace.ea.com.


	Dead Space PS3 and Xbox 360 Review…5 out of 5 By Alex Rowe Dead Space is perhaps my favorite atmosphere-focused game since Bioshock. Coming out of the EA Redwood Shores development team, it’s a fantastic science fiction third-person action/horror game set in the confines of a grizzly, alien-infested spaceship. You’ll take on the role of Isaac Clarke, an engineer who finds himself in the midst of an epic adventure for survival. From the thrilling opening to the amazing final boss battle, Dead Space is a wonderful game that keeps you engrossed for every moment of its gameplay. The game starts with an opening sequence that’s right up there with Half-Life 2, Metal Gear Solid 2, Escape From Butcher Bay, and all the other iconic openings in videogames. It opens with the main character Isaac joining a small crew onboard a shuttle dispatched to repair the USG Ishimura, the oldest operating large-scale mining vessel in Earth’s fleet. Upon arriving at the Ishimura, the shuttle is forced into a harrowing emergency landing procedure, and it’s from this moment that the game grabs hold and never lets go. The game stays in a third-person perspective over Isaac’s shoulder throughout the duration, similar to the view seen in Gears of War or Resident Evil 4. You’ll move through 12 chapters, and the story thankfully wraps up all of its loose ends by the end credits. There might be room for a franchise here, but this a well-developed, self-contained plot, and for that I’m very thankful. The actual gameplay is largely centered around combating enemies and powering-up your weapons and armor. The combat revolves around what EA calls “strategic dismemberment.” Basically, all of the alien enemies can be torn up in a variety of ways. The weapons are almost all various mining tools, but there are some more conventional weapons as well. The design of the game is largely unique among the sci-fi videogame world, in that all of the technology feels like natural progressions of today’s technology, rather than requiring you to overly suspend your disbelief in order to understand how something works. The interface to the game is projected entirely out of Isaac’s suit, so you’ll never have to leave the game environment to access menus or inventory. The combat is quite enjoyable, and the dismemberment mechanic actually works. There’s a full upgrade system in place here, requiring you to collect Power Nodes to upgrade your suit and weapons, as well as cash. Each item in the game has its own skill tree that allows you to upgrade its effectiveness, and there are stores throughout the ship where you can buy new items. It’s a great system, and encourages replaying the game to try new upgrades and different weapons. Presentationally, the game is top-notch and among the best on the market. The game uses a proprietary graphics engine with some of the best lighting I’ve seen in a game. Everything casts a real-time shadow, and the game uses post-processing effects to make sure environments look different every time you walk through them, which is good since there is some minor backtracking involved in the game. Sound got even more attention, and this has the best sound mix I’ve ever heard in a game. The game is able to mix sounds and music in real-time, which keeps the tension high throughout the entire experience. Fidelity is really impressive, and the sound will probably make you jump even more than the graphics will. The game performs equally well on the PS3 and 360, with the PS3 taking a slight edge in texture quality and sound quality. There’s also a PC version available, but I’ve not had the chance to play it before this review. EA have created a smooth, polished, highly fun game here. The game runs stable throughout, and even the load screens are tuned to be short and keep you in the experience. If you have any interest in sci-fi videogames, horror, or third-person shooters, you owe it to yourself to play this game. I completed the game the first time in just under 10 hours, but there is a new game plus option here that allows you to play through the game again on the same difficulty, keeping all of your upgrades and gaining some bonus items. This is a phenomenal game, and a strong contender for the best game released in 2008. It’s got four difficulty levels, and it tunes the ammo pickups to what you’re carrying, so just about anyone with an interest in the idea should be able to complete it, while those of you looking for a challenge can crank up the difficulty. Recommended whole-heartedly for horror, sci-fi, or action fans. This game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, check out deadspace.ea.com.