What is... Dead Space

 

Immersive, claustrophobic, terrifying, and innovative. I suppose these are the best adjectives to describe Dead Space. This old gem was released way back in 2008 and has been critically acclaimed as one of the scariest horror games ever created. The game is available on the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, no porting to the PS4 and Xbox One has been done yet. The story tells about a discovery of an alien marker by the outer space excavation team and how things turn horribly wrong when the marker emits a strange frequency which causes mass suicide for the livings and reanimates the bodies of the dead. Players take role as the engineer Isaac Clarke to embark on USG Ishimura a large excavation spaceship on a quest of responding to the distress signal it sends. Inspired by the legendary Resident Evil 4, the team behind Dead Space took their inspiration on creating a sci-fi horror masterpiece.

Always check just to make sure.

With zero knowledge of what Dead Space was, I took my chance and played it on the PC when I was younger. I had played Resident Evil 4 and beat the game up several times to the point I think I could beat the game in one day before I played Dead Space. The “over the shoulder” third person shooter genre which RE4 pioneered plays the important role as one of the gameplay mechanics in Dead Space. As I progressed further in the game, I realized how similar yet how different it is with RE4. I started to develop a great interest on this game from its lore, graphic, and its gameplay. Gore has always been my favorite animation effect both on video games and films, excuse my morbidity but that’s my personal taste. Don’t worry, I’m not a serial killer, I’m just a serial writer.😉

Dead Space’s horror theme does not leave the gore element behind, instead, it embraces it, I’ll explain how later on. But before that, allow me to explain what makes Dead Space one of the greatest video games ever developed and why it is still worth playing if you are new, and worth replaying just to reminisce this gold. I am going to discuss the gameplay overview from the graphic, HUD and UI, the combat, and the weapons and armors customization.

This GIF fails to capture the small heart attack I had when that monster jumped at me.

Heads-Up Display and User Interface

Heads-up display and user interface, these two elements are the ones that make your screen looks “busy”, yet it appears in almost every video game that you play. The heads-up display typically works to show your health point, mana point, ammunition, mini map, skills and abilities, and the list goes on. Well friend, you can kiss those traditional HUDs goodbye because Dead Space is removing it in the hope of trying to literally put you in Isaac Clarke’s shoes, and I think it is the coolest innovation the game offered back in 2008. It successfully creates this immersive feelings of you as the main character you are playing in the game despite the fact that the game is in third-person point of view. 

Accessing inventory happens real-time in the game.

With the removal of the HUD, Isaac's condition can be monitored through his Resource Integration Gear (RIG) suit. Health bar is now located at Isaac's back indicating Isaac's health. The suit can also project holographic interface for players to access Isaac's inventory, to view logs, and access map. Accessing this interface however happens in real-time, in other words, players are still exposed to danger when doing this action as the game is not paused. 

Isaac's navigation device.

On top of that, the RIG suit also provides Isaac a quick navigation hologram that points to the current objective or the waypoints you set. Personally, I found these details to be very sophisticated. The user interface design on the holographic screen really delivers the futuristic design of the settings, you can tell from the way it is designed it is not meant to be exaggerated, the compact design of the UI fits perfectly well with the RIG suit. Dead Space to me is graphically way ahead its time, I like the part the lighting ambience the developers do with the game and also the shader details, rag dolls details, and overall claustrophobic design bring about a really well-optimized game on all platforms even on medium to low end computers. 

The horror element of Dead Space is way ahead its time.

Combat

Now let’s move on to the fun part, the combat. Dead Space did something really different and new from other shooter game, it is the ‘strategic dismemberment’. Yes, you heard it right, dismemberment in a strategic way. Throughout the game you will be battling mutated reanimated corpses which are called the necromorphs. What once was human now has been turned into a deadly terrifying alien which will brutally attack you and kill you. Classic video games will urge the players to shoot the head for critical hit and to one-shot enemies. Dead Space leaves that mechanic behind and puts in a new formula, dismemberment.

Decapitation won't stop the necromorph.

Shooting off the head of the necromorph is probably the worst ideas you could have in Dead Space since a headless necromorph will immediately slash its way blindly yet ravagingly towards where you last stand. Shooting off the legs it will still drag its way to slash to you. Shooting off one of the upper limbs won’t let it stop from slashing you with its other limbs. The only way to stop them is by dismembering their limbs as much as you can until it is truly dead. This gory yet innovative gameplay is one of Dead Space’s key features in the gameplay. Necromorphs come in many forms but the most common one that you will see is the Slasher. It is the most common enemy but still very deadly when you are outnumbered or when it catches you by surprise. 

Always use statis when caught off guard.

Apart from the strategic dismemberment feature that the game provides, another two combat aspects that you have to understand are the stasis and kinesis modules. Stasis allows players to shoot a projectile that will slow any object on its trajectory down. This could come in really useful when you are overwhelmed by a group of enemies to reposition yourself or to finish them off quickly before they could charge onto you. Kinesis on the other hand will allow you to grab objects from afar and throw them to enemies or to retrieve it if it’s a consumable item. Throwing sharp objects to enemies will have a chance of impaling them, this can be a last ditch resort when you are short on ammunition.

Kinesis is mostly used for moving large object or grabbing unreachable item.

Upgrades

Upgrades can be done by using power nodes which reflects heavily on engineering methods.

Next, let's talk about weapon and armor mechanics and upgrades. There are quite a number of guns usable in Dead Space all with it's futuristic design. Aiming the gun will not show you a classic cross-hair like other shooter games, instead it will only show you a blue laser sight which I personally think very very cool. Every weapon found in the game has its own alternative firing mode. For example, the starting weapon Plasma Cutter will turn from vertical firing line to horizontal firing line as its alternative firing mode. This is useful for players to adapt based on what enemies they are fighting against or which limbs they are trying to cut off. This alternative firing mode feature really brings about a more unique gameplay that will surely make players eager to upgrade the weapons more or to utilize different types of weapons to bring about a decent firepower for tougher enemies.

Upgrading suit is as essential as upgrading firearms.

Conclusion

Wherever you are, there is always this chilling sensation walking through empty passages.

Lead creative director Glen Schofield gave us one of the best horror game out there.

Dead space is a redefining classic horror game with inspiration from other games, most notably Resident Evil 4, and mixing it up with its own innovative formula. The overall production designs are simply perfectly balanced, with no exaggeration of horror elements added, jump scares are present but this isn't the only horror element Dead Space uses to send the a shiver at the back of your neck, the excellent audio design could already scare you and make you be at the edge of your sit as long as you are playing this game, I play on the PC and use earphone all the time, I suggest you should do this too thus reaching the immersive stage of your gaming experience. The idea of making Isaac an engineer instead of a military man is a brilliant choice made by the developers, witness how Isaac battles a group of necromorphs using only weapons designed for mining purposes, but at the hand of Isaac's they are the only weapons used to kill those terrifying creatures. All in all, I guarantee this game will worth your time if you are new to the franchise, one of the best franchises ever made by EA games. I hope I have given enough clarification for you to get a gist of what Dead Space is. Cheers, folks!