Drawing obvious inspiration from films such as Event Horizon and Alien, this third-person shooter from EA is called Dead Space, and it's a sci-fi infusion of horrific mutilation into the now formulaic survival horror genre.
Anybody's who's played a third person shooter before will be right ... Read review
In the future, Earth's appetite for resources has become a major motivator for deep space ... more
exploration. Immense, privately-owned and operated mining ships called "planetcrackers" orbit planets and use sophisticated equipment to carve out entire city-...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In the future, Earth's appetite for resources has become a major motivator for deep space ... more
exploration. Immense, privately-owned and operated mining ships called "planetcrackers" orbit planets and use sophisticated equipment to carve out entire city-...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Dead Space for the Playstation 3Its been some time since the gaming world has been graced ... more
with an entirely new survival horror game and Visceral Games have done exactly that with there lastest effort Dead Space for the PS3. Dead Space brings back something lost in the annals of gaming "fear", it's very rare for a video game to truly scare and the gruesome Dead Space does. Take of Isaac Clarke an engineer, as he investigates the USG Ishimura a ship that seems to have been abandoned, but all is not as it seems. experience zero G environments and Fight your way through hordes of Necromorph to uncover the truth.
Hardcore survival horror comes to the Nintendo Wii. Revisit Aegis VII to discover how it ... more
all started, before the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games played out. This on-rails light-gun shooting game sees tensions rise and psyches stretched as players discover the beginning of the necromorph debacle. The dark brooding art style of the Dead Space combines with the familiar weapon set and Wii console controls to recreate that frightfully wonderful experience once again.
Advantages: Gripping, dripping, next day shipping. Disadvantages: Messy pants.
...shooter from EA is called Dead Space, and it's a sci-fi infusion of horrific mutilation into the now formulaic survival horror genre.
Anybody's who's played a third person shooter before will be right at home with Dead Space from the get go. Left thumb stick controls your movement, right thumbstick points your cross hairs. You can aim with the left trigger, and let rip with the right. Very simple, very intuitive (if perhaps a smidge ... ...has the ability to infect dead hosts and reanimate them, causing a futuristic zombie outbreak to, well, break out on the U.S.S. Ishimura. As part of the repair team sent in to investigate the lost communications with the mining ship, you play Isaac Clarke who is nothing more than a lowly engineer. Unfortunately, your ship crash-lands into the silent vessel while attempting to dock, and so you're thrown headlong into one of the most engrossing games ... more
Drawing obvious inspiration from films such as Event Horizon and Alien, this third-person shooter from EA is called Dead Space, and it's a sci-fi infusion of horrific mutilation into the now formulaic survival horror genre.
Anybody's who's played a third person shooter before will be right at home with Dead Space from the get go. Left thumb stick controls your movement, right thumbstick points your cross hairs. You can aim with the left trigger, and let rip with the right. Very simple, very intuitive (if perhaps a smidge unresponsive for the twitch-kiddies out there), no need to mess with it despite being pretty standard fare.
The story is fairly standard as well - an alien parasite has the ability to infect dead hosts and reanimate them, causing a futuristic zombie outbreak to, well, break out on the U.S.S. Ishimura. As part of the repair team sent in to investigate the lost communications with the mining ship, you play Isaac Clarke who is nothing more than a lowly engineer. Unfortunately, your ship crash-lands into the silent vessel while attempting to dock, and so you're thrown headlong into one of the most engrossing games of the year, with no way out.
So what sets Dead Space apart? Well, being an engineer, Isaac doesn't really pack much military hardware. You can get your hands on a Pulse Rifle, but most of the weapons you'll come across are what you'd expect - plasma cutters of varying sizes, jury rigged flamethrowers and makeshift explosive launchers. These weapons can all be used in secondary fire modes that are varied if not really realistic, but the game can just as easily be completed with the small plasma cutter you find in the opening moments of the game, so many of these weapons just take up precious inventory space.
One good thing about Dead Space is the lack of anything resembling a H.U.D. (that's heads up display, for the layman). There are no health bars, ammo counters or minimaps cluttering up the screen. Well, sort of. Isaac's health is represented by the number of lights lit up on his back, while weapons all display their current ammo counters when you take a closer look at them. You can also always find your next objective by clicking the right thumbstick, which sends out a bright blue line giving you a direct path to the next waypoint. Even better, in game messages - even the menu - are shown as projections from Isaac's helmet, which is a slightly double edged sword. On the one hand immersion is complete, but on the other you really do need a large screen or you're going to wreck your eyes by trying to read the extremely small writing on a sub-sized menu.
There are some small RPG elements in that Isaac can customise his weaponry and his armour. These upgrades require items found throughout the game and available to purchase from the in-game shops, and feature upgrades such as increased rates of fire, faster reload times and, of course, higher damage output. In the case of your armour they'll increase Isaac's hitpoints, amount of O2 that is available in your air supply, stasis abilities and telekinesis rating.
Woah woah woah, you say. Stasis? Telekinesis? Yeah, you heard me. Isaac himself isn't some kind of futuristic magician or anything, but for some reason his suit has a "stasis module" that somehow slows down an enemy (or just about anything, for that matter) for a certain period of time when you fire it off, allowing you to dismember that sucker good, or just run for the hills. Isaac can also utilise kinesis to throw fanblades at approaching uglies, move debris the hell outta the way, or toss tables and chairs behind him while making a quick getaway. Both are handled fairly well, though the main use for each is in some of the games many puzzles, which are generally well thought out and not too abstract or mentally taxing. There's none of that "find two halves of the moon key" crap here.
There are sections of gameplay in zero gravity, where you'll find yourself jumping from wall to wall while trying desperately to avoid the Necromorphs charging in. The jumps themselves are mini-cutscenes, control is completely gone during these periods which I did feel a little bit jipped by... at least let me shoot stuff, yeah? But no. So these sections don't really add anything other than a disoriented feeling because every wall is also a floor, every ceiling is a wall, and my head hurts and I want some paracetamol. The sections in absolute vacuum, however, are terrifying. Space is silent, of course, which just adds to the horror factor, because you won't hear them coming. And your air is always running out.
The main gameplay element that differentiates this title from the slew of other, similar games, is the mutilation. One of the reasons the enemy can seem tough at the beginning is because the fastest way to take them down isn't a headshot, it's by blowing off their arms and legs. Legs, of course, do double duty by simultaneously slowing the blimmin' thing down. But that's not all. The parasites won't incubate in corpses with barely any limbs (don't ask me why, it's never fully explained) so it's a good tactic, even encouraged, to stomp on any human corpses you find until they're just a bloody torso and a pile of mashed up limbs. You're pretty sick, EA. And you made me sick too, cause I did it.
So, Dead Space is a game that takes a tested formula and adds a few extra elements, but nothing riskily innovative. And by golly, it works. But that's not all there is to it. I'd be remiss in my writing if I didn't mention that Dead Space almost constantly relies on dramatic set pieces guaranteed to **** you up, at least once. There's a gigantic tentacle attached to a massive mouth that drags you by the feet through the deserted corridors of the Ishimura. It comes out of nowhere, and the first time it happened I just knew I was going to see the Game Over screen, but I didn't care. It was still awesome! There are pregnant women, infected by the parasite, strung up on walls and firing... well, their zombie babies I guess... at you in sprays of gunk. Oh come on!
There's a lot of stuff in here, and I'd love to tell you about it all but it will ruin it. I won't say that it's absolutely mind-blowing, in the same way that it's not incredibly original. And I won't tell you that you'll be playing it forever, because even with achievements there's not a whole lot of replay value. What I will say is that the creatures, the set pieces and the shadowy dread of every room really make this game stand out. If you're a fan of third-person shooters, survival horror, or just really well executed games then you should get it.
Advantages: Making corpses burst apart in Zero-Gee! Disadvantages: Horror and enemies get rather repetitive.
Dead Space!!! Remember when you were young? I know it's difficult, but try and cast your mind back to when you could only reach the top shelf in the kitchen with the aid of a chair and the thing foremost in your mind was whether your parents would let you keep the dog you found with no teeth. There were a lot of things back then which I felt were unfair, but the biggest were the chores. 'Wash the dishes!' 'Mow the lawn!' 'Clean the toilet!' ... The ... ...found it difficult to like Dead Space, I'm not a big Horror genre fan and had decided to "dip my toes" so to speak, but doing so left a bad taste. The missions are split into "scenes" but each one is just glorified handy-man jobs given to you by somebody sat in relative safety somewhere else on the ship. In the end I found myself muttering like a child, 'Why do I have to do it!?' The monsters are varied but the way of dispatching them is always amputation ...
CarbonHunter 01.09.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Space (Xbox 360)
Advantages: Good horror / survival with great parts to the story. It will make you jump. Disadvantages: Slightly repetitive. A couple of bugs. A couple of the chapters are very short.
Dead Space. A survival horror / corridor shooter vaguely akin to Doom 3. When I first saw this game it was second hand, priced at £12 in my local game shop. It had been recommended to me by a friend as being a great game of its genre so I decided to try it. I would have missed out if i hadn't taken his advice. I am usually skeptical of EA games post Battlefield 2 and 2142 for the PC. In my eyes EA are able to churn out amazing games, only to be rendered ... ...say that Dead Space is without them, there was a couple of instances where enemies got trapped or made unable to move by the scenery, but that just made it easier for me. Other than that there has been nothing of note that hindered my gameplay, which is a nice surprise. You play Issac Clarke who is an engineer sent to the Mining Ship Ishimura along with two crew-mates. It is supposed to be a routine operation since communications were lost with the ...
tribalsj 12.10.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Space (Xbox 360)
Advantages: * Deeply engrossing story * Breathtaking visuals and nerve-wracking audio Disadvantages: * Repetitive mission objectives * Close-quarters combat is troublesome.
...first things to notice in Dead Space is that it features a complete lack of a traditional heads up display, instead information is integrated into Isaac's rig uniform, to see his current health you may only glance at his meter to the rigs spine, and to see how much ammo's left in you weapon, simply check the display read out visible when every you raise it to a engage position. Menu's are holographic projected in front of you real time, producing ... ...stores you come across.
Dead Space never fails to impress with its conspireing visuels, whether your watch the torrential rainfall of asteroids across the whole of the Ishimura, or witnessing the way a corps spinning serenely in zero G vacuum. The haunting but beautiful graphics of Dead Space have away of sticking in your mind long after you've quit playing. What really gives it an incredible experience, is its incredible sound design.
Dead Space ...
ReviewGamer 18.12.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Space (Xbox 360)
Advantages: good graphics, storyline that will keep you involved, new ideas done well Disadvantages: a bit repetitive, sometimes confusing but the game does help you
I went to blockbuster and rented this game for a week for £5.95 and at the moment i'm very impressed, it's unlike anything i've played before really.
it's a bit scary in a way, but if you've ever played F.E.A.R this is nothing, it has jumpy moments but doesn't set a scary atmosphere really, the story line is great, the graphics are great, the way you have to cut off the limbs of enemies instead of trying to shoot for their head is a good addition ... ...game and you can dismember them with relative ease (apart from the faster moving ones!)
i run out of ammo quite often on the game with the weapons (most weapons are stuff left around by mechanics on the space ship) like plasma guns, welding guns and buzz saws. the foes use team-work if you like, they attack in packs, fake death and even climb through the ventalation shafts to pop our else where.
i haven't got to a "boss" as of yet, but based on ...
SnoopZakaDaVe 27.10.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Dead Space (Xbox 360)
Advantages: Unmatched graphics and atmosphere of any horror game, Captivating and thorough storyline Disadvantages: Lacks online modes, Repetitve surroundings and enemy selection
...If your looking for a game that will push your nerves to a their limit, Dead Space promises to have you glued to the screen from start to finish, or have you cowering behind the sofa. Buy Dead Space and experience the truest horror from any game to date. ...
Tame-the-Game 13.09.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Dead Space (Xbox 360)
In the brilliant, bold and often-bloody Dead Space gamers will step into a third-person sci-fi survival horror experience that promises to deliver the ultimate in psychological thrills and gruesome action.
Set in the cold blackness of deep space, the atmosphere is soaked with a feeling of tension, dread and sheer terror. In Dead Space, players step into the role of engineer Isaac Clarke - an ordinary man on a seemingly routine mission to fix the communications systems aboard a deep space mining ship. It is not long before Isaac awakes to a living nightmare when he learns that the ship's crew has been ravaged by a vicious alien infestation. He must fight through the dead silence and darkness of deep space to stay alive.
