Dead good

Dead Space shouldn't be this good. It's a magpie, pinching ideas from horror and sci-fi movies and other games. Its creators EA's Redwood Shores studio, aren't usually mentioned in the same breath as, say, Valve. Its storytelling is sci-fi by numbers. And yet somehow, it works a treat.

The walls have... teeth.

You are Isaac Clarke, engineer on a deep space vessel sent to repair communications with a massive mining ship. Upon docking, Isaac and co's craft becomes incapacitated, forcing them to split up and try and find a way to safety. Which is when they find out that the ship's been taken over by a parasitic alien lifeform.

So far, so Alien, but while the plot might be familiar, the graphics quickly wipe out all thought of blandness. Dead Space boasts about the most impressive lighting ever in a game. Eerie shadows, flashing warning lights and strobing gantry halogens create an ever shifting backdrop, and at some points it's almost as if the rooms themselves are alive. Entering a corridor and seeing your own shadow ahead of you, then catching a flash of spiderish nightmare scuttle past – now that's the way to create fear!

Adding massively to the tense atmosphere is the sterling sound production. The ship creaks and moans, gas jets and computer systems hiss and bleep all around you, and skittering noises are constantly unnerving. Voice acting is also of a very high quality, and recordings from the original mining crew help slowly unveil the true nature of the infestation, building tension as you hear the dying screams of the people who left them. In effect, Dead Space positively demands a decent 5.1 surround setup.

The nightmare never ends

Control doesn't quite innovate in the same way as the audiovisuals, taking Resident Evil 4 as its main, obvious inspiration. Of course, that's no bad thing; the over-the-shoulder viewpoint, thumbstick controlled aim, and melee attacks create suitable claustrophobia, but feel smooth and easy to use. You can even fire on the move, which is something Resi's Leon Kennedy never managed.

Dead Space's missions see you fixing a certain part of the ship (life support for example), or hunting out infestations. Enemies appear from everywhere – the roof, the floor panels, sometimes even bursting through the door, and clearing a room once is no guarantee it'll be safe when you return. Thankfully the combat allows you to make short work of Dead Space's twisted nightmares, with weapons designed to slice limbs clean off, set them aflame, explode them, or just gun them to pieces.

Limb removal is the quickest way to take down Dead Space's nasties. A steady hand and a sure trigger finger will guarantee the enemy ends up in pieces, and to save ammo you can finish them off with a squelching stomp. Weapons meanwhile can be upgraded, while stasis and kinesis powers, allow you to slow down objects and enemies, or pick them up and toss them around. They're fun to play with, but there's also some clever integration of these abilities into the missions.

Probably the best example would be when Isaac visits the outside of the ship, or a zero g containment area. Bouncing from floor to wall to ceiling and back again, these sections boast some of Dead Space's best puzzles, as well as making you consider the lack of oxygen – a counter on Isaac's back keeps you informed of your levels, as does the sound of his breathing and heartbeat.

HUDs up!

While it borrows much, Dead Space, adds clever extra touches to tried and tested mechanisms. The HUD is no longer spread across the screen, instead, the energy bar is on the back of Isaac's suit, as is his Stasis power bar. In-game messages from the crew pop up in a holo-screen in front of him, as do computer monitors. And best of all is the map tracker – a blue trace of light that shoots from Isaac's hand when you click the right thumbstick, showing you your next objective. It's a divinely simple trick ensuring you'll never get lost, which deserves to be copied.

So as we said at the start, Dead Space is good. It's really good. Atmospheric, well designed, great to look at, with satisfying combat and an enjoyable (if slightly hackneyed) storyline, Dead Space is one of the best Survival Horror games this generation.

GAME's Verdict

• Incredible atmosphere.
• Satisfying weaponry.
• Buckets of gore and shocks galore make Dead Space suitably scary.

• No multiplayer, fairly short story.
• Sound really NEEDS a 5.1 setup.
• Buckets of gore: Dead Space won't be for kids or the faint of heart!

Review by: Ian 'Deadly' MacDougall
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 30.10.08

Dead scary

Afraid of the dark? Scared you'll be ripped to pieces by tentacled monsters? This might not be the game for you. Set in the distant future, Dead Space is a survival horror adventure that follows engineer Isaac Clarke as he's dispatched across the cosmos to investigate a stricken mining ship. Very quickly, he discovers there's more going on aboard the USG Ishimura than a snapped fan belt. The craft is swarming with repulsive, man-eating space beasts called Necromorphs. And Isaac is next on their terrifying menu.

You fight for survival via an over-the-shoulder perspective, reminiscent of Resident Evil 4, but with slightly more flexibility (you can side-step - an addition that proves essential). Your aim is to creep gingerly through the ship's labyrinthine innards, looking for survivors and facing up to the interstellar evil you meet along the way.

A saw point

The problem is, you're no colonial marine, so you can forget about laser cannons and thermal grenades. Isaac starts the game with a mere plasma cutter, the Deep Space equivalent of a pocket knife, and must improvise his own weapons from what he can find.

Luckily, there are some meaty spoils to discover, including a flame thrower and a circular saw - named The Ripper - for when you absolutely positively have to reduce everything in the room to quivering slices of deli meat. By rooting around the densely detailed environments Isaac can also find power-ups for both his weapons and his space suit armour, providing that crucial incentive to venture into those dark, ominous corners.

There's something else. Resembling the alien in John Carpenter's cult sci-fi flick The Thing, the Necromorphs can quickly mutate and self-repair - half-hearted attacks simply won't do. The designers at EA's Redwood Shores studio say that Dead Space is a game about - wait for it - strategic dismemberment. That's right, you'll need to amputate limbs, tentacles and often heads in order to take down these things, and even then, a stray arm may just get up and fight back.

Monsters! Everywhere!

The key thing is you're never safe. Some Necromorphs attach themselves to the wall and blow exploding sacks of gore at you, others lurk in air vents, waiting to pull you in with outstretched tentacles. There are also sections with no gravity, where Isaac has to float slowly to safety, leaping along walls and ceilings as the oxygen supply runs out and marauding brain-munchers close in.

Importantly though, Dead Space isn't just a slaughter-fest. The development team employed comic book writers Warren Ellis and Anthony Johnson to flesh out the back-story and create a narrative experience that ladles on plot twists, shocks and surprises as much as bubbling alien blood.

EA has even commissioned a series of comic books to act as a prequel to the game and is releasing an animated CG movie to tell more of the story. The designers spent ages watching horror movies, working out what actually scares people and then pasting it all into the game.

Winter chills

The result looks to be a fully-rounded, extremely adult take on the survival horror genre. Comparisons to Biohazard, Resident Evil 4 and Doom 3 are all being made, but Dead Space is surely more than the sum of these parts; it could well be a benchmark horror title for the PS3/Xbox 360 era.

If you have the guts (and believe us, there are plenty of guts to be had here), this will surely be a chilling treat for those long, dark winter evenings.

Preview by: Keith 'Ripley' Stuart
Preview Published: 15.10.08