Dead Space PS3 Review

Dead Space has a pretty good story for a survival horror game, though the game goes the route of having the main character a mute. You play as Isaac Clarke who is a crew member aboard the USG Kellion. The Kellion is on its way to the Ishimura, a mining vessel, in order to investigate why a distress signal was sent. However, things go wrong and Isaac Clarke searches for his girlfriend aboard the space ship while fending off hordes of Necromorphs. The story involves a cult and an artifact that was recovered from the surface called the Marker.

All in all, the story is pretty good.

If you've played Resident Evil 4 or 5, then you'll feel right at home when you sit down to play Dead Space. However, there are some changes, so it's not entirely the same. First though, how does the game play for people who may not have tried Resident Evil 4 and 5?

The game sees you move Isaac Clarke around the Ishimura with the left analog stick, while the right analog stick controls the camera and weapon aiming. During the game, Necromorphs will attack your character and to combat them, you have various tools/weapons at your disposal. One difference from Resident Evil is that you need to aim for the creature's limbs to dismember them. Another difference is that you can actually move and fire at the same time, which is great.

The upgrade system from Resident Evil 4 and 5 is also present, though it's slightly different. Essentially, you can buy nodes or find them and then place them in various places on a circuit like interface, with some of the places giving bonuses to the weapon in question. The nodes can't just be placed anywhere either, as they need to be placed next to another one and there are normally several upgrade paths available. Also, credits can be used to buy items such as ammo.

Another difference from Resident Evil is the inclusion of zero gravity sections, where you can jump all over the place and enemies/items float in the air. It's not great, but it's not bad either. They don't come along very often either.

The game's graphics are really pretty good, though with the game being released in 2008, they're not the best on the market. Still, they more than hold their own against the graphics featured in other games, combining with the game's sound to create a truly remarkable atmosphere. In fact, one of the early sections sees Isaac sta

nding on a platform that moves across a wide open space with a massive drop (into some black void) and plenty of smoke lingering around the area.

Accompanying the graphics in creating a great horror atmosphere is the sound work, which is great. In fact, it perhaps adds more to the atmosphere than the actual graphics. As Isaac walks down the corridors of the Ishimura, sounds will be heard and they won't always be made by Necromorphs that are nearby. You'll hear the ship creaking and hear bangs away from where you are. If you wear a headset as well, you'll get the full aural experience of the game.