I am a major gamer, as many people are in this digital age. I usually spend most of my nights after work, and school, playing any new game that comes out. But, none have caught my eye as the game Dead Space. I am a big fan of futuristic movies, and had actually watched the cult classic Event Horizon days before this came out.
To any game-playing fan of sci-fi things, and people that just feel like they need a good scare, Dead Space is a game that is definitely worth getting. Even for those who only buy a game to see tons of gore, this game has enough gore to last at least one playthrough.
Story (8/10) - For anyone familiar with the many sci-fi movies and with maybe even a little bit of Doom mixed in, this story may not be the most original you've ever seen. But, that doesn't mean it doesn't have its good points.
The main plot of the story is that you, Isaac Clarke, are an engineer sent on a repair expedition, in response to a distress signal, to repair a deep space mining rig. After watching a somewhat depressing video of your girlfriend, who is on the rig, you come in view of the ship. Your team radios the ship to land, but only receives a heart-warming radio silence. Your team attempts to land anyway, and the ship you came on is badly damaged.
You and your team try and find a way to repair the ship, but that is cut short when you're attacked by some type of monsters, and you are separated from the rest of the team and must run for your life. Can you survive?
Gameplay (9/10) - While the story may not be the most original, the gameplay has many new concepts. The most noticeable is that there is no longer a HUD like pretty much every game out there. Some people say the only one, but I think I remember Honk Kong not having a HUD, but I never can be too sure. The HUD is instead integrated seamlessly into the game, with the HEALTH bar being a blue bar running down the player's back, and ever weapon having its own built-in ammo counter.
Taking down enemies in this game isn't quite the same as other over-the-shoulder shooters are today. To really do anything to your mutated foes, you must dismember them and try and do it quickly. With so many enemies around you trying to aim at small limbs can sometimes be difficult, but that just adds to the suspense. To make things even more difficult, ammo is scarce, and to even get to anything in the inventory you have to pull it up and use it in real-time, which can be very difficult when an enemy is attacking you when you just want to use that last stasis-pack. There is also an in-game store that can be used to buy and sell equipment, and was sometimes the only way I found myself to even have any ammo.
Graphics (10/10) - The game is absolutely wonderful looking, with blood and gore everywhere. Sometimes it seems difficult to think you're playing a game, especially given the new HUD system. The visual aspect is definitely one of the best aspects of the game, blending seamlessly with the gameplay and story.
Atmosphere (8/10) - The atmosphere is the absolute best part of the game to me. After leaving your team and being utterly alone, I felt utterly alone. From the dead bodies in the corner to the sounds of the mutations crawling through the vents, I felt like there was absolutely no way I could make it, and that something horrible had happened. Dead Space does a very good job at making the monsters seems disgusting, and the ship seem like a half-living tomb where no hope could possible even begin to survive. But, there was only one bad thing, I was never actually scared. They try many times to make you jump with fear and scream like a little schoolgirl that just saw the grody bug next to her seat, but it sadly falls short of that promise.
Length and Replayability (7/10) - To many, this is the deciding factor for a game, and this is where it may come down to the wonderful choice of rent, buy, or nothing at all. The game doesn't necessarily last as long as most people want, with me completing the game on my first run-through with a time stamp of 6 hours 30 minutes, and that is with only speeding through the last three chapters on medium. And unless you absolutely love to play the game again and again, the only thing you get for beating it that you couldn't have the first time is a new suit, back-story logs meant to flesh out the story, and a new difficulty, which may not be enough for some people.
Overall Score (8.5/10) - The game is very good, nothing necessarily revolutionary enough to say that it is the best game ever, but it does accomplish what it tries to do, which is be a survival/horror game.
Should I Buy or Rent? - That would be totally up to each individual, but if you love a good sci-fi game and just want to collect it than go ahead and buy it. But, if you just want to cruise through it once and see the story quickly, then it's just a rent.
