You’d expect things to be kind of peaceful in space, right? Well not exactly, as poor Isaac Clarke will find out in the first installment of EA’s hit horror series which is essentially their version of Resident Evil but in space. Dead Space brought us an exciting horror experience when the 7th generation was struggling for one and now after 8 years I ask if it still holds up.
Back in 2008, many developers were adamant on creating a fresh and engrossing survival horror experience but all they did was to try and replicate Resident Evil 4. So we got games such as Dark Sector and Alone in the Dark which were decent but lacked timeless and compelling factors. Then EA came in with this beautiful gore fest. You play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer who’s heading for the famed Planet-cracker The USG Ishimura, after it goes completely off the grid. Isaac is also hoping to find his girlfriend, Nicole and rekindle their love once again. But when transport vessel crash lands on the Ishimura and the team go to investigate, they discover everything has gone pretty much to hell.
Dead Space is strongest for its survival gameplay, which involves brutal combat mechanics and aspects of exploration which rewards highly for keen observers. The act of dismembering your enemies is a great feature that helps create a strong sense of tension and utilizes player tactics other than running away. The combat is intense while also expansive, such as having improvised weapons from buzz saws, hydrogen torches and plasma cutters which feel in keeping with Isaac being an engineer. We are also offered a great variation in enemy types, environmental interactions to kill your enemies and a number of modifications to help you out. For example, there is Kinesis which allows Isaac to pick up objects from a distance and Stasis which slows down moving objects for a short period. Both are good for combat and also play an important role in a number of puzzles and set pieces.
Among the combat, there are some good lateral elements that combine different mechanics and impressive scales to make puzzles seem a little more interesting than opening a locked safe even if many of the puzzles are put object here, slow down a moving object to shoot it and so on. One of the most interesting concepts put in survival horror games around this time were trading mechanics. Dead Space of course has a trading system or an in-game store that works with much more freedom than Resident Evil 4 with fewer limitations on what you can buy, such as ammo. It can make the game a little easy when you can buy ammo and granted it’s rather pointless as you can find ammo everywhere. Yet you do need to explore the world to discover vital blue prints in order for the store to sell you items such as ammo and new weapons.
While still a survival horror game with exploration at its core, Dead Space offers big set pieces and even bigger boss battles. Normally set pieces take the form of a large death-trap which Isaac must escape from, either by navigating through a chamber that spews fire or outrun the turbines of a huge engine. The only let downs as far as I’m concerned are the Zero-G platforming sections, which are slow, disorientating and just boring with a total lacking of compelling boss battles. Sadly bosses are phenomenally bland and resemble nothing more than shooting weak points on big pink blobs with teeth. Their designs are also rather disappointing compared to the smaller NPCs. Sub bosses, such as the regenerator are light years better and actually feel more like a threat worth engaging. I wasn’t so keen on the turret section with an overwhelming number of asteroids to shoot.
What I can certainly say is that Dead Space is still scary. This is due to two factors, pacing and the fantastic sound design. The sound design is superb from the creepy tones in the distance to the strong voice acting, every sound has a purpose and works effectively within the game world to deliver a stronger sense of dread. Actual jumps scares are subtly played for the most part, coming right out of the blue without, usually with a monster silently creeping up on you. Not to mention the creepiness of the game world is purely energetic, from seeing some poor guy banging his head on the wall to a hearing a whispering echo of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
My biggest complaint lies with the weak story. Don’t get me wrong, the setting and back stories to some of the characters are very interesting, and yet we don’t actually learn about the main cast. Isaac is nothing more than a mute with no personality and no back story. Originally he was meant to have a developed character and voice, but I guess the Director felt otherwise.
The twists, including the “big one” are so obvious is embarrassing and along with certain story elements never being fully fleshed just make the plot shallow. Just like how the game kills off one the main (and interesting) antagonists at a random moment just out of the blue. As though the game just got tired of him? The marker also becomes a slight issue as it becomes massively redundant knowing that the main culprit to these horrendous events is just a giant alien blob within the planet. It felt like that Stephen King novel where the Clown turns out to be a massive spider. It makes little sense as the Marker just acts as a Beacon? It created the blob? Well I don’t know. I will admit the next two games don’t clarify much and the by the third game …. Yeah it gets pretty silly.
Yet immersing yourself in various logs gives a little more depth to the world. I felt more connected to the Mr and Mrs Temple, who were trying to find one another on the ship and ended up dying side by side. Isaac, I didn’t care. He’s difficult to relate with or even care about him. The only emotion we get is when he learns the dire truth of Nicole and all he really does is slap his head. I imagine it’s more of a “oh come on” expression rather than sadness.
What Dead Space also does poorly is inventive or interesting mission structures. Objectives just result in go here, fix, oh no it’s broken, go somewhere else and fix that. These types of objectives just make the game feel long winded and tedious towards the end without expanding on interesting locations pass the half way mark, resulting in backtracking to previous areas and visiting dull looking industrial areas. So Dead Space will become slightly repetitive as it drags on.
Well, with these glaring problems does it make the game less desirable? No. Dead Space is still a great horror game even after its release 8 years ago. There are aspects which have become better with time while others feel a tad bit worse. Even so, it’s still worth remembering and definitely worth playing again if you can pick up a copy. Its influence on sound design and pacing can be seen in other horror games and for the current generation and for EA; it’s one of the best things they’re done in the last ten years.
Dead Space
Pros
- Phenomenal sound design
- Still visually striking
- Strong survival gameplay
- Great elements of horror
- Good replay value
Cons
- Dull narrative
- Lame boss battles
- Zero-G platforming is dull and disjointed
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