During my little hiatus, I got re-acquainted with my Xbox 360. I blew most of my cash on video game rentals, including a horror game I missed last year. Dead Space, a game by Electronic Arts. I never really played many horror games until as of late. So, one boring day in the heat of June, I decided to rent Dead Space.
Dead Space is a gem with oh-so-many flaws. It suffers from it's own pretentiousness about it's fright-factor. It's mostly jump scares that catch you the first couple of times, and then it gets repetitive and boring. I really never found the game frightening at any time and it felt more like Gears of War. Plus, the combat feels a bit clunky with having to hold a button to hold up a weapon, then press another to fire.However, the third person layout worked quite well. The messages, store and inventory displayed in real time on the HUD is a very good design choice and works very well.
Additionally, the gameplay in the beginning tricks you before you figure out that you have to sever limbs of the enemies, the Necromorphs. By naturally aiming for the head, you find out quickly that they don't go down easily. Later on, the zero-g segments of the levels is quite interesting for this type of game and lead to some interesting boss battles.
The story is also great with the BioShock-esque audio logs peppered throughout the game, giving a series of events leading to the Necromorph infestation and the crew's eventual demise. It also sets up how the crew is beginning to turn on each other due to their beliefs of what these creatures are, which is executed brilliantly.
Overall, Dead Space is an above average game with a few flaws. I would pick this up when you want a nice story and a few scares, but not at full price.
Score: 7.5/10
