Strategic Dismemberment and Extreme Gore

Title: Dead Space
Platform: PC (review platform), Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Redwood Shores
ESRB Rating: M for Mature

Dead Space will be familiar territory for any fans of horror movies set in outer space like "Alien" and "Event Horizon," not to mention other gory, claustrophobic flicks like "The Thing" and "Evil Dead." Developed by Electronic Arts own studio, EA Redwood Shores, Dead Space is a new intellectual property that borrows generously from those films as well as best-in-class survival horror titles like Resident Evil 4, System Shock 2 and F.E.A.R.

What distinguishes Dead Space from the rest of the lot is an interesting mechanic the developer calls "strategic dismemberment." It's not enough to blow an enemy alien's head off - it will just grow back. And you can't take down a hulking Necromorph with well-placed laser blasts to the torso. Instead, players must carefully aim for the aliens' limbs and tentacles and shoot them off before they can regenerate. Similarly, if a Necromorph gets a hold of you, it won't just stab you a few times with deadly claws or strangle you with a slithering tentacle. No, Necromorphs will chop you into pieces, rip your limbs off and decapitate you with vicious fury. Dead Space attempts to raise video game gore into an art form, splattering blood, guts and body parts on the screen like it's a Jackson Pollock painting. I'm not sure if EA Redwood Shores succeeds completely, but I'm pretty sure I've never played a game as gory as Dead Space.

The game begins with a tried and true formula: a spaceship in the far reaches of the galaxy sends out a distress signal, and a rescue mission is sent out to recover the ship and look for survivors. In Dead Space, the ship is the USG Ishimura, a mining ship near the mysterious planet of Aegis 7. The playable character is Isaac Clarke, an engineer who is part of the rescue team aboard the USG Kellion. Isaac has a personal interest in the mission, since his ex-girlfriend Nicole is a crew member aboard the Ishimura and he receives a personal distress call from her at the beginning of the game.

Once Isaac and his team members Kendra and Hammond arrive on the Ishimura, they quickly discover a grotesque alien species known as the Necromorphs have taken over the ship. Worse, the Necromorphs have "infected" the human crew members and transformed them into horrific creatures. The rescue team scrambles to find survivors but soon finds itself stranded on the Ishimura. Isaac is then charged with stopping the Necromorphs and finding a way to salvage the ship from further devastation.

Instead of pausing the game to access the inventory and game map, players must use a holographic HUD, which makes Dead Space tougher and more frightening during combat.

Again, it's all familiar territory, and the story itself has a couple twists that can be seen coming a mile away. But I didn't have much time to lament the story's lack of originality, since Dead Space hits the ground running and is absolutely relentless in approach. The developer strikes the balance between sporadic frights and an incredibly atmospheric setting. While the sections and corridors of the Ishimura aren't particularly flashy, EA Redwood Shores does an amazing job of mixing shadows, ambient light and some of the most chilling, unsettling sound effects I've ever experienced in a game.

Dead Space is a third-person shooter that uses the over-the-shoulder perspective popularized in Resident Evil 4. However, instead of having a separate inventory screen and heads-up display map that pauses the game, Dead Space introduces a holographic projection that keeps the gameplay going. Isaac can access the holographic HUD from his space suit at any time and switch weapons, use various items, view the Ishimura map, and playback audio and video messages. On one hand, not being able to stop the game to reload or swap weapons during a Necromorph attack certainly enhances the suspense. But on the other, it can make combat wildly difficult and frustrating when you have to hit a key or two and have holographic images obstructing your view while running away from bloodthirsty enemies hot on your heels (personally, I prefer the Dead Space method, and I'm not surprised to see Capcom institute a similar system for Resident Evil 5).

In keeping with the spirit of extreme gore and dismemberment, Dead Space features plenty of weapons to chop up the Necromorphs. The first weapon you find is the trusty Plasma Cutter, which fires three energy beams either vertically or horizontally, depending on your plan of attack. The Plasma Cutter is by far the most useful weapon in the game - it's almost too useful, in the sense that players will probably keep it in their inventories (you only have four weapon slots for the game) and skip over or ditch some of the more creative weapons found later in the game.

Those big guns include the Line Cutter, which is a larger version of the Plasma Cutter that fires a slow moving but lethal horizontal beam; the obligatory Pulse Rifle, which makes a lot of sound and fury but does little damage; the Ripper, which fires tethered buzz saw blades; the Flamethrower, which requires no explanation; the Force Gun, which fires shockwaves; and the Contact Beam, which takes a couple seconds to charge but dispenses a lethal laser blast once fired. Each major weapon has a secondary fire mode - the Pulse Rifle, for example, can fire an overhead blast that wipes out enemies in close proximity.

Isaac's Line Cutter is one of the more handy weapons in Dead Space, cutting Necromorphs in half with a horizontal energy blast.

Each weapon appears to have a particular value and comes in handy at some point during the game for taking out a specific type of Necromorph. For example, the Force Gun barely dents larger foes but is extremely valuable in destroying smaller, slithering Necromorphs. The Line Gun, meanwhile, can take out tall, fast-moving enemies in a single shot, slicing them in half but other Necromorphs seem more resistant to the blasts. Overall, the balance for the game's weapons doesn't feel right. You can make it through the game with just a couple of reliable weapons without ever experimenting with other guns, as some of them prove to be impotent for most situations.

Dead Space does feature a decent upgrade system for weapons and items like Isaac's space suit. You can find an occasional upgrade bench during each mission (there are 12 chapters in all that cover various parts of the ship and beyond) and power nodes to build up your weapons' damage, reload time and capacity. The trick is, you have to pick up the sparsely available power nodes and use them wisely, since each weapon has different upgrade paths. There are also stores located throughout the ship where players can buy ammo, weapons, medical kits, space suit enhancements and other goodies (though it seems a little strange that wads of cash would be lying around the Ishimura for Isaac to simply pick up and pocket).

Isaac's space suit also comes with stasis and kinesis abilities. Stasis allows Isaac to target an enemy or structure and slow time around it; this is required for several puzzles in Dead Space but it becomes extremely valuable late in the game when ammo becomes scarce and increasingly powerful Necromorphs swarm you from all directions (though Stasis packs are required for use). Kinesis, meanwhile, is a telekinetic ability to grab objects and pull them toward you or fling them in opposite directions. Kinesis has unlimited power but not much use beyond some puzzles and a key boss battle.

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