Dead Space
When Denise reads this she's going to hate my guts because she's going to find out that 6 years ago I dropped $150 US plus shipping on the ultra special edition of this game before anyone knew it was going to be any good. Except me. I knew it was going to be good.
This collector's edition came in a special box and included a Ishimura patch, tiny artbook, hardcover graphic novel, two signed and numbered pieces of artwork and an animated short on DVD. As well as the game of course. The funny part about all this is that a couple years later while attending a Dead Space PAX East panel hosted by Visceral Games I managed to score both the artbook and the hardcover novel just for showing up and got them both signed.
But yeah, Dead Space turned out to be an incredibly rich new science fiction horror property; right from the very beginning when you crash land your ship into the floating graveyard Ishimura. Dead Space follows engineer Isaac Clarke who arrives at the 'planet cracker' mining ship as part of a small rescue team investigating a distress signal. Not realizing they were in for anything more than a downed transmitter, Isaac quickly finds himself surrounded by horrific creatures that are the product of the reanimated Ishimura crew.
Everything about this game is brilliant and inventive. There is no UI in the standard sense, all your information is built into the world design. Heath is shown as a meter on your RIG system (the lit up spine of the suit), ammunition and other info is shown as holographic displays projected from your suit. Your weapons are not weapons in the traditional sense, as an engineer you find yourself using dangerous tools like laser welders, plasma cutters, rotary saws and a hydrazine torch. Tools that allow you to dismember your violent aggressors as trying to kill them by any other means is just a waste of time.
There are some great sections in this game where you have to make your way through sections where the interior is breached, forcing you to quickly pass with a limited air supply to the next area. All the while, everything is a deadened silence as no air means no sound.
Everything has a great mechanical design that feels real and tangible. The monsters are horrific and Visceral really didn't pull any punches with the designs which capture husks of the humans they were as part of the grotesque beasts they now are. Everything about the game is designed to make you feel vulnerable, even with a few ranged weapons on your person you are constantly worried that something is going to drop down from the ceiling and rip your suit apart to chow-down on the goo inside.
Dead Space is easily one of my absolute favorite games of all time. The horror element was the exciting part that grabbed my interest, but the solid, tangible sci-fi elements sold me on the rest. The designs are amazing, the sound is fantastic and the overall atmosphere of the game is cold and haunting. I'm glad I jumped on this game when it came out and I've never been disappointed yet. Dead Space 1, 2, 3 and Extraction for the Wii were all amazing and I can't wait for a 4th.
When Denise reads this she's going to hate my guts because she's going to find out that 6 years ago I dropped $150 US plus shipping on the ultra special edition of this game before anyone knew it was going to be any good. Except me. I knew it was going to be good.This collector's edition came in a special box and included a Ishimura patch, tiny artbook, hardcover graphic novel, two signed and numbered pieces of artwork and an animated short on DVD. As well as the game of course. The funny part about all this is that a couple years later while attending a Dead Space PAX East panel hosted by Visceral Games I managed to score both the artbook and the hardcover novel just for showing up and got them both signed.
But yeah, Dead Space turned out to be an incredibly rich new science fiction horror property; right from the very beginning when you crash land your ship into the floating graveyard Ishimura. Dead Space follows engineer Isaac Clarke who arrives at the 'planet cracker' mining ship as part of a small rescue team investigating a distress signal. Not realizing they were in for anything more than a downed transmitter, Isaac quickly finds himself surrounded by horrific creatures that are the product of the reanimated Ishimura crew. Everything about this game is brilliant and inventive. There is no UI in the standard sense, all your information is built into the world design. Heath is shown as a meter on your RIG system (the lit up spine of the suit), ammunition and other info is shown as holographic displays projected from your suit. Your weapons are not weapons in the traditional sense, as an engineer you find yourself using dangerous tools like laser welders, plasma cutters, rotary saws and a hydrazine torch. Tools that allow you to dismember your violent aggressors as trying to kill them by any other means is just a waste of time. There are some great sections in this game where you have to make your way through sections where the interior is breached, forcing you to quickly pass with a limited air supply to the next area. All the while, everything is a deadened silence as no air means no sound. Everything has a great mechanical design that feels real and tangible. The monsters are horrific and Visceral really didn't pull any punches with the designs which capture husks of the humans they were as part of the grotesque beasts they now are. Everything about the game is designed to make you feel vulnerable, even with a few ranged weapons on your person you are constantly worried that something is going to drop down from the ceiling and rip your suit apart to chow-down on the goo inside.
Dead Space is easily one of my absolute favorite games of all time. The horror element was the exciting part that grabbed my interest, but the solid, tangible sci-fi elements sold me on the rest. The designs are amazing, the sound is fantastic and the overall atmosphere of the game is cold and haunting. I'm glad I jumped on this game when it came out and I've never been disappointed yet. Dead Space 1, 2, 3 and Extraction for the Wii were all amazing and I can't wait for a 4th.
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