I suppose I came to Dead Space about two years too late. After a 2008 release to critical success, the survival horror game from EA’s Redwood studio apparently set some high marks. Now, after having played it to completion I can say that’s it’s decent, but not quite the horror fueled nightmare I was expecting. The simple fact that our hero Isaac is quite possibly the most badass man in a technical position since Gordon Freeman may have something to do with it. The plot is rather simple when the game thrusts the gamer into the midst of it. Isaac Clarke is sent to the Ishimura to get systems back online. Isaac’s an engineer, which you really wouldn’t guess during your playthrough of this game. Most of the engineers I’ve met aren’t hardly the type for scrapping, their more concerned about running a raid on Naxx to the utmost efficiency and complaining about how majoring in English was a bad choice.
This seems an awful lot like some happy psychology hating church
When you first boot up Dead Space you’ll be struck by how damned pretty it can be. The nasty bloody environments are gorgeous and it really shows what the power of a huge production studio can do. It’s like discovering that a chicken in a can isn’t as tasty as that made by a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu. Having a whole chicken in a can is a whole different sort of horror when you consider exactly what your digestion track may be doing after cooking the fucker. Dead Space is a pretty game and greatly benefits from all the major production behind it.
Buh, how did they make space look so neat?
Major productions, as my esteemed colleague points out, don’t benefit from the sight of what makes something truly scary. So we’re left with the simple fact that our mute Mr. Clarke is a badass. I don’t mean badass like Batman, but more or less Ripley from Aliens with a dick.
Isaac, it just has some indigestion from all the yummy flesh.
Now, ordinarily I wouldn’t complain about this. Leon S. Kennedy made having a foppish hair cut and spouting out dumbass phrases a lesson in badassery. He looked stylish while doing so, this may be in part because Capcom really had to use a French model to make Leon into the envy of every man and make girl parts’ a-quiver.
I’ve been figuring out how to get my hair to part like that for six years.
Dead Space does tie into the notions of abandoning the survival part of the survival horror genre. You don’t really feel like you’re fighting for your life, but just sort of blasting ugly things nonstop as you go through the motions of it. Simple thanks to EA for making it seem like engineering is a great career choice. Now, I can’t really say too much on the plot because it was beginning to make my head hurt, also spoilers are bad. Dead Space does terrific things as far as immersion and making nasty baddies go. Demon babies, bladed arm things, things that jump a lot, and something that looks suspiciously like a vagina and a burst boil had sex are all present and accounted for.
As pictured: Da sexy
In short, Dead Space is the sort of game that should really end up in most gamers’ libraries. It can be picked up at your local game store and can be picked up if you don’t live in the stone age on Steam, Direct2Drive, and a few others I’m sure.
Next up is a retrospective look at my favorite sci-fi movie of all time, that other movie directed by James Cameron about aliens.
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