Dead Space (PC)

[zapionics<alt>]

This game really is a mix.

The plot is incredibly cliched but the story is so well polished thats its interesting to follow. I mean we have seen this exact plot so many times before in older games... and the gameplay is incredibly linear and predictable too with mostly room/corridor style levels. The tasks or missions are so basic... They're of the type: "fetch key from one side of the map and take it to the door on the other side of the map"... or "find the power cell"... etc etc...

But there is something wildy addictive about slicing up those necro's ... it seems the monsters dont stop when their guts have been turned to mush by a laser minigun but you have to dismember them so they cant get to you... legs arent enough cos then they'll just crawl towards you using only their arms... luckily there is a good range of weapons which provide the means to slice of limbs and organs very efficiently.

The combat AI is limited to the enemies basically using rush tactics ... or range attack for the ones that cant move... so its very basic... but how else are monsters going to behave anyhow? The fun of it is deciding in those critical milli-seconds before they can tear you to shreds on which weapon/force you will use to stop them and how you have to slice the monster up... because different monsters require different strategies... and thats the fun of it really.

The graphics are really very clean looking in a neon bright kind of way... sort of like Bioshock in feel... but not as detailed somehow... and I loved the approach to the HUD which maintained the immersion factor...the sound is also crisp and sharp with excellent 3d positioning and some very creepy effects ...

...which all adds up to some great atmospheric moments and I know that the reviewers all raved about the atmosphere when this game came out, but its not a consistent delivery IMO as it tends to repeat the same effects and the same environments over and over and never really progresses. Once you've played the first couple of levels you've really experienced all the atmosphere it has to offer. I think Doom3 had a lot more variety in the atmospheric presentation at the time than this, speaking of which (in case you dont know) this game also has a sci-fi survival horror theme.

The opening of the game is good, but the first three chapters are, IMO, very tedious. I think by about half way through chapter 3 I was almost ready to uninstall... but thank goodness it picks up from there. All the way to chapter 11 its pretty gripping although I found the final level so contrived and predictable and cliched as to be almost unplayable for me... but I finished anyway.

I think what saves it is the excellent visuals and sound effects coupled with the slicing and dicing and some micro-management of the inventory and weapons with a fairly good level design with occasional anti-gravity levels... The anti gravity levels are enough to break what would otherwise be the same problem Doom3 encountered... extreme monotony.

I didnt use a hex editor to remap keys, just ran a background input emulator utility to map my favourite bindings... no problems at all... but as has been noted the control interface sucks ...really sucks... and did I mention that it sucks? The view swings around our character a lot, not unlike a ship swings around a seasick passenger and the 3rd person style causes our character to block our view all the time in a big way... And the controls are very annoying... for instance when aiming a weapon or power (which you have to do a lot) it deadens the response to movement ... I never got used to it although I did get to a point where I could play without screaming in annoyance and pounding the table with my fists... but this is by far the biggest critiscm of the game, if this was a first person shooter with normal control response then I think it could be a great game... which it isnt btw... I think its only good... very well done... but really its just a highly polished remake of so many other games... Doom, Quake, Resident Evil and so on...

... but they would have to add jumping and crouching into it to make me really happy... not being able to jump made me feel like I only had half a control system... although you do get to jump in the zero-G environments... kinda... Now as I said before these sections add much needed variety to the game... breaking up the monotony of the corridors and rooms rather nicely... but the antigravity doesnt compete with the 360 handling of say Descent or anything...

The powers that our character has (such as telekenesis and the ability to slow things down) remind me strongly of a Jedi Knight in a Star Wars game... or vaguely of the gravity gun in Half Life 2... actually I think the developers must have loved this part because you have to use it everywhere and there are some really annoying "puzzles" which involve moving things around a lot...

Finally, a quick save feature would really help. There are strategically placed save points throughout the game but it is diabolical not having a save anywhere feature... very annoying in some spots... and no point to it as it doesnt add any tension or suspense by not having one... only adds aggravation...

So at the end I'd say this game is worth playing and can be very enjoyable IF you like this kinda stuff... or IF you havent played a recent Doom or Quake game before...