If you like horror movies, then Dead Space is a game not to be missed. This third person shooter/adventurer will suck you in.
Let me explain the setting and story. The game takes place in outer space onboard Mining Ship USG Ishimura, which has sent out a distress signal which then prompted the arrival of Isaac Clarke(you), Zach Hammond, and Kendra Daniels to investigate the status of the USG Ishimura. Isaac is an engineer who has a personal reason to investigate the ship, to find his girlfriend, Nicole Brennan after he received a video from her, requesting for help. The trio and 2 armed infantry arrived by another spaceship which crash-landed into the USG Ishimura. With their vessel in a very bad state, the trio have no choice but to proceed with their mission without a chance for turning back.
Shortly after boarding the USG Ishimura, the trio encounted a surprise attack by the Necromorphs(The Alien/Zombie like creatures mutated from human corpses by some alien virus), killing the other 2 infantry in the process. Isaac is now alone while Zach and Kendra escaped together. The trio later contacted each other and Zach believes the best way to stay alive is to repair the ship. This sends Issac off to eventually explore the entire USG Ishimura with each area having some maintenance work to be done, and the conspiracy of a cult involvement slowly reveals itself.
Necromorphs are the enemies in the game, as explained earlier they were all once human as the occupants of the USG Ishimura. Unlike your typical Zombie Horror games, Necromorphs require a little bit of strategy to kill them, by taking apart their limbs. How you dismember them will affect how they can go against you, eg shooting off their legs will cripple them to the ground which impedes their movement. As you progress, more Necromorph variants show up, though some are recycled powered up versions that are faster and tougher. You can escape them by running away, but in this game they will eventually chase you through the air vents and ducts in the ship so basically, you can be attacked anywhere in the game. When I played this game, I actually found a cheap tactic, if the room is connected to an elevator, you can hide in there and shoot from the door, the necromorphs won't enter the elevator.
Players take control of Issac Clarke in a third-person perspective. He wears a special suit catered for his engineering work, giving him 2 special abilities, the 'Stasis' and the 'Kinesis'. Stasis slows the time of whatever it contacts with, making it slow-mo, while Kinesis allows you to move large and heavy objects with your hand(think psychic powers). These 2 abilities are mainly used for solving the puzzles found in the game level, though stasis is also widely used against fast moving enemies too.
To fight off his enemies, several weapons can also be found in the game, from the Plasma Cutter, Plasma Rifle, Flame Thrower, to the Contact Beam(Crazy laser beam weapon). These weapons can be obtained by finding it's blueprint which can then be purchased/produced at the unmanned electronic shops found around the ship. Being an engineer, Issac can also upgrade his gear with power nodes found in the game, with various customization paths for each of his equipment(eg, Armour upgrade to have more oxygen, health, defense).
Traveling through the USG Ishimura is an awesome experience, the environment is both visually and aurally immersive. The ship is realistically modelled and textured, and the lighting is used intelligently like what you expect from horror movies. The sound effects are disturbing and you can always hear a necromorph crawling in the vents keeping you on your toes, signaling you that you going to be attacked but you just don't know when. One special thing to highlight is the presence of ZERO Gravity areas(Outside the ship and some interiors). In zero-grav, you have limited oxygen so you can't stay out there for long. You can also do some zero-grav jumps to reach other platforms(really cool but I find it nauseating sometimes). To add to the immersive experience, you can only hear whats in your suit(Breathing, footsteps, etc.) which means you can't hear approaching necromorphs which the game likes to take advantage of to surprise you by having them backstab you.
Another thing to highlight in Dead Space is it's User Interface design. There is no HUD implemented in the game, Issac's suit provides all the information that the player needs(Eg, Health is displayed by the meter aligned to his spine, Ammo is displayed by the screen on the weapon), while menus are displayed via holographic projection from Issac's helmet.
In conclusion, in the horror genre, Dead Space is in a league of its own. The entire experience is very immersive which will definitely spook you.
The Verdict : Cher Shen Approves :D (Play this in a dark room with good headphones on a High Definition Screen)
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