"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting..." These poetic words from Edgar Allen Poe were used to introduce the N64’s fantastic Eternal Darkness, and for some reason we feel inclined to use it to introduce you into Dead Space. The two games are completely different in content, but they share and accomplish the same thrilling motive: to capture their audience, keep them in suspense and make them jump out of their skins in fright. Of course, no one gets scared by games these days (ahem), but to be startled so much as to gasp on occasion is good enough for us, and Dead Space achieves that effortlessly. From Resident Evil to BioShock, Dead Space draws influence from the best and fuses them together into a unique sci-fi shooter. One of the first things that will grab you is the intuitive interface. Dead Space opts to display everything either on the back of your suit or on your weapons themselves. Not only does this feel more immersive, it keeps those informational aspects we’ve grown accustomed to intact. But that’s just the beginning. Virtual flat screens are the epitome of style. They are displayed in front of your character to show vital intel that would usually take you out of the experience. From viewing your inventory to navigating a live 3D map, you never have to pause the action. Dead Space is generally very slick all round. Not so much for the modelling, which is impressive and shiny, don’t get us wrong, but more for the lighting and atmospherics.

From the darkest of dank corridors to flickering strobe-lit halls, the trepidation achieved through shadowy ambience is sublime. The audio doesn’t hurt either. Echoing clanks of your boots are a constant reminder that you’re alone, until you hear some terrible screech and that classic horror-pitch orchestra kicks in, instinctively making your heart race like a lab rat on speed. As for the gameplay, weapons are kept pretty simple, but their effect is nonetheless impressive. When a gangly, misshapen alien is traipsing in your sight and dismember any limb you see fit. Not only is this fun, it’s damn near essential for survival. Headshots are no good, they’ll still flail their arms and scratch you to shreds. No, the best way to get the upper hand is to take off their legs. Oh they’ll still come for you, for sure, clawing their way across the floor, but you’ll soon put an end to that. You face everything from standard zombie aliens to freaky baby-headed octopus-type things with grenade- launching tails. Some are even more disturbing, like the wailing men, imprisoned against walls by alien tissue with numerous umbilical cords sprouting from their stomachs. There are also fat blubbers that explode into seas of creepy crawlies, insanely fast maniacal chasers and explosive meteor-dragging misfits. They are all a pleasure to tear apart too, we particularly like the fact that you can stomp a bloody mud hole in their carcasses with not one drop of scarlet wasted during the splattering. In fact our only complaint about the combat is with using melee attacks against live foes. The collisions when doing so are extremely temperamental and more hassle than it’s worth. It’s a shame, because conserving ammo is a habit you need to develop.

Replenishments are easy to find, but only in small quantities and for each of your four on-hand weapons. It encourages you to use your entire inventory and manage it as wisely as you can. Virtual stores are few and far between too, so keeping, storing and selling the right items when you can is paramount. It’s second nature after a while thankfully, so it never feels like a chore, plus you can always backtrack to one if necessary to help overcome any troubling sections. Hardcore survival fans may find the handholding checkpoints a bit of a downer we suppose, but in the grand scheme of things it’s a relatively small price to pay for mass satisfaction. The only other drawback with Dead Space is that it’s visually very samey. You rarely feel as if you are progressing or that you’re anywhere different on the vessel than where you first started. The story drives this along partially, but there’s always something to fix, someone to save, or something to kill, and it’s just too easy to switch off and stop caring. It doesn’t help that upgrading your weapons takes an absolute age either and the chapters are so long that you’ll seldom finish more than one in any session, but these are small grievances when looking at the big picture. Dead Space on the whole is an intense and breathtaking endeavour that deserves to be played.

Javid Sangra