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"Dead Space"

11/4/08

I will give "Dead Space" credit--it knows exactly what it is, and attempts to do nothing, literally nothing, more.

The game, developed by EA, is a spookfest that takes place on a mining ship in the distant future.  An engineer (you) and two crew members are stranded on the ship, where it appears that a nasty infestation has taken place and a lot of the crew members have been, well, reanimated.  Terror ensues.

Taking place from a third-person perspective, "Dead Space" has at least a half-dozen legit jump scares and a world of "What the hell's behind that corner?" moments.  The game's main angle is that to take down enemies--which move freakishly fast down very tight corridors towards you, and that is IF they are not coming at you from behind--you have to shoot their limbs off to keep them from flying at you.  Yikes!  Using a variety of mining and cutting tools, you have to basically chop folks off at the legs in order to slow them down and eventually kill them...and, monsters keep getting bigger and faster all the way to the finale.  The game's gore will turn off the majority of sane, logical adults (i.e., not me).

I hate it when games are this one-dimensional, even if they are well done and spooky.  In this respect, the game rarely makes you think and never forces you to do any puzzles; essentially, it is 12-15 hours of walk down hallway, grab part/hit switch/check room, walk back down the hallway, take out monsters, insert part/hit switch/enter next area.  Again, this is very effective in "Dead Space", but don't expect an experience that really forces you to get creative.  You normally have enough ammo and health packs to take everything down, and save for moments where you die thanks to a randomly placed trap, you will probably not have much trouble working through the game.

Not bad.  Just not anything out of the ordinary, even if it is well produced.

Rating:  eBay

 

Feedback?  Comments?  Salma Hayek's digits?  justin@bellviewmovies.com

 

Bellview Rating System:

"Opening Weekend":  Buy this game right away, and don't ask me any questions as to why that's a good move.  A game experience that will almost guarantee repeated controller abuse, lots of ManScreaming and high resale value, you will assuredly play this bad boy for months on end. 

"$40":  Usually after games have been out for a while, they drop in price slightly, or can be bought for slightly cheaper in combination with other new games.  Usually, that's about $40.  You'll feel good getting the game for this price, since it isn't quite run-out-and-get-it-right-now good, but it has enough game in the box for a few weeks' worth of enjoyment.

"eBay":  This game is not too bad, but you'd be better off buying it used from either half.com or eBay.  You also might let a friend buy this game, let s/he beat it, and then try to buy it from them to make them feel better.  Yes, this does tend to feel like "Sloppy Seconds."

"Rental":  Like my cousin Ron, you should always rent games that you aren't sure about first, to make sure that your $50 is going towards something worthwhile.  For games in this category, this is the maximum amount of money ($5) and/or time (3-5 days) you'll need to either gain satisfaction from the game, or beat the game in its entirety.  Rental-rated games are also sometimes perfect for a weekend when you are going to be at home on your ass, with some time to kill.

"Dogshit":  Games like this should have never been released.  If you play this game for any reason, you will regret every second of the experience.  Further, if you can get this game for free, don't do it, because even for FREE, it will still be a negative experience for you!