Backhand of Justice

Sometimes copies are a bad thing: The Rock is a cheap Arnold Schwarzenegger rip-off, 2009 Bon Jovi is a poor man’s 1989 Bon Jovi, and nothing can ever replace Hammer Pants. Copies aren’t always bad, though, as long as they’re well executed.

Dead Space takes the best elements from System Shock 2, Resident Evil and Event Horizon and blends them into a compelling new experience. Add in innovative combat and enemies, interesting environments and an inspired UI, and you have one of the best and most underappreciated games of 2008.

Break things down into their component parts

Let’s not beat around the bush. What makes Dead Space great is enemy dismemberment. First person shooters have long incorporated location specific damage into their gameplay, with headshots inflicting more damage than body shots. Some games even allowed you to shoot off limbs, resulting in badly injured (usually zombified) enemies that still crawl towards you to finish the job (you can’t complain about zombie effort. Their coordination could use some work).

Dead Space took this mechanic to its logical conclusion. Your weapons are mining tools specifically designed to cut up rocks. Needless to say, enemies with convenient spindly extremities are not quite as proficient as rocks at withstanding slicing lasers. Your character, Isaac Clarke, shows an unexpected and Gordon Freeman-esque talent for destruction, and uses his various tools to inflict maximum damage on the enemy Necromorphs.

While this would have been a fun gimmick on its own, in conjunction with the survival horror gameplay style it becomes a battle of wits for the player. When a pack of Necromorphs surround you and are closing in, you must overcome your desire to fire wildly at them as that’s a certain death sentence. Slowing down and carefully picking them apart is exponentially more effective.

Check it out, buddy. Check out what I'm doing to your friend. You're next.

Extreme minimalism

Survival horror games thrive on making you feel like you’re lost in the experience. Sometimes that becomes difficult when you have a health and ammo meter in the corner. We have become used to these unrealistic elements as concessions to gameplay.

Dead Space removed everything from the screen. The health meter was on the spine of your suit. The waypoints were part of a built in holographic indicator. All the menus and inventory were part of your suit’s 3-D display. Everything was integrated, streamlined and believable. Sure, you will always know that you’re playing a game, but Dead Space didn’t put anything unnecessary in your way. If you aren’t too great a skeptic, you can really believe you’re on the Ishimura.

It's behind me, isn't it. No, don't tell me. I don't want to know.

Most importantly, going into the inventory does not pause the action. In many games, looking at your inventory is a welcome break in the tension. In Dead Space, there are no breaks. Sometimes you have to choose between firing, running, or frantically searching for healing supplies while a Necromorph is chowing down on your face. Everybody likes choices, right?

In space, no one can hear you scream

Lots of shooters take place on space ships. What is the difference though? You can see the vacuum of space through the window, sure, and maybe you briefly go outside, but it is only designed to make you think you’re really there.

Dead Space doesn’t play around with the idea of fighting in space. It puts it front and center. It doesn’t just have sequences where you go outside into the terrifying and silent vacuum of space. It has zero-g combat, where you must maintain your orientation while simultaneously fighting off Necromorphs and managing your oxygen levels, not to mention horrendous space meteor showers, the bane of any good miner’s existence.

Zero-g combat was a new experience, and if early indicators are anything to go by, the sequel is going to take that mechanic and greatly build upon it. 

Falcon Punch!

Old stories are the best stories

Dead Space isn’t reinventing the wheel with its story. Isaac is one of a few sent to investigate a deep space mining vessel that sends out a distress signal. This isn’t because the ship has malfunctioned, or food is running low. Rather, everybody is dead (of course) or transformed into a hideous alien beast. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

While there’s a little more to it than that, this isn’t a story driven game. There is a little bit of inspiration from Alien involved. There is a lot of Event Horizon. There is even a hearty amount of System Shock 2 in the way you discover the back story through audio logs. The plot is familiar in a comfortable way, and the twists and characters are just enough of a foundation to ground the action and prevent it from becoming mindless. You care about Isaac, but you care more about his dismemberment talents.

Dead Space lifts the best elements of other properties and combines them into the best survival horror experience in a decade. Not since System Shock 2 has there been a game that can constantly keep you on your toes despite your knowledge that there is always something just around the corner.

Transitions between inside the ship and zero-g environments are abrupt and unique, and it’s incredible how large an impact the screech of a Necromorph can have after just coming in from the silence of deep space.

Dead Space isn’t just the best dismemberment simulator since Soldier of Fortune. It isn’t just a better survival horror experience than Resident Evil. It isn’t just the most streamlined game, well, ever. It is far more than the sum of its parts.