Dead space plays like a typical survival horror game. You start in a new area, you are given a quest (open door, find an item, etc), destroy the monsters and move on. EA has really done their homework in regards to what works and what does not in this genre. You never feel like you are underpowered or over powered at any point in the game. You have to manage supplies and ammo but you are never at a point where you can’t get more. Monsters are tuff to defeat but never feel impossible to deal with.
Controls may be the one spot that Dead Space needed more work. Many survival horror purists will claim that poor controls go with the genre, I disagree. First gaining control over Isaac the controls felt a bit loose to me. Isaac would kind of bob or side step when I would put a bit of pressure on the control sticks. This nit picking is easily over looked as you become familiar with the control scheme. Shooting feels precise and avoiding monsters is easy.
The visuals for Dead Space are top notch. All the characters look great and move how you would expect. The creatures of Dead Space are also note worthily; any fan of John Carpenter’s “The Thing” will be in for a treat. The environmental visuals really explode about two hours into the game. Points in the game Isaac will be in the vacuum of space, with the planet on the horizon and stars in the background, these are moments that I wish the game did not have a oxygen mechanic because the environments are simply break taking. Sound is equally impressive; each weapon sounds and reacts nicely. The “gotcha” moments of high pitch violins can get repetitive.
Dead Space spans over 12 chapters, each chapter taking roughly 45 minutes to an hour to complete. There is a bit of back tracking in different chapters but each moments makes sense, going back to a chemical lab to create poisons, etc. There is also an in-depth upgrade system to weapons and equipment. To max out every weapon and your equipment you will need to play at least twice. Combine with 4 difficulty levels and you can see Dead Space taking up a lot of your time.