Dead Space

There are many things I want to like about Dead Space.  Indeed, I would probably class it as a good game.  But more than anything, I wish it could have been better.


Before we talk about Dead Space in particular, let's wind the clock back a little bit.  Resident Evil 4 is probably the game that killed the survival horror industry.  That's an odd thing to say about a game so successful.  Normally when you call something a genre killer, it means that it was so apocalyptically bad that it taints the entire genre.  Not the case with RE4.  It is a fantastic action game.  What it isn't is a good horror games.

It's an odd thing to note but the things that made Survival Horror work as a genre were things that would be considered flaws in most games.  Awkward, difficult controls and camera angles.  Lacking ammo.  Weak feeling weapons.  But in survival horror, that worked to the benefit of the genre.

Horror is about powerlessness.  Games have the ability to communicate feeling better than any other medium because the characters we experience the game through are controlled by us.  Their experiences are ours.

RE4 changed that.  It controlled well and didn't use strange camera angles.  It made for an intense, fun zombie killing experience.  What it wasn't was scary.

That's the problem with Dead Space.  With it dismemberment is more effective style and it's wide succession of weapons, there are countless fun ways to deal with the necromorphs attacking you.  But it's hard to feel scared of something when you're blowing it's limbs off left and right.

All that leaves you with are jump scares.  After a while, they kind of lose their power.  Which is a shame, because there's a lot that works with Dead Space.  The level design, while taking place on a somewhat stereotypical scifi ship, does at least show a degree of imagination.  The weapons are relatively clever both in design and the logic behind them as repurposed tools.

But then, every time you reach something praiseworthy, the game takes a misstep.  For instance the decision to have Isaac never talk or have his face be shown has to go down as one of the worst in game design.  Just a tip developers, if you want your character to inspire sympathy in the audience, don't make him a complete and total blank.

Ultimately, Dead Space succeeds a lot and is worth a play.  But for me, there's a definite sense of disappointment that's impossible to get away from and it taints the whole experience.  This could have been so much more.

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