Dead Space - PC Master Race #8 - Retro Review
Video games of suspense and terror have always been one of my favorites, they really make me feel like protagonist of the story, getting completely involved in the game environment, this makes that sometimes the surprise level combined with the terror is an experience that For many it is not pleasant, but in my case I delight in each of those reactions that we call "scares", today I bring you a video game that knew how to combine suspense and terror with science fiction in a very peculiar way, besides having elements that I considered very original at the time, the great Dead Space.
Dead Space was released in October 2008, developed by Visceral Games and distributed by Electronic Arts as a video game of Survival Horror, a genre which emphasizes survival in an unfriendly place, but in this case it moves us to a world of science fiction because the events that take place in the game are oriented to the year 2508, where humans have a technology to navigate through space, in which they search for materials through mining by different planets, This is where the story of the game is more important because one of these ships called "USG Ishimura" makes an emergency call, this is when an exploration team is on its way to verify what happened.
Within this team we will manage a specialized systems engineer named Isaac Clarke who will be the main protagonist of this story at all times. The disturbing aspect of this detail is that Isaac is not a special forces soldier or a cadet trained for situations of combat, he with his knowledge of engineering adopts his different tools of work in very powerful weapons, this was simply a very original idea, that is why we can appreciate that his combat movements are not "professionals".
Dead Space makes one of two graphic engines, Godfather Engine that is responsible for the rendering and Havok of the effects of physics which are quite attractive, in general terms the video game has many details, the first thing we see is the appearance of our protagonist, his suit clearly can be noticed quite peculiarities, the graphic engine makes it look really excellent.
The environment is based on the large mining ship USG Ishimura, so we rarely see large spaces, most of them are narrow, so it becomes a battlefield with enough suspense, lighting effects, lack of oxygen , gravity among many more make it become a visual experience for the player very attractive, sometimes by the simple environment we can take a big scare.
One of the things that I liked about Dead Space were the "necromorphs" which would be the main enemies in the whole game, it is notice that the creators of conceptual art had several references of different films for the creation of these creatures, which are humans mutated by a kind of alien virus, the design of these is quite original, from the beginning of the game we feel its great threat, with its long limbs and voices for not friendly at all, there are several types of necromorphs in the game, each one has unique characteristics which produces a striking visual change.
The design of the weapons is one of the most original, because they are not common assault weapons, in this case we will use engineering tools that are used to repair damaged parts or circuits, however, our great engineer adapted them as the only method of defense to fight our frightful enemies, the most remembered for a long time will be the plasma cutter, which accompanies us since the beginning of the game, a weapon that despite its simplicity is quite powerful.
Dead Space is characterized by being a third person shooter, the camera places our character in one of the lower corners, showing only part of the back to his head, this gives us a very good panoramic view where the figure of Isaac does not bother in the view towards the horizon, when we aim to shoot we can appreciate this, so the playability with this camera really is very good.
In different parts of the gigantic ship we must make different arrangements which our great engineer successfully performs, these would be puzzles which do not have a high degree of difficulty, sometimes we will do it in a simple way but most times we will be bothered by our tedious and horrible enemies, in certain places we must return to places already visited to look for pieces which we need to be able to advance a certain place, this makes Dead Space not entirely a linear game.
The weapons system has a particularity, you can make updates to improve either its power, loading speed, maximum amount of ammunition or range, this makes that as we move we are stronger against our enemies, in my case the weapon that improve until you have the maximum power is the plasma cutter, reach a point where 2 shots could eliminate a necromorphs, this same system of improvements we can do with our suit, at certain points there is a capsule which by introducing us will improve the resistance and the appearance of our suit, allowing us to endure a lot of damage.
Apart from our weapons we have a device that allows us to slow down or maneuver objects or enemies, sometimes it is of vital importance to use it, especially when a large number of necromorphs come for our life, it also allows us to evaluate the environment as we can use anything that looks like a weapon and throw it at enemies, a useful secondary weapon in tight moments.
That would be a game of survival horror without bosses, in Dead Space we find bosses which will give us problems in certain moments of the game, each one has its weak points and a way of how to eliminate it, in addition they have movements that can take the life of a single blow, so we must be careful to give precise movements and not be executed in full action.
Something important to highlight in Dead Space is that the necromorphs have weak points, they can not be eliminated by simply shooting them, we must point to their extremities, our weapons are designed to be able to cut those extremities of their body, but there are different types of necromorphs, which not only suffice to remove a limb, that we will learn as we progress through the game, we must be careful with some, can eliminate us in one fell swoop observing one of the most atrocious deaths of a protagonist in a video game.
Music is not something that emblematically characterizes Dead SPace, however, it makes you stand your hair in quite alarming situations, due to its disturbing tones that sound when an enemy suddenly appears, this is where the sounds have a essential work between these two factors, allows us to move completely towards the game, plays an important role in the suspense in different parts of the game, the footsteps of the enemies, the grunts, shots, the cry of despair of Isaac among many other factors to Dead Space in a title that is not suitable for cardiac.
If you are looking for a videogame which has spectacular graphics, intense suspense, excellent gameplay and a unique terror in all aspects Dead Space is the game indicated for you, despite having left more than 10 years ago is still an excellent title to play it now, I recommend the PC version, since the level of detail that can be observed is simply amazing, but you can also find it on Xbox 360 and PS3, it was one of those titles that I finished more than 3 times because of the addiction so great that caused me, is one of those modern classics that can not go unnoticed by any exciting player of this genre of video games.
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