🔥 PHOENIX RECOMMENDED 🔥
Developer (Platform): Visceral Games (Xbox Series X)
Publisher (Release): Electronic Arts (2008)
Length: 8-10 hours
Genres: Adult; Horror; Sci-Fi; Action
❗️Disclaimers❗️:
highly graphic depictions of violence, gore, and body mutilation
scenes of extremely effective horror are most definitely not suitable for younger players
recommendation: must play
👍 Pros 👍
Delicious sci-fi horror
Tense and terrifying beyond belief thanks to pristine sound and creature designs
Marries unique and familiar horror mechanics into a rich tapestry of fear
👎 Cons 👎
None for me
👀 Synopsis & Trailer 👀
Only the dead survive…
A massive deep-space mining ship, the USG Ishimura, goes dark after unearthing a strange artifact on a distant planet. Engineer Isaac Clarke embarks on the repair mission, only to uncover a nightmarish blood bath — the ship’s crew horribly slaughtered and infected by alien scourge.
🛎️ Introduction 🛎️
Dead Space is the quintessential survival horror experience. The level of care and passion in this project is unrivalled, and, in the 15-odd years since its release, no game has ever come close to touching the sheer terror that is Visceral Games’ (RIP) terrifying masterpiece.
🧩 Plots 🧩
Dead Space’s story is far from original, taking major inspiration from the likes of Alien and eighties horror, but it does it with such intrigue and conviction that the player can’t help but be drawn into the lore.
Just another day on the job
Video, audio, and text logs scattered throughout paint the moments of the Ishimura’s crew as the alien outbreak occurred, imbuing the bloodied spaceship with ghosts while keeping the player isolated.
Okay, so not just another day on the job
A beginning, middle, and end ensure that Dead Space is a complete story. There are no DLC or lingering threads the publisher has become known for. Its dark tone emphasises some thrilling twists and smart Easter Eggs placed by the developers will have lore lovers pouring over the game with a fine-toothed comb.
Dead Space is the quintessential survival horror experience.
🎭 Characters 🎭
Isaac Clark, our mute engineer protagonist, is an enigma. Silent for the entire game, he’s the inexperienced shell the player inhabits, making the journey through the dark halls of the Ishimura a personal, traumatising nightmare.
However, an attempt at a story for an empty character creates some disconnect. There to find his missing girlfriend, a mostly unseen tale weaves itself in Isaac’s personal logs, silent and forgotten.
You don’t need a voice in the dead of space
Supporting characters Zach Hammond (Peter Mensah) and Kendra Daniels (Tonantzin Carmelo) add some in-team contention while Challus Mercer (Navid Negahban) and Terrence Kyne (Keith Szarabajka) provide the required chaotic crazy you’d expect in the genre.
All give excellent performances, bucking the irritating trend of horror games having just as horrific voice acting (I’m looking at you, Resident Evil).
Make you whole? Uh, no thank you
…an empty character creates some disconnect.
👾 Gameplay and Graphics 👾
Speaking of Resident Evil, Dead Space undoubtedly takes its gameplay lead from Resident Evil 4, with the perfected, weighty over-the-shoulder third-person controls.
Exploring has an almost surreal quality to it, with unimaginably visceral enemies ready to pop out and chase you down at any moment (only they’re much, much faster and the developers’ attention to detail is hauntingly nightmarish enough to freeze the player in fear).
Seems a tad excessive
14 years later, Dead Space is still a beautifully disgusting game. Strong visuals compliment the dead air of space and highlight the growls and scratches of monsters in the gaps.
Despite all my praise so far, nothing can accurately describe how phenomenal the soundtrack and atmosphere are. These two things are the game’s biggest strengths, playing on the human fear of the unseen but very, very heard.
Why do I get blood-drenched halls and you get hi-tech captain’s nest, huh, Hammond?
All this survival horror wasn’t enough, however. Pulse-pounding action is balanced against it in a near-seamless weave. Weapons made from engineering tools remind the player that they aren’t a big, strong soldier but an Everyman, and scavenging for upgrades and supplies keeps us from ever feeling too confident.
Uncommon mechanics such as cutting off enemy limbs and not aiming for their heads and hearts force the player into an unfamiliar gameplay loop. A New Game+ mode, hidden secrets, and an unlockable difficulty mode, add replayability, and, having been through the game about six times over my life, Dead Space never fails to have you fighting your gaming instincts.
…the developers’ attention to detail is hauntingly nightmarish…
🧠 Final Thoughts 🧠
By this point, you’re probably sickened by how much in love with the game I am. Dead Space is, basically, in my own humble and pointless opinion, a horror masterpiece that’s aged tremendously well.
EA and Motive Studio have huge shoes to fill, but from the snippets I’ve allowed myself to see, the mix of faithful remake and modern mechanics oozes passion, and I am beyond excited to experience the long overdue return to Dead Space’s universe.
The Phoenix Project 
3 thoughts on “Review: 🎮 Dead Space is arguably the best sci-fi horror game even over a decade from its release 🎮”