Review: “Dead Space” (Computer Game)

Well, it certainly took long enough but I’ve finally got around to completing “Dead Space” (2008) 🙂 Ever since I watched “Dead Space: Downfall” (2008) and read B. K. Evenson’s “Dead Space: Martyr” (2010) back in 2014, I’ve wanted to play this game – since it is literally “zombies in space” 🙂

Somehow, it took until mid-late March this year before I noticed that a DRM-free copy of the PC version of it was on sale on GOG. Even though the reviews below it seemed to be rather mixed, I decided to give this game a chance – and I’m so glad that I did 🙂

So, let’s take a look at “Dead Space”. Needless to say, this review may contain SPOILERS and GRUESOME IMAGES (but I’ll try to keep them to a minimum).

Set in 2058, you play as Isaac Clarke – a crew member of a small spaceship called the Kellion that has been sent to investigate a mining vessel called the USG Ishimura that has run into problems in orbit around a planet called Aegis VII. Isaac’s partner, Nicole, works as a doctor on board the Ishimura too.

However, there is complete radio silence from the Ishimura and, after a crash landing, the team find the ship to be eerily deserted…. Or is it?

Well, it obviously isn’t. It would be a very boring game if it was!

One of the first things that I will say about this game is that it’s a really cool sci-fi action game with some fairly decent horror elements too.

If you enjoy movies like “Event Horizon” (1997), “The Thing” (1982) or “Aliens” (1986) and/or want to play a more suspenseful third-person perspective version of something like “Doom 3” (2004) or “Quake 4” (2005), then you’ll be at home here. Yes, it didn’t really scare me as much as I’d expected, but there were stretches of time when I was playing with a huge grin on my face because of the sheer awesomeness of it 🙂

Woo hoo! THIS type of sci-fi 🙂

Still, I should probably start by talking about the game’s horror elements – which consist of a mixture of monster horror, body horror, creepy/claustrophobic locations, creepy characters, jump scares/suspense, gory horror, psychological horror and cosmic horror.

Even though experienced horror game fans are unlikely to find it too terrifying – thanks to it’s empowering action elements, slightly faster pace and heavy emphasis on “jump” moments – these elements really help to add a lot of edgy “gothic sci-fi” atmosphere to the game and can occasionally be moderately frightening too.

I cannot praise the monster designs in this game highly enough 🙂 Yes, the game throws enough of them at you that they quickly stop being scary, but – on a purely visual level – they are still some of the most well-designed horror monsters that I’ve seen for a while. Whether it is the weird arms growing out of their backs, the way they walk/run, the noises they make or just the fact that they are inhuman alien zombies sculpted from human flesh, they are definitely some of the most… monstrous… monsters you will ever see in a horror game 🙂

Still, although there is a good variety of monster types (including a couple of large bosses) slightly later in the game, expect to fight the same two or three monsters over and over again in the very early parts.

Barry! It’s a monster!… Stay back, Jill. I’LL handle this!… Oops! Wrong game!

This game is also well worth playing for it’s atmosphere too 🙂 Almost the entire game takes place on board a large claustrophobic spaceship, and this game absolutely nails the kind of grimy, utilitarian “used future” look that defined the coolest classic sci-fi movies like “Alien” (1979) and “Blade Runner” (1982) etc…

Not only that, the mining ship setting also made me think of the long-running sci-fi comedy sitcom “Red Dwarf” too, which is always a good thing 🙂 Add to this lots of dramatic lighting, gruesome monsters, clever set design and a compelling backstory and this is a game that is worth playing for its atmosphere alone 🙂

Seriously, is sci-fi really sci-fi without THIS type of cool gloomy lighting?

New life… I mean, A new life awaits YOU on the off-world colonies….

Likewise, I loved the story of this game too 🙂 It is minimalist enough to seem both focused and ominously mysterious (in a Lovecraftian kind of way), but also dramatic enough to feel significant too. The game also has a rather compelling survival thriller plot too.

Not only can the player find lots of in-game documents/audio logs that add depth to the world of the game, but the few characters Isaac meets all seem to have their own agendas and you’re never sure who exactly you can and cannot trust for most of the game. Ironically though, the one obvious “villain” character in the game is actually the weakest character though – seeming more cartoonishly evil than anything else.

As for the actual gameplay, it is a third-person game that seems to have taken some influence from “Resident Evil 4” (2005), with it’s *groan* over-the shoulder camera. There’s even the obligatory mid-late 2000s gravity gun rip-off too. Yet, although it contains some elements that may be familiar to fans of the survival horror genre – such as limited inventory, fixed save points etc… It often feels more like a first-person shooter game in all but name. A thrilling and somewhat more suspenseful one, but still definitely more on the “action game” side of things.

Did I say “gravity gun rip-off”? Sorry, I mean “Kinesis module”. TOTALLY different…

Not only can Isaac move during combat, but – in a wonderfully grotesque twist – the monsters’ limbs and/or tenatacles are their weak points, pushing the player to aim precisely in order to save ammo. Yes, this emphasis on precise aiming in fast-paced situations does add tension to the game (or it would if I was playing on a console. Thankfully, the PC version has mouse support – which makes aiming a lot easier 🙂 ), but it is a skill that the player can learn… and feel like a badass when they do.

And no, this isn’t some clever hidden feature or mechanic. The game tells you about it… a lot.

Add to this the fact that monsters will often drop ammo or healing items upon death, the focus on fighting groups of monsters and the faster movement speed of the monsters… and this game often feels a lot more like a thrilling action game than a genuinely scary horror game.

Its really fun and cool, but not that scary if you’ve actually had some experience with seriously terrifying horror games that are deliberately made to be the polar opposite of an “empowering action game”.

Seriously, if you get the camera position just right, it almost looks like a first-person shooter game…

Still, the game does add some suspense via segments that take place in the eerily silent void of space – where the player also has to keep a careful eye on their suit’s oxygen levels. These segments are handled surprising well – with the time limits being short enough to add genuine suspense, but also long enough to not feel cheap or frustrating either.

All together now… “It’s cold outside, there’s no kind of atmosphere...”

The game’s weapons are also reasonably well designed too – often, in a nod to the “Alien” films, consisting of re-purposed industrial equipment and a pulse rifle. All of the weapons have alternate firing modes too, although I only found one of these (eg: the ability to change the blade angle on the plasma cutter) to be genuinely useful though.

In addition to this, Isaac also has to complete a series of objectives too. Although the game includes a really cool “Doom”-inspired in-game map, the fact that you can summon a waypoint/guide at any time and the fact that Isaac has frequent radio calls with the surviving members of his ship’s crew kind of makes this game feel more like a modern “AAA” first-person shooter game than anything else. Still, it pulls this off reasonably well – and feels endearingly “cinematic”, like EA tried to make a scary survival horror game but were just too… EA… to do it properly. It’s adorable 🙂

Awww 🙂 It’s so cute 🙂 They even keep the “Michael Bay pyrotechnics” to a minimum too…

And, to be fair, this “Blast the giant space monster with an infinite laser turret” set-piece is kind of badass…

Despite the fact that you can literally press a button to tell you where to go next – complete with a cool-looking laser animation – this game does reward exploration and also contains a certain amount of backtracking too 🙂

But, whilst you thankfully aren’t funnelled along a series of linear corridors, the game’s chapter-based system keeps the area you can explore at any one time relatively small. Yes, this stops the player from getting too lost – but if you’re expecting the freedom of something like “System Shock” (1994), then you might be disappointed. Likewise, the constant “Isaac, you need to go here and do this” structure of the game can get a bit repetitive after a while too.

Yes, this laser guide is so cool-looking that Isaac even strikes a subtle “Look at me! I’m so awesome!” pose whenever he uses it. What? This is meant to be a horror game?

Hi, Isaac, I just thought that I’d call to say hello and… Only joking! I’ve got another objective for you! Ha!

In addition to this, Isaac can also find in-game currency, valuable items and upgrade “nodes” throughout the game. The game’s “shop” is also expanded as you find blueprints for additional items too.

This system is handled reasonably well, given that it only relies on in-game currency (EA hadn’t quite become evil enough to charge real money for in-game items at this point…), it can only be used in fixed locations and it encourages both exploration and resource management too.

Still, although the “shop” doubles up as an item box, the limited inventory space is generous enough that I stopped getting any “inventory full!” messages after upgrading my suit once or twice.

It’s an EA game with an in-game store… that doesn’t try to fleece you for real money. WOW! 🙂

And, yes, this game also contains a bit of “hand-holding” too. In addition to the waypoints/guide feature, there also seems to be a bit of randomisation and/or adaptive difficulty too. For example, re-playing areas I’d died in before sometimes seemed a little easier after the second or third go. Likewise, there’s a dedicated button for instantly using healing items, enemies seemed to drop more healing items when I was low on health, the game has “hidden” checkpoints so that you don’t lose too much progress after death etc…

Yes, these would probably be considered “quality of life” features, and I’m probably just more used to cruelly unforgiving older games, but they detract from the harsh and desolate mood of the game slightly. Still, they do reduce the amount of frustration during certain moments though.

Even so, this game does have a reasonably decent difficulty curve though. A couple of hours into the game, I’d originally planned to make a sarcastic joke about this game being “too EA-sy” but, as the game progresses, there is some actual challenge at times 🙂 Whether it is segments where the game hurls lots of monsters at you in relatively confined spaces, a small number of boss battles, some faster-paced mild puzzles or the times when you’re running low on health or ammo, this game does get more challenging as it goes along 🙂 Likewise, the fact that this game thankfully avoided “regenerating health” really adds a lot more tension, suspense and dramatic weight to the gameplay too 🙂

Actual… suspense… because the player actually has to care about their health level. What heresy is THIS?!

Still, some of the design elements here are really cool. One of the main features of this game is that all of the HUD elements take place in-universe, mostly consisting of holograms or glowing lights (such as the health meter on Isaac’s back). But, although this looks really cool – not to mention that it can startle players who expect the game to pause whilst checking their inventory – it doesn’t quite achieve it’s original purpose.

All of this stuff was meant to immerse the player in the game, yet a diegetic glowing HUD is still a glowing HUD… and it seems a bit too “game-y” for a horror game. I mean, there’s a good reason why the older “Resident Evil” and “Silent Hill” games kept their inventory and status screens separate from the actual gameplay.

Yes, the holograms and lasers look cool AF, but also – ironically – slightly immersion breaking too.

As for music and sound design, this game is excellent 🙂 Not only do all of the monsters sound suitably scary, but the game also has some wonderfully scary dynamic music that it plays during monster encounters too. Yes, this is used more as a jump-scare/faster pacing type thing than, for example, the ominous crackling radio static in the older “Silent Hill” games (which played before the monster encounter to build dread), but it is still very dramatic. Likewise, as you’d expect from an abandoned mining ship, there’s also lots of atmospheric ambient industrial noise too 🙂 The game’s voice-acting also fairly decent as well, without any of the corniness that you might expect from slightly older horror games.

As for length, this game is reasonably decent. Taking place over twelve “chapters”, this game took me about 10-12 hours to complete with only very infrequent walkthrough use (mostly just for strategy tips during boss battles). Likewise, after completing the game, it gives you some extra stuff for your next playthrough – so there is probably some small amount of replay value here too.

All in all, this is a really cool and atmospheric sci-fi action game 🙂 Yes, it is a bit too forgiving, empowering and fast-paced for experienced horror game fans to find it too terrifying, but the game’s horror elements really add a lot to the atmosphere though. Seriously, if you love this type of gritty industrial neon-drenched dystopian sci-fi, then this game is well-worth playing 🙂 It’s a thrilling action game with a strong horror flavour to it that, whilst mildly repetitive at times, was still a hell of a lot of fun to play.

If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get at least a four.

Why Monster Encounters Are Scarier In “Silent Hill 3” (2003) Than In “Dead Space” (2008)

Well, for this article in my series about horror videogames, I thought that I’d compare how monster encounters are handled in two different horror games – “Silent Hill 3” (2003) and “Dead Space” (2008).

These are screenshots of monster encounters in “Silent Hill 3” (2003) and “Dead Space” (2008).

Both games have a surprising amount in common when it comes to their monster encounters. The monsters are designed to look disturbing, the locations can often be claustrophobic, there is a general atmosphere of desolation, the player has limited ammunition and scary dynamic music/sound effects will also play whenever monsters appear. Yet, monster encounters in “Silent Hill 3” often manage to be considerably more frightening than those in “Dead Space”. Why?

Well, the first reason probably has to do with the timing of the dynamic music and sound effects. In “Silent Hill 3”, these audio warnings will often play at least several seconds before the player even sees a monster – they serve to build suspense and dread, warning the player that something is nearby. The player is then torn between fleeing, waiting nervously for the monster to show up or – if they are feeling brave – finding and fighting the monster. These moments create a “fight or flight” response that is drawn out over several seconds, forcing the player to think and make a decision. It is a slow-paced moment of suspenseful dread.

On the other hand, the audio warnings in “Dead Space” are more like a traditional jump scare – with the monster often appearing almost instantly, sometimes very close to the player, when the audio changes. Yes, this can be startling sometimes – but it is just that, startling. Instead of having to make a drawn-out decision, the player is often forced to rely on their reflexes. Yes, the sudden jittery shock of this can make precise aiming a bit more difficult and add a bit of tension to the combat. Yet, like all jump scares, the “shock factor” wears off after the audience has experienced it a few times. And it happens a lot throughout the game.

The second reason is the amount of visual information given to the player during monster encounters. “Silent Hill 3” features no on-screen HUD elements – so, unless the player checked the inventory/status screen recently – they won’t know exactly how much health or ammunition Heather Mason has whenever she encounters a monster. This lack of information not only adds an extra note of suspense to each encounter, it also encourages the player to be a bit more cautious too. Whether this means regularly checking their supplies and health levels during quieter moments or cautiously treating each shot as if it were their last, the lack of information adds a bit of extra uncertainty and tension.

In “Dead Space”, there are several HUD-like displays that instantly tell the player all of this information. Isaac Clarke has a glowing health meter on his back and, when you aim a weapon, a holographic ammo counter will appear beside it. This extra information allows the player to be more strategic during monster encounters – but this also makes the game feel more like a non-scary action game. You instantly know in advance when you need to reload, you can quickly check your health and decide whether to heal etc… It makes everything feel a bit more game-y, rather than suspenseful or frightening.

The third reason is how the two games handle weapons and resources. Even in larger areas in “Silent Hill 3”, monster encounters will often feel a bit more claustrophobic because the player is encouraged to use close-range melee weapons in order to conserve ammunition. This can also create a bit of a dilemma for the player – do they keep a safe distance and waste bullets that they might need later or do they take the riskier option of getting closer and using a melee weapon? This dilemma creates unease and tension in the player, adding an extra note of scariness to each encounter. Likewise, whilst the player has unlimited inventory space, resources can sometimes be scarce enough that keeping it well-stocked requires careful searching and cautious conservation.

In “Dead Space”, there are no dedicated melee weapons – only a couple of weak hand-to-hand attacks that often serve more to repel, rather than harm, larger monsters. Yes, this does emphasise conserving ammunition and it makes the times when you run out of ammo some of the most suspenseful and frightening moments in the game. However, not only does the focus on ranged combat add a little bit of “distance” but many of the monsters will also drop ammunition or healing items upon death. Yes, the amount is carefully balanced to make the times when you’re running low still feel a bit suspenseful – but “conserving resources” isn’t quite as much of an issue or dilemma for the player (especially since you can also find in-game currency that can be used to “buy” these resources too). Even the game’s limited inventory space is surprisingly roomy and – after a suit upgrade or two – you don’t usually have to worry about an “inventory full” message a lot of the time.

Fourthly, there is the issue of complexity and skill. In “Silent Hill 3” combat is relatively simple – if you fight a monster, then you either just hit it repeatedly with something or shoot in its general direction. Although this might not sound very scary, it adds to the immersion because Heather Mason is just an ordinary person trying to survive in a scary situation. She isn’t a trained soldier or anything like that – and is instead relying on instinct during combat. So, the slightly more basic combat system reflects this. It also adds a certain amount of disturbingly brutal “ugliness” to the combat, in contrast to the “cool-looking” violence found in action games.

In “Dead Space”, the combat is a bit more strategic and skill-based. Yes, you can just mindlessly blast at the monsters, but this does relatively little damage and wastes resources. Instead, the player often has to sever the mutated limbs or tentacles of a monster in order to defeat it quickly. Although this has a certain “gross out” value to it, it is a skill that the player will quickly learn and become better at as the game progresses. This focus on building combat skills feels a bit more empowering… and perhaps a bit closer to the thrilling “power fantasy” of an action game, than the disempowering dread of a scary horror game. Likewise, the combat also includes lots of cool-looking laser beams too – again, more of an action genre thing…

Finally, there is pacing. Monster encounters in “Silent Hill 3” are slower-paced affairs, with a good number of the monsters often either just hanging around until they spot the player and/or moving relatively slowly towards them. Like in some earlier points on this list, this serves to create a more drawn-out feeling of dread. Running away or – if you want to take the risk – running past/around the monsters is very much a valid option in this game. This slower pacing gives the player time to think… and worry. Likewise, because monsters can be dodged relatively easily, this also adds a slight note of unsettling moral ambiguity to the combat since, is it always … really… self-defence? Or is the player just attacking the monsters out of disgust or repulsion?

In “Dead Space”, monster encounters are fast-paced things. A monster will either appear after a choreographed set-piece, jump out of an air vent or charge towards you as soon as you spot it. These monsters are aggressive, fast-moving adversaries. Yes, you can dodge or flee them if you absolutely have to – but your reflexive instinct will probably be to fight. Yes, the faster-paced monsters do feel like more of a threat – but there is often little in the way of a dilemma for the player. You see a monster, swiftly raise your weapon and defend yourself against it. Just like in an action game, there is little to no moral ambiguity.

In conclusion, “Silent Hill 3” has scarier monster encounters than “Dead Space” because of the way that they will often put the player in a drawn-out dilemma. Instead of frantically confronting the player and demanding an instant fast-paced response, danger creeps up on the player slightly more slowly – creating suspense, uncertainty, ambiguity, indecision and dread. This may be less thrilling… but it is ten times scarier!

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Anyway, I hope that this was interesting 🙂

Monster Quantity And Scariness In Horror Games

Well, for this article in my series about horror videogames, I thought that I’d talk about how the number of monsters can affect the scariness of a game. This was something that I ended up thinking about after I started playing a sci-fi horror game called “Dead Space” (2008).

However, after about an hour of playing it, I could count the number of moments that made me feel… mildly-moderately… frightened on the fingers of one hand. I imagine this may be different for people who are completely new to horror games though. Still, a fair amount of the time, it felt more like playing a third-person perspective version of something like “Doom 3” (2004) or “Quake 4” (2005) than a genuinely terrifying horror game.

Don’t get me wrong, the actual design of the monsters is absolutely brilliant, the locations look very atmospheric, the lighting is great and the story is certainly compelling. It’s a fun game. Yet, despite some wonderfully monstrous monsters, the crucial opening “chapter” of the game didn’t really scare me that much. But, why?

Well, one of the reasons is the number of monsters. Put simply, after they first appear – they then show up too often. Yes, a brief 10-30 second sequence where the protagonist is temporarily unarmed and has to flee from one monster is somewhat frightening. But, during the segments when you’re faced with two or three of them every minute or two, any scariness quickly wears off. Soon, you fall into a first-person shooter like rhythm of defeating the monsters, picking up any supplies they have dropped and moving on to the next battle. It’s fun, but not that frightening.

A similar dynamic can be seen in another game from the same year – “Left 4 Dead” (2008) – a co-op first-person shooter game set during a zombie apocalypse, which I used to play (along with it’s even better sequel) back when I used to use Steam. It’s thrilling and fun, but the zombies in it aren’t exactly very scary – because they often attack in large hordes. Large hordes that show up every couple of minutes, quickly becoming familiar and going from something horrific to more of a thrilling challenge to overcome.

Monster quantity matters in horror games. There’s a good reason why many genuinely scary modern-style indie survival horror games – like “Remothered: Tormented Fathers” (2018), “Monstrum” (2015) and possibly “The Coma Recut” (2017) – keep the number of monsters or villains very low. Often, there will only be just one at any given time.

One powerful unstoppable monster or villain that the protagonist has to hide and flee from is infinitely scarier than hordes of “cannon fodder” creatures. This is mostly to do with pacing – like in horror movies, monsters are scarier when they show up slightly less often. There’s a reason why the movie “Alien” (1979) – a tense, claustrophobic film set aboard a spaceship with one alien creature aboard it – is significantly scarier than “Aliens” (1986) – an action-packed sequel featuring hordes of the same alien creature. The same thing applies to games too.

If there is only one monster, then there will be longer stretches of time when the player won’t encounter the monster. These quieter and slower moments build suspense, as the player nervously wonders when the monster will show up again. When it does, because it cannot be fought or defeated, the player will probably be more focused on running away from or hiding from it – meaning that they probably won’t be looking at it that much. It won’t quickly become so incredibly familiar that it ceases to be scary. Actually glimpsing or even hearing it – even in the distance – will be a moment of intense dread because this signals DANGER!

Interestingly, classic-style survival horror games from the heyday of the genre (about 1996-2004 or so), take more of a middle-ground approach. These games do contain multiple monsters and they can usually be defeated – but these games still include relatively long stretches of time when the player won’t encounter monsters. This is either because they have defeated all of the monsters in a given area – and have a bit of a respite until they progress to another area – or because the game wants to create an ominous “it’s too quiet…” kind of feeling.

These monsters are also made a greater threat to the player by limiting the resources available to defeat them. Unlike the “necromorphs” in “Dead Space”, the zombies in “Resident Evil” (1996) don’t drop useful health and/or ammunition pick-ups whenever they are defeated. The player has to actively search for – and carefully conserve – ammunition, especially for more powerful weapons. This makes groups of monsters a larger threat, and therefore more frightening. Likewise, in the 2002 remake of “Resident Evil”, the player is actually punished (in a really clever way that I won’t spoil in this article) for blasting away too many zombies early in the game. By discouraging too much fighting, the game ensures that the zombies remain a constant threat throughout the game.

On the other hand, the first four “Silent Hill” games (1999-2004) take a slightly different approach. The monsters in these games are slightly less of a threat to the player, but they are presented in a much more suspenseful way. Not only are there suitably long stretches of time where you won’t encounter any monsters, but – even before they appear on screen – crackling radio static and/or scary music will “helpfully” inform you that there is something scary nearby. So, the build-up to each monster encounter is handled really well.

Yes, the classic “Silent Hill” games can sometimes over-use the same monsters again and again, quickly reducing their scariness, however this doesn’t quite reach the extent of “Dead Space” where – in the first hour – I saw at least 10-12 necromorphs. Yes, there are some variations in style, but they are still the same type of monster.

So, yes, “less is more” when it comes to making monsters in horror games genuinely scary. And, even if a game does contain multiple monsters, the quiet time between each monster encounter, varying the style of the monsters more and structuring the game in a way that stops the monsters turning into “cannon fodder” are essential for keeping the game scary.

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Anyway, I hope that this was interesting 🙂