Review: Dead Space [Xbox 360]

[Maniakkid25]

HAHAHAHA! The first game review! I shall claim it by reviewing something already done! Moony once said he wanted to redo this one, AND NOW HE WON'T HAVE TO! Thankfully, I have a much different opinion of the game, so this isn't entirely redundant. What did I think of it? Well, read on, dear reader...

Graphics:

Forgive the pun, but the graphics are stellar. It uses the hardware to it's advantage to create an atmosphere that is brilliantly distressful. I wish I had more words to describe how nice it really does look; all the colors help it stand out, the textures don't pop, and it all looks exactly what you'd expect a derelict space craft to look like.

Score: 10/10

Gameplay:

It's Resident Evil 4.

No, I'm serious, that's all I need to say to describe the gameplay: it's Resident Evil 4. Over the shoulder camera, laser aiming, constant ramping between solving puzzles and frantic gameplay -- I WAS SO BORED! The game is supposed to be a horror cult hit, and yeah, there are parts where it feels tense, but if you walk into the game knowing exactly how to kill the enemies (like anyone who read the promotional material did), then there's no fear, because you can just abuse the same three weapons to mow down enemies. Really the worst part is the inventory access doesn't pause the game, meaning you're f***ed if you need to use a healing item, given how absolutely horrible the interface it.

Basically the only two things that I can say save it from being a full RE4 clone is that you can actually move while aiming (it only took Capcom 20 years to figure that one out), and the Zero-G puzzle sections where you have to constantly jump around a room in order to be able to progress, and it's hilarious when there are enemies in the room because then they float off and you can kill them at leisure. Outside of that, it felt like I was playing Resident Evil 4, and if I wanted to play a clone of Resident Evil 4, I'd play Resident Evil 5.

Score: 6/10

Sounds (of) Music:

The music is a nice atmospheric soundtrack to add to the oppressive feeling the setting gives, and all the sounds are beautiful. Seriously, this game would have made an amazing movie. ...Actually, now that you mention it...

Score: 9/10

Story:

You ever see the movie Event Horizon? No? I wouldn't blame you; it's one of Paul W.S. Anderson's lesser known works (and yes, that's the same Anderson that's been butchering the RE franchise in film form). It's actually really good, and IT'S THIS EXACT GAME'S STORY! No, I'm serious! Crew find a distress signal on an abandoned vessel, find out that it's possessed by a force that should not be. The crew is slowly killed off as one of their own is driven mad by the truth and tries to set free this force. It's a beat for beat copy of Event Horizon. The only difference between the two is that Dead Space takes the System Shock way of dealing with the crew by turning them into monsters, rather than the Event Horizon way of just doing away with all of them. I just...I actually really like the story, but COME ON, GUYS!

Score: 7/10

Final score: 32/40, or 8/10

Don't get me wrong, the game is clearly a good game, and maybe if I had walked into the game while it was still new, I'd have a different opinion of it. But the game is just such a derivative of other things; sure, you can argue that Dead Space does them better. But that doesn't change the fact that they basically stripped the wall off and just painted it blood red.