Lonely, I'm so lonely!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Well built and immersive storyline, Eerie and horrifying environment, Strategic dismemberment

Cons: Objectives are a bit redundant, hardcore gamers can finish the game in a weekend

The Bottom Line: 
Dead Space is a masterpiece.  It looks, sounds, and plays better than any other survival horror game for the xbox 360.

Author's Review
Dead Space takes place on the US Ishimura, a large mining ship stranded in space.  You play Issac Clark, a mere engineer who is tasked with fixing the inactive ship and restoring it to power.  As soon as the opening cut scene starts you get the hint that something is not so right about this "routine checkup" as you shuttle into the lifeless ship with no visible crew on board and no communication.  Almost instantly you are isolated from the rest of your crew and are pitted against various types of mutant aliens.

Gameplay

Dead Space uses an innovative strategy known as "strategic dismemberment" to cripple your enemies.  Shoot the legs off, and watch an enemy frantically scurry toward you, or blow the arms off in order to render them harmless.  An onscreen interface keeps you in the game at all times, never taking you out of the action.  Keeping the game flowing allows you to become fully engulfed in the beautifully crafted story that you will put together piece by piece as the story progresses.  Memorable scenes are a plenty in Dead Space.  Flurries of asteroids sailing towards you, racing against your air capacity as you slowly float through the debris-infested space, novel boss fights, and the ingenious "Zero-G" sections will satisfy your craving for a well written plot, filled with diverse new approaches to the survival/horror genre set in no better place than lonely, lonely space.

Controls

Controls feel a bit awkward at first but you quickly adapt to them.  For example, the Left Button (LB) is used to sprint and this makes the camera a bit hard to control.  Also, it feels sluggish when you attempt to look behind you due to the slowness of spinning as Isaac turns to face a sudden threat from behind.  After the first couple chapters you eventually get used to the lumbering controls and continue your restoration of the Ishimura with little difficulty.

Weapons/Powers

Yield several different weapons each with a primary rate of fire and a secondary special ability.  Pick up a ripper and use the remote controlled saw which hovers feet in front of you to quickly dismember a horde of incoming aliens, or use the line gun to set mines to intercept lurking mutants.  Other weapons include the flamethrower, force gun, and contact beam plus a few others.  As the game progresses you attain special powers such as kinesis and time slow.  These powers provide you with creative ways to solve puzzles, fight baddies, and manipulate your surroundings to your advantage.  All weapons, powers, and armor suits can be upgraded with the acquirement of power nodes which can be bought from stores that frequent the ship for a generous fee or can be found hidden throughout the environment.

Sound/Ambiance

The sound in this game is phenomenal.  The quality and timing of the sounds in Dead Space will have you constantly looking over your shoulder.  The scurrying up above in the vents or the scampering of following enemies will keep you tense at all times.  The sound of your own feet clucking against the ship's metal interior is enough to keep you alert and it personally resulted in me emptying a clip or two of ammo into my own shadow.  Even running into dead enemies severed  limbs will create a flurry of noise that resonates throughout the ship, always leaving you to search every nook and cranny for the next alien encounter.  Turn your lights off and the sound up to fully immerse yourself into Issac's hopeless position.

Playability

This game can be played over and over in my opinion.  I started on easy because I am quick to be startled and play cautiously and conservatively because of the paranoia that I acquire while progressing through the survival/horror genre.  After beating the game with a solid 13-14 hours of storyline (on easy!) you are able to replay the game (on the same difficulty) with all previous acquired weapons, suits, inventory, and credits.  Also upon beating the game, a few extra perks are rewarded such as the Military Suit and "Impossible Difficulty" that is a true challenge for even the most die hard gamers.

Achievements and DLC

All but three achievements can be unlocked in a single play through with little effort.  Achievements rarely divert from the completing the storyline's 12 acts and slaying aliens that infest the ship with your array of weapons.  Although there is no Downloadable Content that adds to the storyline, there are a number of package deals such as the Tank Set, which upgrades all weapon's damage, capacity, and reload time, plus an exclusive "Tank Suit" that is capable of taking an incredible amount of damage.  Probably the best bang for your buck is the 300 Microsoft Point "Big Gun Pack" which includes the Steam Punk Force Gun that is able to kill virtually anything on Impossible in a single hit.

Overall, Dead Space has a better storyline than any other survival/horror game, including the highly anticipated Resident Evil 5 or Left 4 Dead.  If you can look past the exclusion of multiplayer ,you will find a jewel of a game with an astonishing single player story.