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Dead Space (2008) review
Exceptional
by Sebastian

Dead Space may very well be the prototype space horror game out there. It is a first-person-shooter first and foremost but tells a compelling story on it's way.

The year is 2508. You are an engineer tasked to repair a mining starship stranded in space which has gone silent. As you board the ship, the story unfolds...

As it happens, while mining, some ancient, dark, evil secret (think of 2001: A Space Odyssey paired with Event Horizon) was unearthed which infested the starship and now you have to fight your way through.

So, an FPS in space. Boring, nothing new? Not so fast! The game excels in a number of points. Apart from the AI which is quite good and gives you a number of shocker moments you have to decide throughout the game how to spend your upgrades. You can upgrade your weapons or your armor - how much hitpoints you have or how long you can survive in outer space (your oxygen reserve).

Upgrading your weapons is what really makes this game fun (and adds a lot to replayability). The weapons are completely diverse and upgrading them adds new functionality. You have to decide which weapons to upgrade in which way (you can always decide to upgrade clip size, reload time, output and if you upgrade to the end you get a bonus fire mode).

This is one of the games you will want to play on the hardest mode again and again and test out if your choices were viable.

To sum it up, the design team behind this game did their work. The upgrade system for your weapons (in an FPS) in Dead Space is easily the best you will find. I played through this twice just to test out different weapons. And if you like a good space horror story, this game is an easy bet.

Also, this is one of the FPS where your choices and skills really matter. You will be eaten up alive if you approach this casually. If you put some thought into it you may go a long way :)

Dead Space is one of those games I will always come back to every few years - just to see the story once more like in a good movie and because every playthrough is different (based on your upgrade choices).
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
«That ending!»
«Beaten more than once»

Other reviews14

A shooter with a small element of horror, the graphics look very good if you consider the time of the game's release, keeps the player in constant tension, very small arsenal of weapons, but each has its own pumping. A classic that everyone should play.
My favorite horror trilogy. 10/10, the diarrhea was explosive on this one
the aliens are scary as shit, and the cut off limbs gun is such a cool and fun idea of a way to deal with them.  gameplay in general though is kinda whatever.
Just incredibly terrifying. After taking about 13 years off from gaming, this is the one that brought me back into the fold, nearly 12 years after it came out
10/10 best dead space
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
Game drags on way too long. Should've ended at chapter 7. Loses all scariness, throws in a massive difficulty spike and becomes an annoying deathfest.
«Game over at last!»
I cannot really write a proper review for this game. It is just so perfect that words cannot start describing it. Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) about this game is just FLAWLESS. From the creative concept to its story premisse, development and ending; to character, stage and UI design; to the gorgeous soundtrack; to game progression and challenging but balanced combat... it all amounts to one of the most immersive and dope games I have ever played in my entire life!
Replayed this recently. It aged well. Such a fun concept. Legitimately scary. The second improves upon the first but the first is a solid campaign.

Final Score: B+
I like the aesthetic a lot but man it gets so repetitive. Leave tram, walk through only open door, pick up ammo, zombies pop up, shoot their arms or legs off, more zombies come, pick up ammo, move to next room, refill stasis or O2, repeat. The beginning has some good pacing and a lot of tension, but once you figure out how the world works, it turns into a shooting gallery with a ton of busywork.
Translated by
Microsoft from Deutsch
This Game is the sheer Horror: The 17-Hour-long battle range is not once boring and really every Second becomes a Challenge (if you have a weaker Heart;D). But let's just get to the Plot: The Player controls Isaac Clark, a Space engineer. The Worker (who doesn't talk a single time in the whole Game) is supposed to go on a mining Ship in a distant Solar System with the Rest of the Crew. Even on arrival, everyone notices something wrong. After a, well, a bit of a violent Landing, we strip the cool Helmet over for the first time and the Fun begins. It quickly becomes clear who is responsible for the fact that almost none of the Crew is alive. Fiant alien parasites have turned the Bodies of the Dead into Space Zombies. The Opponent's Design is simply glorious: The Corpses look disarsing, disgusting Mutations overgrow the whole Body and sense-shaped Bones protrude from their Shoulders. And that's just the Description of a standard necromorph (Name of beasts). Later, much more disgusting Opponents fall over us. One Example is mutant artificial Fetuses or slippery Spice, Leakers!!! The Mouse and Keyboard control Is a bit Sluggish, but don't Worry, you get used to it quickly. Slow Approach makes a good Survivalhorror yes, or;D. We look at the Game events over Isaac'S Shoulders, as in Resident Evil 4. Our Main Weapon is the plasma cutter. Economically, we collect the Ammunition and cut off the Limbs To the Beasts bit by Bit. Although they do not even lose their Lust for Life without headaches. If this damn cool weapon is too boring, you can later buy everything over Circular Saws to Flamethrowers and upgrade at Will. The Role-playing part has more than succeeded. Especially because Isaac's Armor Is becoming more powerful and changing her Appearance. For 2008, the Graphics were very successful. In the narrow gloomy Corridors Of the contaminated Space station, one becomes a really mulky Mute. Light and Sound Effects are more than frightening. The Soudtrack tears you up a mental;D. I Like the Scenes best in the Empties of Space. All you hear is Isaac'S Breathing while we see Stars and Meteorites hunching tonelessly past the Horizon. By the way, the Game does not require Game Ads: Life Display, Inventory, ammunition-Everything is displayed on the Suit or as a Hologram in real Time: Very successful. In Short: If you're a Horror fan, you can't get around Dead Space: In Addition to Jumpscares, it features claustrophobic gears, the menacingly empty Space and 1A body Horror. So strike. 10 Euros is more than fair (Even though I got it when it was down to 2.50 Euros;D). By the Way: Dead Space is endlessly brutal. Although I am very skeptical of THE USK, the Release from the Age of 18 is more than justified. No Idea why, but the German Version is 100% uncut!!! I'm glad, though, as this brutal Masterpiece, in my Opinion, has made video game history (At least in the horror Realm).
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I really liked this game a lot when it first came out. It's a balls to the wall action-horror game with genuinely unsettling psychological aspects. For the most part, it's not too scary since the horror is simply an endless barrage of meaty-creatures getting up in your face, but as an action game it's pretty great, even to this day. 
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
«That ending!»