Dead Space Preview

E3 2008 Preview - Hands On

One of the most anticipated titles from EA’s camp is Dead Space, a unique take on the third-person survival-horror genre. Dead Space puts you in space, while taking on some truly horrific opponents, while offering up plenty of action to go with the suspense. With no shortage of gore and a great sense of atmosphere, Dead Space is one that fans of horror games will want to keep an eye out for.

In Dead Space, you play as Isaac, an engineer who crash-lands on a planet that has been taken over by a nasty alien species known as necromorphs. As Isaac is merely an engineer and not a space marine, he only has access to his engineering tools and not a full arsenal, which adds an interesting element to the game and how you’d use your weaponry.

The controls in Dead Space are pretty easy to get the hang of. It feels a lot like Resident Evil 4, as the game will have the same kind of behind-the-back camera angle and a similar aiming system. One interesting touch is that the game won’t have an on-screen HUD, so everything that appears on the screen will be exactly what Isaac is seeing as well. Plus, any menus that you open will occur in real-time, meaning that you have to be quick, or else you’ll get attacked and killed by enemies.

The game has several really cool additions aside from this. The dismemberment engine allows you to literally rip through your enemies limbs, and even use their sharp appendages as projectiles should you want to conserve your ammunition.

Another nice touch is the zero gravity system, which is quite a bit more realistic than in other situations. Whereas other games might have you floating around “jet-pack” style, Dead Space allows you to “push” off from platform to platform while staying firm onto whatever surface you’re on, resulting in a jumping puzzle of sorts where you have to carefully aim your next jump or else get killed.

Another element shown off was the upgrade system, or the upgrade bench. By sitting at the upgrade bench, you can upgrade your arsenal, using the node-based interface to improve your weapon’s strength, accuracy and so on with the items that you’ve picked up throughout the environment.

Dead Space is a frightening entry to the survival-horror genre, and one inspired by many great sources, both in film and games. Look for it to launch this October.

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