DESIGN REVIEW: Dead Space

Definitely creepy and enjoyable space horror survival game on a spaceship that brought new ideas to the table, while using very solid mechanics that other games like Resident Evil have proven to be successful.

LIKED:
- Holographic HUD. The Heads-Up Display is a holographic projection that appears in front of you, without pausing the game. You can turn the camera, and the HUD will turn with it - very futuristic and fits in well with the atmosphere and the general gestalt of the game. One button press brings it up, and it's very simple to navigate - even when you're getting chased by monsters. From this menu, you can manage everything from inventory to objectives, to the map. On a related note, Dead Space also has this innovative objective marker - with a button press, a holographic line appears on the floor, pointing in the correct direction and through which door you must go to progress. It solves the annoying problem when you encounter 2 doors, and you want to go through the optional one to pick up all the items, but you don't know which one is the optional one without going through one of the doors and possibly backtracking half the time.

- Zero Gravity. When you enter a zero-g area, you can propel yourself in a straight like off a wall to another wall. The concepts of up and down get turned um... upside down and can be pleasurably disorienting at times. Monsters do the same thing, essentially making you approach combat in a different way while in zero-g compared to normal areas of the game. Sometimes the player is out in space, with no oxygen, pressured to move ahead and make it to a door before oxygen tanks run out (refillable via items or environment).


- Tentacle Grab. Three or four times over the course of the game, you're suddenly grabbed by a giant tentacle and must struggle to shoot it in its weak spot while your aim is affected. Good pace breaker and an intense moment.