Dead Space | 9.5

I have been playing shooters for a long long time. After DOOM, no one had the guts to move away from head shots. Almost 3 decades has come and gone and shooters have remained the same. Woow these guys did get away with it, and they have come out with amazing results. This is the power of creativity.

We have played shooters with zombies in them, horror sci-fi games, different permutations and combinations. All have few different monsters as enemies. Either you shoot them in the head or it is some kind of quick press events to kill the bosses. Here you have to understand what every enemy is, remember how to kill when you see them again. As you walk through the levels, you see clues written in blood on what to do with each enemy.

The game continuously throws new surprises. You have to explore every level to find items to upgrade your weapons. When you first step into ZeroG... the fights gets crazy. Enemies will come from every direction, the map is a big globe. The level design is fantastic. Every single detail from hospital rooms, kitchens what ever that will be required in a big space ship is there. It is not like the super tidy carpeted Trek space ship. It is supposed to be some thing like a dirty mining rig, and you surely get the feel of it.

There is lot of creativity that has gone in.. which I didn't expect from a big publisher like EA. You don't find any M16, AK46, turret gun here. All the weapons are mining equipment. Our future mining equipments are lot more interesting than what we have today. As the main character is a engineer lot of things he does very cohesive with the gameplay. When you actually fix a lever and move things around it feels lot more natural.

I do have to say one thing about this game. It is truly meant for mature audience. Please don't buy this game for very young children. There are few sections where you have to kick and stomp baby zombies. It gets too violent and scary. But as a horror/survival/thriller you need creepy enemies. Also they do give you a reason to keep searching and not quit half way around. The theme may be slightly similar to DMC4 girl friend search... but executed very well.

One gripe I have with this game as with DMC4 is backtracking. The game is quite long by today's standard. The space ship feels much better because you are visiting some of the same areas while backtracking. It is not horrible, but it is there. I wish they hadn't done that.

To give developers credit, they have done enough to avoid the regular backtracking nightmares like lost routes. You can always use your analog stick to show the dotted green walk line.

Previously I thought this one will be like Silent hill, this one is more closer to Resident Evil. Falls more in the creepy, scary game than survival horror game.

Technically, I don't have to say much. Any one who has seen videos of the game already know this game looks stunning. Fantastic way to start the holiday season. Brand new IP, silky smooth game play, really well done game. Go treat yourself.