Dead Space for PC

[vlad321]

Alright so I'm through the beginning parts and here are my impressions. The game is very good. It's basically the child of Resident Evil 4 and DOOM3, which is a very good thing.

Graphics: Look good and since most of the game is in closed corridors or smallish rooms with some larger halls here and there (nothing huge and wide open from what I have seen so far) you can run the game comfortably. On Vista I am using up less that 1 gig of ram running this so thei is VERY good optimization. The only problem I have is that sometimes I will get a major slow down and I either pause and toggle one video setting or I just pause and alt-tab for half a minute or so and then it's back to being silky smooth. It could just be my computer though, it's been getting very random slowdowns in every game I play.

Audio: I like the audio it tells you what it needs to tell you with no extras except one. Any time there are monsters there's the encounter music playing and you know when the encounter ends when the music ends. This kinda ruins the "is there one more behind me" feeling of the game and while a minor point it's worth pointing out, I feel it's a crutch.

Controls: This part just screams console in your face. You have to use the arrow keys to navigate interface menus like the store and your inventory and a very limited customization doesn't help either. Set your Aim Mode toggle to middle mouse button and never bother using the temporary Aim Mode button, trust me on this. It makes going through the game much easier and faster, also more convenient for controls. Mouse acceleration seems to be on and it's very annoying for aiming, but that's because I'm not used to it at all and I couldn't find a way to turn it off, no .ini files or anything either. The problem is that if you move a little too much you basically do a complete 180 while fighting, even at lower sensitivities. I also noticed that sometimes the acceleration did turn off and I can't quite peg when it happens but it does. This is the weakest area of the game on the PC by far but it doesn't ruin it at all provided you are willing to adapt a tiny bit.

Gameplay: As I stated above this is the child of Resident Evil 4 and DOOM3. It plays very much like RE4 right down to the upgradeable items (though they have a cool system for it here) and the general feel. On the other hand it's got the atmosphere and the tension that DOOM3 had (you know.... before you got the super weapons). The whole dismemberment tactic is just a gimmick honestly, instead of shooting at their heads shoot their arms and legs, and honestly any part of the arm or leg seems to sever them at the same rate. So far on medium I have enough ammunition and health packs to last me the entire game it seems. The monsters drop more ammo than it takes for you to kill them and if you are good enough with aiming you won't get hit too often either. I find it kind of easy as of right now, but maybe that's just because I'm using a mouse (and i know how to use it). I did much worse at this point on my roommate's 360 version with the analog sticks. Zero G is pretty cool too if you are careful.

Random comments: So far on medium I have enough ammunition and health packs to last me the entire game it seems. The monsters drop more ammo than it takes for you to kill them and if you are good enough with aiming you won't get hit too often either. I find it kind of easy as of right now, but maybe that's just because I'm using a mouse (and i know how to use it). I did much worse at this point on my roommate's 360 version with the analog sticks.

Overall: If I had to pick I'd give it a solid 8 or 8.5 solely because of the console mechanics in the control scheme. But if you get used to it quickly and doesn't bother you the entire time then it's a definite 9 or 9.5 and that's where I am at. It's kinda scary (I honestly expected something to happen in the bathroom mirrors a la DOOM3), story is good, challenging enough, and most importantly fun.