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The survival horror genre has seen a lot of games like Doom 3, BioShock etc which leaves you in an isolated environment full of monsters and other terrifying beasts. Dead Space is no exception but it manages to stand out from the others due to its engrossing story, strategic dismemberment combat, bloody visuals and blood chilling sounds.

You play as Issac Clarke, an engineer who has been sent to repair the communications of USG Ishimura, a mining ship which has lost radio contact with its corporation. It might seem a little problem at first but things seem far worse when you finally land on the ship. In the beginning of the game, you will get separated from the rest of your crew and your survival will soon begin. You will be taking orders from the captain through radio and will be performing a lot of tasks like repairing the engine, bringing the automated defense system online etc. To accomplish your missions, you will be moving from Deck to Deck of the ship in an orderly manner. However, things are not so easy at it seems. The crew of the ship has transformed into full fledged monsters called Necromorphs, and that too of different variety. You will see them crawling all through the ventilation systems or coming at you when you least expect them. Some will even feign death and when you get closer, will jump right at your face.

You will have a variety of weapons at your disposal ranging from Plasma Guns, Flame Thrower, chain saw etc. But you can’t kill a Necromorph just by shooting him in his head or body. This is where the new combat system of ‘strategic dismemberment’ comes into play. To kill a Necromorph, you will have to kill him by cutting of his limbs and body parts. And you have to do it properly, even if you cut off a Necromorph’s leg, he will adapt to its new situation and will again try to jump at you using his arms or whatever is left. Each different species will require some different strategy to handle. And when you are attacked by different species simultaneously, your skills will be put to test. You will encounter a small child like Necromorph, who will suddenly raise its tentacles and will fire small projectiles towards you. Then there are those big tentacles that will suddenly emerge from some walls and will drag you towards a bad death. You will have to escape from it as you are being dragged.

You will occasionally be involved in some boss fights which are quite challenging as you have to find out the weakness of your opponent. These encounters are truly one of the best part of the game. The secondary fire of the weapons will be off great use if you can use it timely. Two more things are provided that can be very helpful - ‘stasis ‘ & ‘Kinesis’. Stasis is a resource that gives you ability to slow down objects and Necromorphs for a limited amount of time allowing you to take them down easily. It is a finite resource and you will have to stack it up at recharge stations. Kinesis can be used to lift, move and throw objects. It will be required while solving puzzles or you can use it to throw objects at the enemies. Occasionally you will have to use both in order to solve puzzles. Along the way you will also pick up Audio and Video logs that will give more information about the story and background. You will pick power nodes that can be used to upgrade your weapons at various upgradation points. Schematics can be used at any store and will add some new weapons to the database that you can purchase. Credits that you pick up along the way can be used for buying ammo and weapons.

Along the journey, you will come across Zero Gravity areas which will require you to do Zero G jumps for moving with one place to another. There will be vacuum areas as well which will very much deplete your oxygen supply so you will have to cross that quickly. The visuals of the game are pretty impressive. The Necromorphs are beautifully modeled and look so deadly and horrible. Walking in the zero gravity area and watching Asteroids moving through space produce a beautiful scenario. The game contains a lot of gore and after a battle scene, you will see a lot of lot of blood and limbs lying here and there. There are some beautiful cut scenes and sequences to mesmerize you. In the beginning of the game, you will be running for cover from Necromorph and will enter a lift. There you will see the Necromorphs trying to open the lift with there limbs and failing. Such sequence produce a dramatic effect.

The sound effects in the game are truly incredible. While moving through the ship, you will constantly hear the sound of Necromorphs as they move through the corridors or ventilation systems. The eerie noise they produce, the whispers will always keep you at the edge of your seat. You will also hear Issac’s breathing and movement as he moves through Vacuum or when he is hurt. The audio along with the visuals work to create a beautiful and creepy adventurous sense that will excite you as well.

The game has around 12 chapters and they are enough to keep you busy for around 20 hours. It is an amazing game that should be tried by anyone who loves action games. A perfect blend of Half Life, Bio Shock and Doom 3.

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