In the vast blackness of space, no one can hear you scream...

Dead Space is an incredibly scary and frantic horror game for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Dead Space, developed by Electronic Arts, or EA Games, was one of the first games released for the 360, and it still remains one of the best. This, ladies and gents, is survival horror at its finest. Set in the cold reaches of space, you play as Engineer Isaac Clarke, a member of a space vessel sent to investigate the disappearance of the USS Ishimura, a huge mining ship that, just hours after retrieving a mysterious artifact, went completely AWOL, its communications to Earth cut off. Upon arriving on the now derelict Ishimura, you discover a nightmarish scene: the crew of the Ishimura brutally slaughtered like cattle and a horrifically violent alien species known as Necromorphs infecting the entire ship. Prepare for the fight of your life...

In terms of visual effects, Dead Space favors a dark and wholly disturbing atmosphere. As you are on a dead ship, this makes sense. EA did a fantastic job with this. The corridors are dimly lit, the shadows move as though alive, and all throughout the game you are thoroughly convinced that once you get out of the light, something is going to jump out and eat your face. Most disturbing. The character and enemy design is also quite superb, with the models smoothly rendered and the actions well-choreographed. Camera angles in this game are a slight pain, and the entire game is played from a third person point of view. The camera centered on Isaac is almost right at this back, and this can make the gameplay a little awkward at times, as you are having to readjust the camera angles to see what is going on. This is a minor setback however. The crew of the ship Isaac came on are present throughout the entire game, and they are constantly bickering, however, which kinda detracts from the whole creepy feel of the game. Also, you never actually see what Isaac looks like until the very end, as he spends the vast majority of th game encased in a mining suit that allows him to navigate the ship. Nonetheless, Dead Space gets a 9/10 for visual elements.

Sound in Dead Space is amazing. The eerie quiet of the floating carcass of a ship is splendidly represented here, punctuated by screams, cries for help, and Isaac's own labored breathing as he attempts to navigate the delerict vessel. Isaac is strangely silent throughout the game, never saying a thing except for grunts of exertion, pain, and breathing in a Darth Vader-like fashion. Music in this game is almost absent, except for the dramatic music that comes with every scare tactic moment. Despite this, you never feel like you're missing out on something because there is no music. Rather, the seeming lack of music serves to heighten the feelings of helplessness and dread that suffuse the ship. The roars of the Necromorph aliens, the screams of the survivors, Isaac's Vader-esque breathing, it all combines to create an atmosphere of sorrow, dread, and sheer terror that makes the player long for the sun to shine and day to arrive. Alas, there is no light in the cold void of space...Dead Space gets a 9/1o for sound.

Gameplay in Dead Space is also superb. From the moment you enter the Ishimura, the controls are easy to learn and intuitive. One interesting thing EA has done is to do away with a traditional health and ability bar; rather, health and abilities are shown on Isaac's suit, the health bar being represented by a series of green bars on the spine of the suit, and abilities shown as yellow bars along the sides of the spine. In addition to health and abilities, there is an air indicator that shows how much air Isaac has before he asphyxiates, as there are parts in the game where Isaac must navigate the vacuum of space itself and run along the outside of the ship. Another fantastic idea from EA is the use of an objective tracking function. By pushing down on the right thumbstick, you can call up a path that shows exactly how to get to the next objective or item or what have you. An extremely handy little thing, so handy in fact that I wish other games had it too. In terms of weaponry, Isaac can find a number of futuristic weapons, including a plasma cutter, pulse rifle, flamethrower, and contact beam gun, each with a primary and secondary firing mode as well as simply swinging the weapon in a melee attack. These weapons are all needed to face the Necromorph threat, and rather than simply shooting and emptying your weapons into the enemy, EA has devised a simpler option: DISMEMBERMENT. Yes, the easiest way to defeat the enemies in Dead Space is to, quite literally, disarm them. Blowing off limbs and heads and other body parts renders the creatures all but useless in combat. Lots of fun. Of course, when you are surrounded by aliens who all just want to crack your suit open like a nut and devour you from the inside out, you're not really thinking "which limb to blow off first?". The puzzles in Dead Space are simple enough to figure out, yet complex enough to require a bit of thinking outside the box. Just the sort of mix I like. The bosses in Dead Space are also excellent and extremely creepy, which makes the gameplay in Dead Space even more superb. Blasting away a large squid-like creature with a giant minigun mounted on the hull of the ship still remains my fondest memory of Dead Space. For all these reasons, Dead Space gets a 10/10 for gameplay.

Final thoughts: Dead Space is a fantastic game. As it is an older game, its also very affordable, coming in at 20 bucks for a brand new copy. For those who like their games with a little more thrills and chills, I recommend Dead Space. So go out there, pick it up, turn off the lights and turn on the surround sound, and you'll be in for one Hell of a night!