*Edit - OK for some reason i cant seem to get rid of the sill line breaks.... any idea? Is it cause I'm using
Google Chrome?

OK so I know its a little late to be writing this, and I know probably a few more people are sick of hearing just
how awesome this and awesome that about this game, but I thought I would contribute my own opinions and
also make my first C-Blog something worthy.... I hope.

I have be playing dead space pretty much constantly since I got it on day one, and this has amounted to
about 30 hours with it. I'm almost done with my 3rd play through, have already done 2 on medium, and most
of the way through on hard. I would say I have experienced all the scares but I know I haven't, each play
has had me on the edge of my seat and well... bricking it.

I'm not normally a survival horror fan, I like blowing shit up to much in all fairness, but dead space seems to
have that little bit of give, allowing you to go that way, yet always keep you worrying about if you have
enough ammo, health packs, air or stasis packs. Never quite feeling safe. It also doesn't have that survival
horror feel to the controls either, the movement is slow but its responsive and accurate, not just annoyingly
slow to make you scared. I also found that the game is moreish, like a good Jason film(Friday the 13th for
those who are not acquainted to Mr Voorhees), it never quite sends you to the point of “fuck this I'm going to
have a heart attack!”.

The scare moments can be quite cheap at times, but they definitely work, on the first play you will jump, and
a lot more then a couple times. Id say this is like a good classic horror film, not always the deepest scare
tactics, or even intelligent for that matter. But like I say they work, and work really well. They also use the
environment to help these tactics, good use of lighting and the level design is probably some of the best I
have seen in a long time, which really helps string you along in to the next scare and towards the end of the
game.

I'm pretty sure every single review and impression has mentioned the sound, so ill keep it brief. In a word -
Real... The Ishimura actually sounds like the place has been ripped to pieces. I know its a hard concept to
grasp, but the random clanging, the creaking, the ambient sounds of the ship are just spot on, I cant describe
it any other way. I will however fault the build instrumentals to the scares and larger enemies, they seem to
be a bit more bland and don't seem to help the game, don't get me wrong it certainly doesn't detract, and I
found myself more listening out for the squelchy footsteps of a necromorph then any kinda music which
unfortunately make it rather forgettable.

As for the way the game keeps you in with the character, the holographic displays. Genius. This is probably
one of the best implementations of an inventory I have ever used for a horror game, the only flaw is when
pressing the back button(in the 360 version) it takes you to the map screen, and not to the inventory.... so
when you trying to escape a certain monster(trying to avoid spoilers for those yet to play it) and your in
desperate need of a stasis refill.... your almost certainly buggered..... in the ass.... while trying to run... and
use the D-pad to get to the stasis refill. One thing I haven't tried yet though, is assigning the stasis pack as a
weapon? Who knows, may work, and may be the answer to quite simply the only issue I have with this
game.

Story wise, as just the game... It seems a little shallow if you just going through it level by level, if though you
download and watch the animated comics from the market places of from
[url]www.deadspacegame.com[/url] and then also consider in investing into the Dead Space Downfall
animation, you'll see that there is a massive amount of story to the game, and a fantastic back story which I'm
really looking forward to getting more information about.

I can happily say, that if EA continue to publish games as good as dead space, and don't milk it to much, then I
like their new direction. With the quality of this and Mirrors Edge(well the demo), I'm certainly backing the new
direction of their game design... DRM is another matter but screw that conversation. If there are people still on
the fence, and are umming or ahhing about this game, I strongly urge you to go buy it, you will not be
disappointed with the money you spend on it, and you will be scared out of your skin!

If you do have this, don't play it with the Xbox Elite suit until you have at least played it through once. It just
spoils the whole game experience, and if you want a white suit badly, complete the game and then play it
again... you will be pleasantly surprised.

I'm not going to give any score or a “seal of approval”, but I will more then likely have this as one of my top 5
games this year... easily.

If you did read all that and I didn't bore you to much let me know and ill put a few more up.

Thanks,
Darren