Gamers step into a third-person sci-fi survival horror experience that promises to deliver the ultimate in psychological thrills and gruesome action.
Set in the cold blackness of deep space, the atmosphere is soaked with a feeling of tension, dread and sheer terror. In Dead Space, players step into the role of engineer Isaac Clarke – an ordinary man on a seemingly routine mission to fix the communications systems aboard a deep space mining ship. It is not long before Isaac awakes to a living nightmare when he learns that the ship's crew has been ravaged by a vicious alien infestation. He must fight through the dead silence and darkness of deep space to stay alive
THE Isaac Clarke, the main character of the game, was in a deserted corridor on the Ishimura (the mining vessel that he and his team are dispatched to investigate). We immediately opened a door and witnessed that the environment was decompressed – apparently part of the ship had been ripped apart due to some accident, so this section was completely exposed to space. However, it gave us a great view of the planet that the Ishimura had been "planet cracking" – the method that they used to section up and sift chunks of a world for minerals. While the view was beautiful, it was deadly; Isaac only had around ninety seconds of air within his suit. Luckily, as we explored the environment, we were able to find some additional air canisters to replenish our supply, and we were able to get to a door and enter a new section of the ship.
Isaac will have a couple of items at his disposal. For example, certain weapons, such as the three barreled mining tool that we've seen in previous screens, can fire in either a vertical or horizontal spread. This lets Isaac target different body parts of monsters so he can focus on hitting the weak spots he needs to exploit. Isaac will also acquire a module that allows him to generate a stasis field, slowing down time and movement for anything trapped in its wake. Not surprisingly, this item is a true life saver, as there were a number of times that we were surrounded by creatures and froze them in place. This gave us a chance to target and blow these beasts apart without feeling as though a poorly placed shot would come back to hauntOn the back of Clarke's back is a tube called a Rig. This displays (again in turquoise) the amount of energy that Clarke has left to use this stasis ability, and it looks like such time bending tactics will have to be used sparingly. IT has said that ammo will also be sparse in the traditional survival horror style, meaning that you'll have to be careful with the trigger otherwise you'll be bare-fist fighting a horde of ravenous, alien blood suckers.
Speaking of bare-fist fighting, the melee system in Dead Space looked quite extensive. When enemies get within biting range, a button tapping skirmish ensues in order to stop the alien from gnawing at your neck. While we've had no hands-on experience of the game, other punching and kicking moves looked like they were quite intuitively integrated, depending on your position relative to the alien. Weapon melee attacks are also varied, with heavier weapons simply requiring a pendulum-like swing to do severe damage and smaller side-arms needing beefier swipes to do damagewe saw Isaac get his leg ripped off, with a successive strike that knocked his head off his shoulders. Only his spinal cord kept the head connected to the body. A second time, his body was completely dismembered by a frightening creature kown as the brute in a hydroponics lab, who basically flipped Isaac over and leapt onto him, popping his limbs out of their sockets.
The graphics looked impressive at this early stage, with silky smooth textures and a well designed interior to the ship, which cements Dead Space's status as a thoroughbred next-gen game. we saw Isaac get his leg ripped off, with a successive strike that knocked his head off his shoulders. Only his spinal cord kept the head connected to the body. A second time, his body was completely dismembered by a frightening creature kown as the brute in a hydroponics lab, who basically flipped Isaac over and leapt onto him, popping his limbs out of their sockets.
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