Having a hard time deciding on a good rating for this game because on the one hand I don’t think the gameplay mechanics are particularly impressive, but on the other hand this is one of the most polished and thoughtfully crafted 7th gen games I’ve played and I have a lot of respect for a dev team putting that amount of thought and work into their game.

You’ve probably already heard enough about the UI but it really is fantastic with the way-finding especially being a very important element of its success. Dead Space came out during the quest marker and quest arrow scourge of the 7th and 8th generations and implementing a way-finding system that allowed you to ask for directions only when you wanted was an amazing decision. The levels also seem designed around this lack of a quest marker because they’re all very intuitive to navigate and explore.

The graphics in this game are also unbelievably good for a title that came out in 2008. It looks amazing about 98% of the time with brightly lit areas generally being the only parts where the graphics feel aged. On the topic of visuals this is also a game with a really unique and distinctive visual style that permeates absolutely every element of the game - the architecture, the weapons, the necromorphs, UI, the outfits, etc. I can remember when this game came out and Isaac’s armor along with the plasma cutter became iconic and beloved pieces of visual design almost immediately and were still remembered fondly by a lot of gamers even before the 2023 remake.

All of this effort and creativity and really smart design work makes me want to love this game more than I actually do. It’s all so heartening to see in a AAA game and I have a tremendous amount of respect for it.

That said, this game is let down by its combat mechanics. They’re not bad by any means but they’re pretty shallow and mindless and there’s very little sense of increasing challenge or adaptation as the player progresses through the game. Don’t get me wrong, blasting necromorphs is fun - I generally had a good time doing it for most of the game, but it’s mindless fun. There aren’t many strategies for tackling the necromorphs and the design of combat areas is very simple and barely changes throughout the game, which makes combat pretty boring and easy by the end.

The strongest part of Dead Space’s gameplay is honestly the moments of rising tension between fights which this game does really well up until the very last couple of chapters. I don’t want to describe how the game does this because I’ll risk lessening its effect for first time players but it’s well done and feels very meticulously crafted to create as much unease in the player as possible.

Overall enjoyed my time with this game and wish I liked the combat more because there’s so much about this game to love.