User Score
7.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 535 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 53 out of 535

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  1. LukeW
    Jan 27, 2009
    3
    I've asked my friends who have played it on the console and they all said they loved it, so I'm guessing it's either just me, or this is another horrible PC port. Absolutely horrid controls. I had the same issue as Bryan in that the mouse had some really weird movement issues (like faster x than y movement). I immediately noted that I did not like TPS games, and I tried to make the best of it, but within 15 minutes of installing the game I was swearing a lot more than I usually do. Controls and camera are awkward as hell. If you can manage to walk somewhere without your blood pressure rising from frustration (not fear, because this is well before the first monster) then you are a more patient man than I. Good graphics, but then again you do have a giant space suit taking up 1/3-1/2 of your screen. Wait for this (typical) EA garbage to go to the bargain bin. Expand
  2. May 7, 2011
    4
    Oh my god, bought this on £4 special on steam and now wonder why.

    Yes the graphics are good but oh the controls just seem weird. I can't play Halo:Reach on an XBOX as the way the controls work are just too weird for me, these seem much the same, it reminds me of Tomb Raider:The Angel of Darkness and Resident Evil 4 were the control system gets in the way of a good game.
    I hav
    e turned down mouse sensitivity from the default and it is a little more manageable but the whole interface is odd and awkward. You have to go up very close to stuff before you can select it rather than get in the general vicinity and be looking at it, the screen that springs up to tell you what to do is irritating and gets in the way, this is classic example of a TPS designed for consoles that really doesn't port well to a PC. If there just the option to go in to first person view rather than have a character that block 1/3 of the screen it would be 100% better.

    Overall there is a good game trying to get out of here but there is too much detritus in the way.
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  3. Jan 6, 2011
    0
    This game contains a critical failure bug if you use a USB mouse interface with your keyboard, which most people do. The POV camera will spin wildly, and out of control, making gameplay absolutely impossible. The issue was identified in 2009, and HAS STILL NOT BEEN PATCHED. Do NOT purchase this game, or you'll find yourself where I am, with a 13GB, $20 cutscene. Here is a link to the EA forums, where they admit to the problem WHICH STILL HAS NOT BEEN FIXED:

    http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/0/354522.page#11564163
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  4. Jul 9, 2011
    0
    I consider this game to be unplayable. You basically can't see anything because of the ridiculous FOV setting and the fact that the camera is so uselessly placed that the character obstructs half the screen. Also the view controls are sluggish and unintuitive. Maybe this game is better on a console and it's just a bad port. In any case on the PC it's horrible. Avoid it.
  5. May 12, 2011
    0
    Game still has a bug in it that makes game play with vsync on impossible. So, if you have a modern computer with an HD monitor, you play with screen tearing or force it through your video card. I despise bugs, this one is big. Also, the mouse controls are horrid making controlling your character very difficult and when you find a setting that works in game the cursor moves much too fast to navigate menu's. Terrible console port, terrible job. Expand
  6. Jul 21, 2011
    0
    Horrible waste of money and time. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME FOR PC. EA did a horrible horrible job porting this to the PC. I'm pretty sure trained monkeys could have done a better job. First off, I hope you enjoy mouse lag, turning off vsync helps but does not remove it. Second half of the menus are off the screen no matter what you do. Third the character spins to the left if you use a USB keyboard and Mouse. This game is far to buggy from the get go and after 30 minutes of trying to fix the issues I gave up and demanded a refund from steam. Trust me, don't waste your time on this one. Expand
  7. EASUCKS
    Feb 15, 2009
    0
    This is a good game, but why did I give it a zero?
    Because its made by backstabbing assholes EA with thier DRM, SECU-ROM and bullshit about how "99%of gamers are piraters"... They actually said that... Worst of all it is annouced that they arent porting anymore so now theyre just another console company just like the rest... Computer games so so screwed with all the companies switching ov
    er to console. Expand
  8. LeeW
    Apr 24, 2009
    2
    Doom 3. Except I already payed fifty dollars. I was hoping for something new; as powerful as Doom 3 is, it does not need to be blatantly plagiarized. New features include the strategic dismemberment, but that would be more fun if I wasn't strategically dismembering the same five enemies over and over again. It includes a ton of backtracking that promises you exploration of every centimeter of this tin cave, but that is in no way fun, as the level design is completely the same style, or lack thereof, throughout. I normally wait to complete a game before telling how bad it is to get the complete standpoint I need, but this is incredibly basic. I recently finished everything up to the part where I put this distress beacon on this asteroid, but I can't get much more specific, both because I don't remember (nor do I really care to), and I wouldn't want to give away the paper-thin story and bland characters with terrible portrayals by their voice actors to those yet to play this "game". The controls so far are a pain, as if I'm in a corner and pull up my magical menu and I'm facing just the wrong way and cannot see it. Add to that the constricted view and the inability to mouse one's way through most menus. It frustrates me so. It looks really good and has a lot of optimization, though. Expand
  9. gwarbob
    Oct 27, 2008
    0
    Literally Unplayable. The PC controlls are hideous. The mouse control in the menus is so bad I gave up trying to rebind the keys in frustration. After half an hour of trying to play this i finally uninstalled the game. The controlls would be barable for turn based combat, for an fps/tps this is a joke. Unplayable. Worse than Scarface.
  10. Ikimono
    Feb 27, 2009
    1
    Extremely repetitive gameplay, extremely predictable monster points, and very bad controls for both the Xbox Version and the PC version (I played the Xbox and then played a friends copy on PC.) Half of the levels are straight out of Doom3 with the veins on the walls and corpses integrated into them. Several monsters are taken from the Alien series. The game was in no way scary and just felt stale, the very bad camera position not helping at all. They did do an okay job with sound though. That gets them 1 point. Expand
  11. nickp
    May 22, 2009
    2
    Hey come on ! EA Be honest , this games cannot be played on a pc . 30$ down the drain . the main caracter take up all the screen surface ( i could not believe it , you cant see a thing , the control of the caracter is ridiculous wasd like in the stone age of computer games . Not only that but the mouse as clearly a very big problem . i cannot beleive this was released in 2009 ( control over the caracter in half life is was so simple , right mouse walk left mouse shoot ) Is this a joke? . The games seem fun but was clearly not ment to be played on a pc . Dont buy !!! beware , we are in 2009 EA the mouse is the best way to control a caracter . I should always take the worste opignion of the users review they are generaly not far from the truth. Expand
  12. NormanH.
    Dec 10, 2008
    0
    I had high hopes for this game. I got it for the PC. The thing is unplayable. The mouse drifts like crazy and the controls are if you plan to use the tried and true mouse + keyboard setup. After only 15 minutes of playing I was so frustrated I uninstalled the thing and threw it away. If you are a PC gamer avoid this game like the friggen plague. EA seemed to go out of their way to ruin the PC port of this game. Expand
  13. BryanT.
    Dec 4, 2008
    3
    I played the game for an hour. As soon as I saw that the game was 3rd person, I knew it was gonna be a failure. The only thing 3rd person does for a game is kill the realism and cut your viewing area in half. When I was able to move around the game got much worse. Picture Resident Evil 4, but with more sluggish controls. If it wasn't for the slow-mo ability you get, you would never be able to shoot the legs and arms off of the enemies like you need to. Don't even bother shooting them in the chest. You will instantly realize how bad the control is as soon as you load up the game and try to navigate the mouse on the menu screen. The only pro I can see with this game is the graphics and the engine it uses. Not sure which engine it is, but it runs smooth with high resolution just like Call of Duty 4 did. I don't know about you, but I wanna be able to aim AND side step at the same time. This same problem ruined Resident Evil 4 for me. That was a perfect game aside the controls. Trust me when I say, this game is not fun to play. 3 is given since it's 'playable'. Collapse
  14. MarcC
    Jun 13, 2009
    1
    This is a waste of time and money. Its bad enough that metascore give it a 86. If you like that you should try to play other games druken, its the same feelin. The smooth and soft mouse-control sucks the last bit of fun out of this... Game... and the 3.-Person view is nothing i need for a shooter. Again a EA-Fail.
  15. EarthtoEA
    Nov 15, 2009
    0
    I would rate this game a negative if I could. It's an FPS without the FP or the S, and a horrible, inavigable, unintuitive, unplayable console port, with draconian DRM to boot. Not that the 3-install limit will matter to you after you gouge your eyes out and uninstall the game to stop the searing pain of trying to play it, but you won't even be able to return it for your money back. I had the headache and nausea I typically get after suffering through a 12+ hour nonstop HL2 marathon on maximum volume, a mere five minutes into this game. I had to go outside and get a breath of fresh air before the ten minute mark. I uninstalled it when I got back. As a long-time PC gamer who actually enjoys atmospheric horror games like Doom 3, I found this game unforgivably insufferable. Can't return it due to SecuROM. Will burn in the fire pit instead. Expand
  16. Sep 8, 2012
    0
    I didn't enjoy this game much.. I've only played about half an hour, but already I can tell, this is a terrible console port. Enemies aren't very difficult, and nearly all of the challenge in the game is due to the sucky controls. The actors and dialog are just plain stupid. The woman is such a drama queen. The FOV is hideous and nauseating. The 3rd person view gets in the way most of the time, and the protagonist fills about half the screen. Turning around takes several seconds due to the laggy mouse controls. Give this one a miss.. there are many far better games out there. Expand
  17. Mar 13, 2011
    0
    POS Port. I found the controls unplayable on the PC, which prevented me from going any further than 10 minutes into the story line, which didn't seem to have much depth. Waste of 10 bucks.

    Consoles are killing the PC gaming industry with flub like this...
  18. Jan 31, 2013
    1
    I am boggled at how this game has been praised by so many with such a high score. The controls is a gigantic turd. It didn't seem to be very intriguing story wise. I read about dead space, watched a anime on it and thought it was a neat idea, but the game just feels like it wasn't even trying. It was the same "scare" tactic used way too many times. "Oh look, a alien/creature, I wonder if it will get up once I walk by. Oh there is a vent too, wonder if I should worry." It was repetitive after the first 30mins of play. It also expects you to feel something about the guy you are supposedly running around as. There was no build up to he background, just a picture and a ship log? Something bad happened? You walk into a room on the "problem" ship with 2-8 people that are armed, and you are doing something that happened to corner you off from them and they all die(except for 2 people), but you are to do better and somehow survive with primitive tools compared to them? Why is he still alive after that? The aliens/creatures feel bad for him? What kind of crap story is this so far? The whole room was killed off except for 2 people and you. After that and trying to give it a shot still I just stopped. I bought a bundle pack and have both ds1 and 2 but didn't even try 2. Compared to other games this one doesn't shine at all. The only thing scary about this game is the amount of praise it gets. Expand
  19. Oct 9, 2011
    0
    The PC version is unplayable. First, moving the mouse around in the menu is so floaty, it takes effort just to click on a menu button. Second, you cannot change the controls to arrow keys, a necessary task if you're a lefty. So, I had to close down the game, download a modified control scheme that allows lefties to play. Bad start, but I've dealt with worse.
    Loading up the game, the contro
    ls are so god awful floaty that it takes 2-3 seconds to turn around with mouselook, even with sensitivity maxed. I have never experienced such a system in many years of gaming. Apparently the designers stated that you have to use a gamepad to play, eliminating any of the benefit of having the game for PC.
    If I wanted a console FPS gaming experience, I'd buy the game for the PS3. But I like having actual control over my actions with a keyboard and mouse, so I don't.

    Without a doubt, my last Visceral Games purchase ever. I wish I could get my money back.
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  20. Mar 12, 2012
    1
    Scary as hell when you cant see anything because character fills half of the screen. Turning and moving around is slow and controls suck big time. I know its wrong to give points without playing the game through but for me game was unplayable and that gives me reason to say what I think in here.
  21. May 25, 2012
    4
    I picked this up ages ago on a steam sale after checking the reviews here. Naturally in my enthusiasm for a bargain I ignored the negative comments. It couldn't be that bad, these people are just whingers I thought. What a fool I was. Just in case it's popped up again for $5 and you're wondering if its worth a cup of coffee, listen to the poor reviews. Yes, this game is aesthetically nice but the fact is the controls are teeth jarringly bad even with a lot of tweaking and the perspective is obstructive. You'll discover what a horrible mistake you made literally within 30 seconds of installation. Expand
  22. Dec 14, 2012
    0
    The scariest thing about this game are the controls. You hear a monster approaching and need about 10 seconds to scan the area around you, because it's just not possible to move the mouse at a decent speed.

    Even with "fixes" like upping the mouse sensivity and disabling Vsync, it's basically unplayable. I bought this for 3$ on Steam sale and yet I feel robbed by Visceral Games and EA (o
    nce again), especially because any half decent developer/publisher who care about their customers would have this fixed asap. Expand
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 28
  2. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. This is a highly recommended game for science fiction and survival horror fans, with its claustrophobic atmosphere and horrible creatures.
  2. Overall, Dead Space is an extraordinary game with tons of shock value and action to whet any fan's appetite for some time, and with a campaign that lasts a steady 10-12 hours, that’s plenty of time to get lost aboard the Ishimura.
  3. Dead Space is a potentially great game that's hamstrung by an attempt to completely ape a console controller with a mouse and keyboard. [Dec 2008, p.58]