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Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 531 Ratings

  • Summary: In the bold and often-bloody Dead Space gamers step into a third-person sci-fi survival horror experience that delivers 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. [Electronic Arts] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 28
  2. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. 100
    Integrating some nice variety into one game while maintaining its decidedly action-oriented dynamics, Dead Space is appealing across a wide cross-section of gameplay styles. Wrap an engrossing plot that is a veritable warren of intermingling themes around this and you've got a game that is basically a guaranteed experience.
  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. From a technical point of view, Dead Space is alright. It’s not great, but it holds its own, especially for a console port. The framerate is good, and the bugs are negligible.
  4. Despite its by-the-numbers storyline, the game grabs you into its sucking chest wound of a world and keeps you there until the last chitinous spike has been blasted from the final suppurating torso. [Dec 2008, p.67]

See all 28 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 22 out of 149
  1. 10
    Picked this up recently during a Steam Sale. Was wondering what the hype was all about for Dead Space 2. I now know. Dead Space is an incredible game, great storyline and probably the best fiver I spent on a game which is about three years old. As good as that first feeling you got when playing the first Resident Evil, though that's a poor comparison. Dead Space sucks you into it's madness and chaos, leaving you gasping for a breather. Definitely going to grab Dead Space 2. Expand
  2. Dead Space was really one of the best games that survivor horror that i have played in my life, and a game where you have things that you do not hold and scenes extremely macabre, where is completely player, incredible graphics and the gameplay too, I recommend. Expand
  3. A triumph of style and gimmicks over substance. There is not much going on here except for shooting monsters repeatedly. An overly generous person would call both the setting and the storyline minimal, that same person would call it predictable and sometimes a little bit scary. Having said that, some of the weapons are good, some of the gimmicks keep you interested and you do actually want to escape the damn place. So I managed to finish it and just about got my money's worth. I cannot envisage a scenario whereby I'd ever play it again and would only recommend it to horror maniacs who have no more than £10 to spare and nothing better to do. Expand
  4. LukeW
    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

See all 149 User Reviews