Games

Best of 2009 | 08 |07 | 06 | 05
Advanced Search

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Dead Space

EMAIL PRINT pc

7.9 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 152 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: EA Redwood Shores

Genre(s): Third-Person Action, Survival Horror

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: October 20, 2008

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]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

GameSpy

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.

Read Full Review >

Gamer 2.0

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.

Read Full Review >

PTGamers

This is a highly recommended game for science fiction and survival horror fans, with its claustrophobic atmosphere and horrible creatures.

Read Full Review >

3DJuegos

Dead Space is one of best Survival Horror releases in years. Tense, violent and incredibly aggressive; playing it at night with a loud 5.1 sound system can provide you the most spectacular scare moments of your life.

Read Full Review >

Total PC Gaming

[Issue#13, p.54]

GameSpot

An incredibly atmospheric and disturbingly gruesome deep-space adventure that will haunt your dreams and leave you begging for more.

Read Full Review >

Boomtown

I know that no game is perfect but I can honestly say I had no technical issues with Dead Space at all. It did what it said it would and scared the hell out of me on a regular basis. Dead Space is one of the best survival horror games I have played and I look forward with baited breath to the sequel.

Read Full Review >

Gamers.at

Dead Space feels like an admittedly fetid yet refreshing wind to the old genre of survival horror. I’d certainly not recommend playing it by night or in total darkness unless you are of awesome health and gladly would give Alma a handshake without thinking twice about the consequences. Important advice: Play it to the end! If you dare. [Issue # 16]

Cynamite

The horror genre has a new king: Dead Space excels in all disciplines - whether it’s playability, atmosphere, tension or presentation. An absolute must-have for all horror- and action-fans.

Read Full Review >

Thunderbolt

A good example of refinement over innovation.

Read Full Review >

GameZone

An excellent new addition to the splinter group of action games centered around horror. I suspect they will make a sequel and I suspect it too will spawn a franchise. Dead Space gets it right when it comes to the scares.

Read Full Review >

Absolute Games

This is what Doom 3 could have been if it were developed by creative designers - a stylish, relentless mix of nightmares, drama and visceral action. Wait until the sundown, turn up your speakers and turn off the lights. You will be impressed.

Read Full Review >

PC Games (Germany)

Dead Space brings few innovations and a little too much gore but delivers an atmosphere that has no peer in recent action games. The best EA game in years.

Read Full Review >

GameStar

Dead Space is great entertainments for adults, not only because of the amount of gore and horror, but also because of the enthralling story with some nice twists. It's impressive how well pictures, dialogues and sound work together to form a cinema-like atmosphere.

Read Full Review >

IGN

Call it science fiction survival horror, but Dead Space does the genre proud with an engaging story; action that's tense, fast-paced and extremely violent; as well as atmospheric qualities that will get under your skin and make you jump.

Read Full Review >

PC Gamer UK

Dead Space is solid, but it's not entirely smooth. [Dec 2008, p.74]

Computer Games Online RO

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.

Read Full Review >

Meristation

Dead Space is a pleasant surprise, it takes the best elements of classic terror sci-fi films and combines them with some of the most notorious ideas of games like Bioshock, Condemned, Resident Evil 4 or Doom 3. Instead of an improved but unoriginal copycat, the team managed to give this mix a distinctive personality, making it a great experience on its own.

Read Full Review >

Gameplanet

Dead Space was definitely a risk for EA and it's great to see they were willing to run with it, because it is a fantastic game. It looks and sounds great, is a lot of fun to play and oozes atmosphere.

Read Full Review >

The Onion (A.V. Club)

But Dead Space is a reminder that influence and convention, sharply focused, can become terrifically creepy.

Read Full Review >

PC Zone UK

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]

PC Gamer

This would have been a much more compelling horror game if not for the bizarrely sluggish mouse movement, which feels strangely slow and floaty. [Holiday 2008, p.68]

PC Format

Not without epic moments, but even they can't shift the 'lazy console conversion' feeling that permeates the pant-soiling atmosphere. [Christmas 2008, p.90]

2404.org

A fine and very playable horror game, and while the relatively linear story line and straightforwardness of the battles don’t combine to offer much replay value, it’s still worth the price of admission.

Read Full Review >

LEVEL (Czech Republic)

Wait for the sunset then try this “Resident Evil of Space”. Soon you will cry for light. An unusual (especially for EA) horror game that stands out in design and atmosphere in permanent fear. [Nov 2008]

Total Video Games

Too much repetition and the occasional dip into unoriginality does make it a grind in places, but the story did just enough to pull us through.

Read Full Review >

Gamer.nl

Dead Space has enough new elements to make a memorable experience out of it. The lack of a HUD, the use of telekenetic powers and the original weapons all contribute to that. Even the setting, a spaceship, is done so well that there is enough variety in the environments. The controls could have been a bit more direct, but Dead Space is still a perfect way to have a few scary nights.

Read Full Review >

PC PowerPlay

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]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 152 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mike p gave it a7:
Underwhelming. It started out with a lot of potential and slowly leveled out in mediocrity. The way the controls operate is different but highly functional. The angle at which the camera is set above the right shoulder makes it extremely difficult to accurately orient yourself behind objects and usually had me moving about a foot too far to the left. Now usually this isn't a problem, but when that one foot is say...in front of a meteor shower that kills you instantly or in front of the exhaust from a spaceships main thrusters; it gets to be annoying reloading the game two or three times because the insight that maybe you need perspective to gauge distance effectively to not die didn't occur to the developers. The visuals are very good in this game, it offers some very unique and tense environments you'd be hard pressed to see recreated elsewhere; the Zero-G segments are very cool and very accurate as is the vacuum segments. The sound is stellar in this game, I bring this up next because the vacuum segments are almost completely soundless, you can only hear your own breathing and some of the vibrations from your weapons on the outside of the suit. the rest of the sound production is extremely well done; from the horror orchestration to the scratching of claws behind double thick bulkheads it'll test your surround sound very well. Unfortunately, the worst part of the game is probably the storyline; it consists of a reason to bring you to the "big scary space ship" and the rest is composed of what awful place you have to go to find a computer component to open the next door. Any character development is split between the two bookends on either side of the actual game. I actually forgot why the main character was in this situation by the time I got to the end because it's never mentioned again until practically before the credits roll...and I beat the game in slightly less than eight hours on medium. The one furiously aggravating part about this game is that you are continuously separated from catching the "bad guy" by various windows throughout the game, CONSTANTLY. You will exit a room you just fixed only to the have the door lock and the "bad guy" appear on the inside of the room destroying everything you just did and belittling you while he does it and you just have to play along, criminally annoying.

M M gave it a10:
The controls are impressively functional - once you get the hang of them. Although, the storyline is by-the-numbers, it is a gripping and often surprising story. Oh yeah... it's scary as hell.

Remy B gave it a10:
This has to be the best single player game I've played in the past 10 years. Just make sure you play it with the lights off and the sound up!

Dale F gave it an8:
PROs: excellent graphics & creepy effects makes this on par with Doom3. Innovative navigation feature (where to go next) and 3D maps. Interesting and innovative maneuvers in zero-G (not something I’ve done in 15 years of gaming). Gravity gun similar to Half-Life2. CONs: typical Judas-betrayal story (snore). This theme is getting to be boringly predictable. The final boss fight is VERY UNimaginative – typical of being thrown into a FLAT area with no place to take cover and be clever. Camera over the right shoulder is neither First or Third person view – very hard to get used to. Have to run around the ship to find SAVE places (no quick save or load which keeps the player from trying things). All in all – very much worth your time & a permanent landmark. I would rate this as 8.5 but this forum only uses full numbers.

Glen S gave it a10:
Loved it. Great game if you like sci-fi and horror. Turn off the lights, turn up the sounds, and prepare to jump.

Clito L gave it a10:
Having played to the end, Dead Space one of my best experiences with games until now.

Patrick G gave it a5:
It is scary so that is a plus. The graphics are good. Terrible controls of a pure console port. VERY repetitive gameplay. Overall not something I would recommend unless you have played EVERYTHING else and can get this for $10 or less. An entirely forgettable game.

Games

Sony

Microsoft

Nintendo

Other Platforms

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Dead Space

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases