Baragin Bin Bio - Dead Space

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year or so you will have heard of Dead Space, a third person survival horror published by EA that dare I say... is good?

Now I am one of those people who did not buy this game outright for 60 bucks when it was released nor did I purchase it when it dropped to around 20 bucks. I waited until this bad boy hit 17.99 and I almost feel bad for how much of a steal it was for this game.

• STORY:Your are placed in the role of a space engineer by the name of Issac Clarke who with the other members of his crew is sent on a mission to answer the distress call from the Ishimura the largest planet cracker of its class. Upon arriving on the Ishimura it becomes painfully clear that this is no ordinary distress call and you quickly find yourself separated from your crew and fighting for dear life against a horde of monsters known as "Necromorphs". Let me start by saying the story is solid and fits perfectly with the overall mood of the game, and fans of any Sci-Fi horror movies will find themselves right at home in the creepy metallic hallways of the Ishimura.

• GRAPHICS: Wow is all I can really say. The graphics for Dead Space are some of the best I have seen on the 360 to date, and mind you at the time of reviewing this Dead Space is a little over a year old. The first time I was really blown away was being in a room when a quarantine hit and this yellow caution light flashes around the room leaving creepy shadows and for me brought memories from the Aliens movie.

• SOUND: Everything from the gun fire, to the eerie noises the Necromorphs make this game pulls it off. The music is downright creepy and always leaves you uneasy when things are quiet. Like I said before fans of Sci-Fi horror will find themselves right at home here.

• GAMEPLAY: This I have to admit playing the demo left doubt in my mind how good this game really was, and I have to say having played the full version my doubt was unfounded. The full game offers better controls and explains all the controls to the player right from the start. Combat is downright intense and you will find yourself having to quickly react to each situation, lucky for us killing the Necros is not a matter of emptying X amount of bullets into their rotten torsos but rather strategically dismembering them is the key to killing of the beasts. Also unique to any game is the HUD system, Dead Space lets go of the normal HUD and replaces it all by stuff displayed on either your character or the weapon you are carrying; The only downside to this is your inventory menu/map does not pause the game so if you are in the middle of a battle I advise against going into these menus as well as menus of the store because you can and will be attacked.

Dead Space is a solid game to add to any library and with the 17.99 price tag at Gamestop you really can't go wrong. I give 5 out of 5 for having a fantastic story, easy to use controls, and for bringing something new to the survival horror genre.