Dead Space

Third-person shooter with elements of horror and survival Dead Space — a completely reworked version of Dead Space (2008), featuring a new engine, modern graphics, updated cutscenes, several plot adjustments, and all additional content.

Full of misadventures, violence, and dismemberment, Dead Space tells the story of survival in the tight confines of a ghost ship that sent out a distress signal from deep space. The main character, Isaac Clarke, volunteered for the rescue team out of fear of losing his beloved, who remained on the ill-fated ship. The spacecraft, seemingly alive, resists any attempts to leave. It is overrun by necromorphs — dynamically shape-shifting zombies that can only be defeated by dismembering their limbs. This is harder than it seems, especially with only engineering equipment at hand.

The near future. Humanity is barely making its way into space, building space stations and colonizing planets in nearby systems. The expansion is hindered by a shortage of minerals, which are to be supplied by cyclopean ships grinding planets into dust. One of them, the "Ishimura," began mining the planet Aegis VII somewhere in deep space and stopped communicating. This triggered a chain of fatal events that only the player can break.

The lore of "Dead Space" is well-developed, both in general and in detail, swelling in volume of info from the depths of the past to the beginning of the game. In the first hours, one can learn about the local political system, major corporations, the sect of fanatic Unitologists and their influence on all spheres of life, how the world's economy works, what technologies have been invented, and even the everyday problems of future people. All of this helps to better immerse oneself in the atmosphere and events.

The premise of Dead Space creates intrigue and many questions, but the writers ration the answers and gradually immerse the player in the plot, fully unraveling it in the last quarter of the playthrough. The story, although linear, is unconventional, with a couple of plot twists and unexpected betrayals, keeping the tension until the very end.

The direction successfully conveys how Isaac Clarke, finding himself in a stressful situation as he delves deeper into the depths of the "Ishimura," reaches a peak of nervous tension and experiences terrifying hallucinations, but finds the strength to fight for his life and sanity.

In addition to the main quest, secondary storylines develop, tied to Isaac: relationships with his girlfriend, interactions with allies, survival itself, the struggle with the ship, and the antagonist. Additional characters in cutscenes explain their motives on the "Ishimura" and show their character. Following the horror canon, most of the data can be gleaned from text, audio, and video recordings.

Dead Space changed the traditional shooter rules. Isaac is far from a fighter; he's an aging engineer, so every action is a struggle for him — movements are slow, he can only shoot when aiming, recoil hits his arms, and he strikes with his full weight. This characteristic of the protagonist creates tension in any skirmish, especially when attacked by different enemies.

There are about a dozen types of enemies in the roster, divided into regular and enhanced types. Combat is based on the mechanics of severing limbs from the torso, facilitated by the heavily altered forms of humans turned into necromorphs and an arsenal represented by mining tools designed for working with rock.

Cutters, saws, impactors, and pipe cutters don't hit a point but release damage in a plane, the inclination of which the player determines. Over time, a last-resort weapon appears — an army assault rifle. All "guns" can be upgraded to improve basic characteristics. An alternative firing mode has expanded their usage.

Enemies are very resilient; depleting health points or aiming for the head is just a waste of ammo. Even losing "parts," they won't die immediately but will continue to attack for a while. More advanced ones regenerate severed parts through necro-mutations and become even more dangerous.

Melee combat is rudimentary — hand hooks push away enemies that come too close, and stomps finish off crawling ones. They also allow you to knock useful items out of enemies or crates. A necromorph that gets too close can trigger a QTE, and if you fail, the player will see a brutal fatality of the protagonist.

The hero's engineering suit is equipped with stasis and kinesis modules. The first slows down moving objects, from fans to necromorphs, and the second allows you to lift certain items and throw them at the same enemies.

Прохождение Dead Space — это линейное движение вперед с дроблением нежити и зачисткой локаций, поиском секреток и дополнительных комнат с ресурсами, решением инженерных задач и головоломок. Разнообразие вносят уровни без гравитации, где нужно ходить при помощи магнитных ботинок, и уровни в открытом космосе, где надо экономить кислород.

Все собранные ресурсы попадают в компактный инвентарь и расходуются на различные улучшения через верстак, а кредиты можно потратить на снаряжение, аптечки и патроны в магазинах.

Предстоит посетить каждый отсек и починить множество систем — борясь за выживание, команда привела «Ишимуру» в критическое состояние, корабль готов развалиться. Отсеки футуристического космического корабля выглядят убедительно, его структура логично продумана и хорошо взаимосвязана, хотя визуал и страдает от однообразного исполнения.

Саспенс нагнетают по всем каналам восприятия — вручную проработанные, мрачные и зловещие декорации; тошнотворные враги; ворох «скримеров» по скрипту и QTE по любому поводу; подобающее каждому моменту звуковое сопровождение. Адские крики и вопли некроморфов за переборками, звуки лопающейся плоти, хлопот дверей и скрежет механизмов, шумы окружающего пространства и прочее, мигом внушают чувство страха и постоянной опасности.