Dead Space (2008)

 PC
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1937 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,578 out of 1937
  2. Mixed: 243 out of 1937
  3. Negative: 116 out of 1937
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  1. Koo
    Mar 16, 2012
    6
    A good game overall, Dead Space is hampered by its clunky controls. When moving the character you play, he moves faster when looking along the horizontal (X) axis than the vertical (Y) axis. Also, you look around in a lurching or reeling way rather than smoothly as in other third person shooter (TPS) or first person shooters (FPS). If you're worried (as I was) that if you play this gameA good game overall, Dead Space is hampered by its clunky controls. When moving the character you play, he moves faster when looking along the horizontal (X) axis than the vertical (Y) axis. Also, you look around in a lurching or reeling way rather than smoothly as in other third person shooter (TPS) or first person shooters (FPS). If you're worried (as I was) that if you play this game you won't be able to sleep at night, put your fears to bed (pun intended - ha!). I would describe Dead Space as an atmospheric game, not a scary one (Amnesia: The Dark Descent, on the other hand, IS a scary game). While I like this game overall, I can't rate it better than a 7 due to the motion sickness I experience from the camera movements. The feeling of nausea it produces prevents me from rating the game higher than a 6. Try the demo. If you don't feel sick (literally) playing it, this game could be a 9 for you. For me, it's a 6.… Expand
  2. Mikep
    Jan 19, 2010
    7
    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, 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.… Expand
  3. snowshreder
    Jul 5, 2011
    7
    this game scared the **** out of me and I don't scare easily it really reminded my of the alien anomaly in the movie Thing. The story in this game is short though i still enjoyed it, Graphics are great, Weapons are nothing like I have ever seen, mechanics are simply and did i mention i almost crapped my pants playing this game, its really freaky really, don't play this game if you havethis game scared the **** out of me and I don't scare easily it really reminded my of the alien anomaly in the movie Thing. The story in this game is short though i still enjoyed it, Graphics are great, Weapons are nothing like I have ever seen, mechanics are simply and did i mention i almost crapped my pants playing this game, its really freaky really, don't play this game if you have heart conditions.… Expand
  4. Hack
    Aug 7, 2017
    7
    First of all I have to comment on the KB+M controls which are just terrible by default, honestly unusable, luckily they can be mostly fixed with config tweaks or you can just use a gamepad which works fine out of the box.

    The game is not so much scary as atmospheric and that's fine, although parts definitely were scary and there were a bunch of jump scares thrown in for good measure. It    First of all I have to comment on the KB+M controls which are just terrible by default, honestly unusable, luckily they can be mostly fixed with config tweaks or you can just use a gamepad which works fine out of the box.

    The game is not so much scary as atmospheric and that's fine, although parts definitely were scary and there were a bunch of jump scares thrown in for good measure. It was just the right level of creepy for me, it kept me on my toes without giving me a heart attack.

    Dead Space is a very linear game, the wrong way is often blocked and it's impossible to get lost with the breadcrumb system which points you in the right direction, this is a scripted experience above all else, and a good one at that. When playing on normal or above ammo is quite scarce and enemies are tough, often killing you in a few hits, however there is an easy difficulty which is very easy, you're basically the Terminator so if you just want to tag along for the ride then there's an option for you.

    The story is interesting and told well, and unlike a lot of games it ends well too. The main character isn't voiced which hurts immersion IMO, this is often a developer choice, just not one I agree with. All the other NPCs you encounter are voiced very well though, no poor performances to speak of.

    Overall it's a well made, story-driven experience with solid gameplay and mechanics that I definitely recommend. EA Access is currently £3.99/month and the entire trilogy is available to you, that's how I played them and you also get access to a bunch of other great games like Titanfall 2 so it's a no brainer if you wish to start the series.    … Expand
  5. Lonxu
    Aug 10, 2014
    7
    Bought this from Steam Sale. I had no expectations really.

    At first I was very disappointed with the PC version. It was a horrible port with game breaking bugs; like **** up physics when your FPS is unlocked. Or the Vsync locking the FPS at just 30. I needed a 3rd party software to get the FPS stay at 60 just to make the game playable. That also fixed the issues with mouse, which alone    Bought this from Steam Sale. I had no expectations really.

    At first I was very disappointed with the PC version. It was a horrible port with game breaking bugs; like **** up physics when your FPS is unlocked. Or the Vsync locking the FPS at just 30. I needed a 3rd party software to get the FPS stay at 60 just to make the game playable. That also fixed the issues with mouse, which alone were making the game unplayable.

    Once I got actually started with the game I was hooked instantly. Every step felt dangerous and enemies couldn't be stopped with a single bullet to the head. Overall the game play was decent, but controls were a bit clunky. While I kinda dislike quick-time events and **** something could have been done about stomping enemies or punching them, it felt pretty random and frustrating at times.. the lack of control.

    There were some puzzles in this game. Some them were fun, but challenging and some were just bad; simple, but with annoying mechanics. Overall they added some nice variation to the game.

    The game looked decent for a 360 port...there were times though where I wished they would have allowed PC to have much higher shadow resolution for example, but it wasn't too annoying except in a couple of scenes.

    I really liked the Ishimura as a location. It was dark and industrial. I didn't really like how scripted everything was though. There were times you see enemies lurking, but they're flagged as invulnerable. They also always come from the same spot with the same timing, so if you died you just get frustrated to repeat the same scripted stuff.

    I'm not a huge lore-geek, but I thought the writing was of good quality. There were also tapes and notes from the NPCs to be found to add into that, for those who like to find more about the world.

    With all the issues in the rushed PC version I can't really give it more than 7. It was still worth the 4€ or whatever it costed, but at 50€ this game would have been very disappointing.    … Expand
  6. marc5477
    May 28, 2014
    7
    I am not a big shooter fan but every now and then I like to take a detour and play a shooter when I don't want to use my brain. Note 1st that I only play the campaign so my review does not cover PvP. Dead Space is a good shooter although somewhat limited in design but then again almost every new shooter is in its first incarnation. I played the game on the PC and had no issues with theI am not a big shooter fan but every now and then I like to take a detour and play a shooter when I don't want to use my brain. Note 1st that I only play the campaign so my review does not cover PvP. Dead Space is a good shooter although somewhat limited in design but then again almost every new shooter is in its first incarnation. I played the game on the PC and had no issues with the install. I didnt even bother to update the game since it was working fine out of the box. Controls are intuitive except for the slow turn speed while aiming your gun. A few in game mouse adjustments and the problem was solved within acceptable tolerance. The only other issue I ran into is when you grab an item with telekinesis and run up to a wall with the item floating in front of you. This causes the camera to spin 90 to 180 degrees, and if you are in combat it can be disorienting. This however, was a very minor issue because once you realize that it only happens on wall collisions you simply stop running into walls... why you would run into a wall during combat is beyond my understanding but as long you stop doing that it is no longer an issue. I played the entire game without the camera spin being a problem after the 1st time I experienced and analyzed the issue. This problem is insanely over dramatized by reviewers here (grow up people).

    The Good :: The game does a lot of basic FPS stuff well like area specific damage, dismemberment as a part of strategy rather than just aesthetics, very interesting weapons each with their own unique advantage and disadvantage, an actual inventory system (not used to seeing this in FPS and I like it), an upgrade system for your guns, armor and abilities (almost like an RPG lite), and decent graphics and sound.

    The Bad :: Game design is good but its repetitive. Then again, shooters are basically all very repetitive and that is why it is not my favorite genre of games. You will quickly note that graphics are re-used in every chapter of the game and the enemy variety is actually fairly low with only about 6 different enemy types and a few bosses. Guns and abilities are also limited to only about 8 total (6 guns and two abilities) and although they are interesting, I would like to have seen even more but then again I am an RPG guy so anything less than 20 would probably be boring to me.

    The So So :: The story is cheesy and has been done to death and back but again, this is coming from a RPG gamer who puts a lot more weight into story than others. The game is supposed to be a horror survival... I personally did not find it scary in the least. They do include a lot of sudden attacks that just surprise you and enemies are designed and animated in a way that makes them awkward (like a horror movie) but at no time was I scared of an enemy once I noticed it. In fact, I found myself running towards enemies fairly often especially the baby aliens. The only time I ran away from enemies is when the small swarming things attacked in large numbers and that is only because I couldnt shoot them fast enough. The game is not that scary. I remember being more on edge playing FEAR although even that was not really all that scary. Then again I think movies like The Grudge are comedies...

    Overall a good game.    … Expand
  7. Freeoath
    May 8, 2011
    6
    This game is neither good nor is it bad. It has some fun elements but allot of flaws. For being a Survival Horror TPS game it's not hard to survive (even on the hardest difficulty) and it's far from a Horror. Today's standard of horror is doom 3 and that is why all horror game suck in that matter. When playing through it I constantly ran and never got surprised since a game with brightThis game is neither good nor is it bad. It has some fun elements but allot of flaws. For being a Survival Horror TPS game it's not hard to survive (even on the hardest difficulty) and it's far from a Horror. Today's standard of horror is doom 3 and that is why all horror game suck in that matter. When playing through it I constantly ran and never got surprised since a game with bright lighted rooms and a BFG and monsters who can't take **** for beeting kinda takes away all horror. See it like this, I would be scared ****less if I was put in a cage with a starving lion without any means of defence. But if you put me in the same cage, put me in a Metal armor suit, hand me a mini-gun and heavily sedate the lion it's suddenly not scary anymore.... Dead space is the later example. The transition from Console to PC when it comes to controls are HORRID. Worst mouse movement I have ever encountered in a TPS game, apart from that it's a rather nice game in it's own way. I would not say it's a waste playing it. But borrow it from a friend of buy it cheap cause anything more then 5-10 $ and it's a bad deal.… Expand
  8. lutteres
    Mar 31, 2014
    7
    Let’s get straight to the point, Dead Space is NOT a good PC port. It suffers from all the symptoms: Low rez textures, Low FOV, frame cap at 30 fps (with v-sync on) and terrible….TERRIBLE controls.
    The Mouse and keyboard controls are half broken: The mouse in particular, if you enable v-sync the mouse will become extremely unresponsive and laggy. However, If you disable v-sync, and crank    Let’s get straight to the point, Dead Space is NOT a good PC port. It suffers from all the symptoms: Low rez textures, Low FOV, frame cap at 30 fps (with v-sync on) and terrible….TERRIBLE controls.
    The Mouse and keyboard controls are half broken: The mouse in particular, if you enable v-sync the mouse will become extremely unresponsive and laggy. However, If you disable v-sync, and crank up the mouse sensitivity and mouse DPI to the max, you might end up with half usable controls, but the caveat is, a bit of screen tearing. But even if you do that, the mouse will still behave in a sluggish manner, especially when switching to aim mode.
    The keyboard controls aren’t better also, sometimes the game will dismiss key inputs for no apparent reason, and the keymaping is also badly conceived.
    In resume, if you don’t have a gamepad, prepare to die… a lot, especially on the Boss fights, or when the game decides to throw hordes of necromorfs, at you, from all sides!
    Don’t get me wrong, this game is NOT difficult, not even on hard mode, what makes it difficult is the terrible controls.
    The other thing about this game is that it’s not a real survival/horror game, It tries to, really hard actually, but the problem is, survival horror is not about jump scares, but about building tension, and playing with your expectation. And this game rarely does that successfully; it overuses jumps scares too much, it’s too predictable at times and a bit cheesy in the gore department, and in the survival department, let’s just say you will rarely die from lack of ammo or med packs.
    However, Visceral did one thing really well: the sound design.
    The Story, is a Cross between Aliens and Resident Evil, in other words, a System Shock clone but without SHODAN :-(. The Story is not bad, but it’s a bit too cliché for my taste.
    The game is also a bit buggy, for example if you play on hard mode and reload a save by pressing continue on the main menu, the game will reset the difficulty to medium.
    So, is it a bad game? In my opinion, If you approach it like an Action/Horror third person shooter game, HELL NO, just don’t play it with mouse and keyboard.    … Expand
  9. grandpajoe6191
    Nov 11, 2011
    5
    Well..."Dead Space" is a game that is just scary as hell; you can't expect what's coming next. Since the PC version has better resolution, it adds up to the scare-hype, which I didn't typically enjoy. But what was worse was the horrible controls and linear gameplay. During the whole time, my eyes were mainly focused on the keyboard rather than the game itself. The gameplay is also veryWell..."Dead Space" is a game that is just scary as hell; you can't expect what's coming next. Since the PC version has better resolution, it adds up to the scare-hype, which I didn't typically enjoy. But what was worse was the horrible controls and linear gameplay. During the whole time, my eyes were mainly focused on the keyboard rather than the game itself. The gameplay is also very linear; it is scarier than knott's scary farm but that can't cover up how sparse the options you have during the game. You want some thrills? By all means buy it, but after the price decreases.… Expand
  10. austenite
    Jan 4, 2011
    5
    I gotta say, the atmosphere in this game is off the charts. The dialog is a little wooden, but It doesn't really get in the way. The game is VERY hard to control though, it feels less like I'm controlling a guy and more like I'm driving a tank. The mushy controls however are half the reason the game is so intense since it's so hard to keep a good sense of situational awareness.
  11. TheMitherer
    Oct 21, 2011
    7
    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 wantA 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
  12. Professor
    Jan 20, 2012
    7
    I enjoyed this game but not all the gore - too much graphic violence. There were no nice rest periods much to contrast with sudden terror and so wasn't actually as scary as it could have been. Given almost constant terror and you get almost used to it...not as good as System Shock 2 which it copied many ideas from, from the level names, to limited ammo, sci abilities, purchase booths,I enjoyed this game but not all the gore - too much graphic violence. There were no nice rest periods much to contrast with sudden terror and so wasn't actually as scary as it could have been. Given almost constant terror and you get almost used to it...not as good as System Shock 2 which it copied many ideas from, from the level names, to limited ammo, sci abilities, purchase booths, weapon slots and upgrade choices etc etc. They should have had more normal looking areas to contrast with other places covered with blood and guts. Come on, we are not all bloodthirsty animals here..bit over the top for violence but nonetheless well designed and still entertaining. The biggest flaw I felt was the total linear gameplay when given a choice of open tasks and ability to travel freely around levels would have been far better. That bird crumb direction indicator made it too easy actually and should have been some level of respawning to keep it interesting - ie like System Shock 2. Also I didnt appreciate the crap controls with PC on the keyboard - really sucked but with saying all that was worth 75% in my mind. If you dont like too much violence or gore then give it a miss.… Expand
  13. runner
    Jul 17, 2020
    6
    Bottom line:
    +Good horror title
    +Good level and sound design +The aliens are gross +OK story +- Mostly a generic third person shooter horror gameplay +- Combat-driven -BAD controls -Unfixed clunkiness or bugs on certain modern systems -The aliens are gross Dead Space is a good game. If you're into violent alien horrors, then you got it. It's all in there, and it even aged    Bottom line:
    +Good horror title
    +Good level and sound design
    +The aliens are gross
    +OK story
    +- Mostly a generic third person shooter horror gameplay
    +- Combat-driven
    -BAD controls
    -Unfixed clunkiness or bugs on certain modern systems
    -The aliens are gross

    Dead Space is a good game. If you're into violent alien horrors, then you got it. It's all in there, and it even aged relatively well, I'd say the game still looks nice even more than 10 years(!) after release. The atmosphere is truly creepy, level design is claustrophobic, sound effect are just right and there are chilly soundtrack cues to run along with it.
    And it's very violent, if that's your kind of thing. But like other games of this type - that means it fundamentally relies on jump scares.
    And those aliens are gross!

    Why the low score then?
    Well, those aliens are gross!

    But to be serious, I didn't enjoy much Dead Space.
    I guess this is largely because I'm more into story-driven titles and this was much of a combat-driven.
    The story is there, alright, and it's even original, BUT there's very little emphasis on it, and towards the ending it turned towards the cliche-side.
    Sure, for a truly good game - that's not enough to give a 6 out of 10.

    Well, unfortunately, I found the controls to be clunky and uncomfortable. Not sure if this was intentional or not, since horror-wise it did help a lot - I kept hearing my enemies and had a very hard time to aim at them or even find them. Creepy, yeah, but at some point it felt more like a nuisance.
    The controls are simply not good.
    The entire movement felt a bit clunky as well. I've found out this is a known issue, and seems the fix only partially fixes it.
    Also, that annoying bug where your difficulty setting changes and there's NO WAY within the game to change it back, was absolutely annoying and didn't add much to the experience.

    So, unfortunately, no.    … Expand
  14. ChrisS
    Mar 21, 2009
    5
    This game has potential, but i hate EA for 2 things. Stupid DRM (which dead space has) and obvious console ports (which dead space is) It's stupid things like save points are an in-game object (like typewriters in resident evil), simplified inventory systems and unintuitive commands to control things, like you have to lift your hand off the mouse and use the arrow keys (not wsad) to This game has potential, but i hate EA for 2 things. Stupid DRM (which dead space has) and obvious console ports (which dead space is) It's stupid things like save points are an in-game object (like typewriters in resident evil), simplified inventory systems and unintuitive commands to control things, like you have to lift your hand off the mouse and use the arrow keys (not wsad) to select items from the inventory (??? DUMB). Things like that just piss me off WHEN THE MOUSE IS THERE. Other severe gameplay problems i encountered are camera angles are not adjustable, so viewing area is very poor, it may be because im playing on a 4:3 screen and its designed for 16:10, and mouse sensitivity is very frustrating, the sensitivity changes in game as in if you are close up looking at a wall, it will become very unsensitive ie you have to lift and move the mouse over at least once, whereas once you move away from the wall it becomes quite sensitive (roughly how i like it) and then in the menus it is way too sensitive. this is on full sensitivity, it is basically not sensitive enough, how i like it and too sensitive all in one. I play computer games because for a long time a lot of the best games wouldn't work on a console, not necessarily because of hardware limitations, but also because keyboard and mouse is hard to beat. Thats been blurred these days and not because consoles are getting better, but rather publishers want omniplatform releases so i think the games are getting dumbed down to work on consoles and unfortunately PC gets the short end because of that. Otherwise the game is good because it follows the tried and true plot formula seen in so many other successful games such as bioshock and system shock 2, of which it almost appears to be system shock 2 in a new 3d engine, its that similar. The graphics are very good. Basically if you can get over the DRM first and then the ported aspects of the game, its maybe worth playing if you havn't got some other well respected computer rpg's. So basically i gave it 5 because its worth playing, but it doesn't stand out as original, intuitive controls.… Expand
  15. JoeK.
    Apr 8, 2010
    6
    GREAT GAME!
  16. NiclasG.
    Nov 16, 2008
    6
    The game has a severe lack of atmosphere. I really enjoyed the first two to three hours of Dead Space but after that, the game hardly came up with something new. Even the audiologs - unlike in System Shock 2 - neither added something to the atmosphere nor explained what happened exactly on that Spaceship. In fact, the "Animated Comics" have more atmosphere than the game itself. There are The game has a severe lack of atmosphere. I really enjoyed the first two to three hours of Dead Space but after that, the game hardly came up with something new. Even the audiologs - unlike in System Shock 2 - neither added something to the atmosphere nor explained what happened exactly on that Spaceship. In fact, the "Animated Comics" have more atmosphere than the game itself. There are a few nice moments throughout the game but the most time it's more like "Isaac do this", "Isaac fetch that", "Isaac rescue our butt.". The game has some - quite good - startling moments but it isn't scary at all. And even this startling moments stop to be startling, after they happen to you the third time. You are just running from A to B, following that blue Line which shows you where to go and kill stuff along the way and that's it. The game can be described as "What comes out, when you put 'Resident Evil' and 'System Shock 2' in a mixer while watching John Carpenters' 'The Thing'... without being scary and having much less story." Oh yeah, and with its 10 hours of gameplay it's quite short in my opinion.… Expand
  17. Karl
    Nov 7, 2008
    6
    Nice art, its all very cliche though. I would give this game a better rateing but it has terrible controls, The mouse, everthing actually, lags behind delaying your actions half a second. And the 3rd person camera angle combined with the field of view and offset pivot is nauseating. I would recommend you play a demo first, except that there doesnt seem to be one. So perhaps skip it for Nice art, its all very cliche though. I would give this game a better rateing but it has terrible controls, The mouse, everthing actually, lags behind delaying your actions half a second. And the 3rd person camera angle combined with the field of view and offset pivot is nauseating. I would recommend you play a demo first, except that there doesnt seem to be one. So perhaps skip it for now, maybe pick it up when its in the second hand bin.… Expand
  18. Terrman
    Oct 23, 2008
    5
    Great ingredients in an otherwise burned cake. Imaginative story, environment, and foes, but an overly complicated control system and a 3rd person perspective that made me motion sick. To bad, it had great promise.
  19. judas
    Oct 26, 2008
    5
    A good, but not great, game hampered by the usual half-arsed conversion. If I wanted a 'console controls' feel I'd buy a console. Mouse + keyboard are the de-facto standard for PC games and to release the game with such a poor control implementation just shows the contempt with which PC gamers are viewed by the likes of EA. Story-wise I was expecting better - it's A good, but not great, game hampered by the usual half-arsed conversion. If I wanted a 'console controls' feel I'd buy a console. Mouse + keyboard are the de-facto standard for PC games and to release the game with such a poor control implementation just shows the contempt with which PC gamers are viewed by the likes of EA. Story-wise I was expecting better - it's little more than a mish-mash of standard sf/horror tropes.… Expand
  20. PatrickG
    Dec 25, 2009
    5
    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.
  21. ChristopherW
    Oct 25, 2009
    5
    Nice graphics. Very clean looking. I like idea of no HUD and how the character responds to the environment, but at least make the view better. The character should have been centered in the screen so the player can see what attacks from either side. It's the equivalent of playing with one eye closed. Some people like that RE4 view,(which is crazy to me) so there should be a view like Nice graphics. Very clean looking. I like idea of no HUD and how the character responds to the environment, but at least make the view better. The character should have been centered in the screen so the player can see what attacks from either side. It's the equivalent of playing with one eye closed. Some people like that RE4 view,(which is crazy to me) so there should be a view like that only when you aim down the sights of the gun. Controls were bad as well. Couldn't move and look around too well. Camera and control ruined a potentially awesome game.… Expand
  22. RichardDenton
    Aug 15, 2009
    5
    Console damaged. Control configuration on the PC is too limited. No one seem to have notice that there are people who use the left hand for the mouse. Save points. I'm now bored to run trough some ventilation system for the n'th time only to be eaten by little creeps in the end. Aim mode. *sigh*. Ok. The game is scary, but in a DOOM3 kind of way.
  23. llamayarmybar
    Mar 24, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It'd been awhile since I'd re-visited the Ishimura and its (sadly) mostly dead crew. We landed, their were spooky scripted things and then the game lurched into a slow pattern of repeated onslaughts, puzzles, and a fairly in-cohesive, but functional storyline. You see, old Isaac our main character, is a bit of a fifth wheel on board this scifi-search'n'rescue-aliens-ripoff. In fact I was starting to think he was made as a joke by the development team as he's always running about killing hoards of zombie alien converted crew members, or repairing things that will conveniently only help you (or your mystery guests) for very short periods of time before possibly breaking again. Meanwhile I assume the folks that came with him are up telling ghost stories and drinking hot cocoa in a control room somewhere. Occasionally monitoring you on the cameras aboard the ship to check to see if you're actually still alive and continuing to fix things. Isaac's buddies are rather shifty from the get-go and its handled quite poorly throughout and rather disappointingly around the last hour or so of the game. Isaac's emotional love-interest is on board supposedly and is meant to tug at the heart strings of players, but even when most people didn't care about her existence. It provides very little pull for players and when we have no real connection to the world Isaac lives in, a frankly terrifying futuristic nightmare space land full of massive ships that punch entire holes into planets, it makes it even harder to care about what we're actually doing on this poorly designed and rather cramped ship. Of course something has gone wrong, yet they only send one engineer, a black guy and an incredibly suspicious and seemingly useless woman to go and check out this massive ship? Ridiculous plot aside, their is a lot missing from our adventure throughout the ship. Its probably actual suspense, tension or build up and payoff, since the only horrifying thing about the game is that you'll never run out of ammunition. It would seem the entire team forgot to make the game "actually" scary as well. Featuring jump scares such as: arrival in seemingly empty room with a few items inside or a particularly useful switch needed to progress, upon entry or press of said control panel, "ambush by aliens." It started to become irksome, and you were already buried in ammunition, credits, armor, and guns that could blow away just about any threat. Of course their are two portions of the game that are absolutely loathsome and almost stopped my replay when I remembered them. "The asteroid shoot out." Their is a portion that is so unintentionally difficult early on that almost makes me want to shut off the game and go find a nice woman to marry. I have no idea why its so difficult, only that it has something to do with patterns of rocks coming your way, the very little damage you can take before you lose, and the difficulty in actually aiming at the damn things. Of course who could forget the death sequences? I mean wow, just utterly disgusting and time consuming. "I get it. I died." I like how a game like Dead Space actually rubs it into your face when you die at any point. Obviously someone with actual humor must have been able to sneak this idea in. I'm sure no other game has ever done this ever. Dead Space is the culmination of a lot of things, ideas, generic science fiction writing, and dialogue as well. It is not original in many ways at all, save for the fact that it "functions" and at the end of the day that's what a lot of people liked about it. Was it scary? No. Was it challenging? Not particularly. Were the characters memorable? Nope. What about the plot was it worth holding out till the end of the game? If I was expecting EA to completely ruin an installment I would've waited for a few more games, which I did, and they did end up ruining the entire franchise incidentally. The plot is open and shut at the end of the first game. It hardly even needed a sequel, but one was made anyway. Their are far better games out there in the same vein as Dead Space. Like Resident Evil 4 and that was pretty good. Go play that again if you're bored.… Expand
  24. JimCorbett
    Sep 8, 2012
    5
    Horrible port. When you start up the game you are immidiately greeted by a clunky main menu that is clearly not designed with PC players in mind. The controls and camera are just awful and the graphics are very average. The saving grace of this title is its superb story and unique gameplay elements. Dismembering enemies in order to kill them is a very fresh experience and the story kept meHorrible port. When you start up the game you are immidiately greeted by a clunky main menu that is clearly not designed with PC players in mind. The controls and camera are just awful and the graphics are very average. The saving grace of this title is its superb story and unique gameplay elements. Dismembering enemies in order to kill them is a very fresh experience and the story kept me wanting to play to find out what happened next. Overall it's not very scary and the port job is quite bad, but if you're a fan of video game stories, then you should take a look at this game.… Expand
  25. I_Am_Turok
    May 9, 2012
    6
    For me, although I got used to the controls (they are bad, I could not even change bindings), for me the more glaring problem is the tediousness in the middle section of the game as you go over the same route (or very very similar route) again and again after solving one plot objective, only to be told, oh no, now blah blah is broken so go back and fix that. It is redeemed by goodFor me, although I got used to the controls (they are bad, I could not even change bindings), for me the more glaring problem is the tediousness in the middle section of the game as you go over the same route (or very very similar route) again and again after solving one plot objective, only to be told, oh no, now blah blah is broken so go back and fix that. It is redeemed by good graphics, nice feel, and I quite liked the end as well, so the story at the top level holds up well, just the detailed stories as objectives does not. Buy it for $10 or less, it's worth it for about 10 hours of play, similar to the first DOOM3 and RE games. Was enjoyable enough for me to want to play DS2 at any rate.… Expand
  26. suneater
    Dec 11, 2012
    7
    Plays out like Resident Evil 4 in space but with more focus on horror and less QTEs. Scarce ammo, fantastic atmosphere from the amazing sound design & environmental effects, and the isolation & vastness of space fuel this modern survival horror adventure. The most impressive immersion element for me was how they handled the "HUD"; instead of on-screen indicators, your health bar and energyPlays out like Resident Evil 4 in space but with more focus on horror and less QTEs. Scarce ammo, fantastic atmosphere from the amazing sound design & environmental effects, and the isolation & vastness of space fuel this modern survival horror adventure. The most impressive immersion element for me was how they handled the "HUD"; instead of on-screen indicators, your health bar and energy are on your back with ammo on your gun. The only problems with it are port issues (you need to disable v-sync to use a mouse properly), the funneled levels, and a general lack of difficulty.… Expand
  27. sft
    May 22, 2013
    7
    Dead frustrating

    Okay, let’s get the bad out of the way first. The controls for the PC version of this otherwise good game are the worst I have ever encountered. I won’t go into detail but they’re so awkward they almost spoiled the game for me. Almost. (There are also some truly annoying problems with camera and viewpoint angles, but don’t get me started on that!) But what about the    Dead frustrating

    Okay, let’s get the bad out of the way first. The controls for the PC version of this otherwise good game are the worst I have ever encountered. I won’t go into detail but they’re so awkward they almost spoiled the game for me. Almost. (There are also some truly annoying problems with camera and viewpoint angles, but don’t get me started on that!) But what about the good? DEAD SPACE succeeds, despite the aforementioned problems, mainly because it oozes atmosphere. This is a very claustrophobic game that sucks you in and really does induce anxiety. You will jump many times, trust me. The story is okay, within the usual limitations of such games, the voice acting is uniformly convincing, and the graphics are good but not outstanding. Where this game excels is in the way it draws you in; immerses you in it’s dark atmosphere. This is a game that makes your palms sweat, which is exactly what it’s supposed to do.    … Expand
  28. tapittuco
    Nov 5, 2013
    6
    Did you enjoy the System Shock series? Were you upset because they never continued it due to EA owning the rights to the series? Well fret not they finally did something with it-oh I just stepped in what I believe is dog shi-nope, just a complete rip-off of the System Shock series!

    However, as disappointed a I was with this waste of time, I'll give it a nice ugly score of 5 (just    Did you enjoy the System Shock series? Were you upset because they never continued it due to EA owning the rights to the series? Well fret not they finally did something with it-oh I just stepped in what I believe is dog shi-nope, just a complete rip-off of the System Shock series!

    However, as disappointed a I was with this waste of time, I'll give it a nice ugly score of 5 (just because I only believe in three grades, those being A, C, and F, but I'll use a 5 to substitute a 70-79 score on a 100-point scale) because it was playable and although (some) of the employees from Visceral games seems to think they discovered atmosphere and immersion techniques they are comparable to a teenager discovering internet porn for the first time and going on to brag about it-they ripped off a good game and with that said, I found the pacing to be adequate at best. But its not worth its' full retail price. Feel free to skip this game if you see it during the next sale (or on Origin, IF Origin has it and IF Origin ever has sales), you won't miss out on anything but a 6-to-8-hour story campaign with unlovable characters, decent pacing, and a complete 3rd-person rip-off of System Shock/Doom.

    Buuuuut,if all you care about is "graphix and gunZ!!!11!one!", break a leg.    … Expand
  29. WayT101
    Jan 5, 2014
    7
    Beware: this is a great game but it is a bare bones PC port, the graphics are barley improved over the Xbox 360 version and is only playable with a controller. This is a solid third person action-horror game that has its own unique gameplay features that are memorable and fun. If you enjoyed Resident Evil 4 you will most definitely love this and I can give you a definite recommendation ifBeware: this is a great game but it is a bare bones PC port, the graphics are barley improved over the Xbox 360 version and is only playable with a controller. This is a solid third person action-horror game that has its own unique gameplay features that are memorable and fun. If you enjoyed Resident Evil 4 you will most definitely love this and I can give you a definite recommendation if so and that is the best comparison I can draw. This isn't really a survival horror game but it certainly has the atmosphere and enemies of one. If you like third person shooters this is a unique one that is worth your interest. I played this game and its sequel from beginning to end and after completion I was ready to go back through it again on a harder difficulty. If you are concerned that this may be too hard for you don't be it has a decent set of difficulty modes and checkpoint system so will be able to get into it and enjoy it all the way through. However the checkpoint system is also a complaint for me on the harder settings as you never really feel punished for failure which is what a good horror game does.
    It's rare that I start and do not stop playing a game and this was one of them, if you think this game may be for you go for it, it is cheaply available by now and will not disappoint.    … Expand
  30. Gelaos
    Sep 19, 2018
    7
    Dead Space was scary for me in first 4-5 missions (mostly just jump scares), then it was "just" a good shooter. Graphics is nice, HUD elements are displayed on protagonist's suit which sucked me more inside the game. Enemies are truly repulsive, agressive and smart. It took me a couple of minutes before I learned how to properly immobilize (not kill) them. Shoot away it's limbs, let itDead Space was scary for me in first 4-5 missions (mostly just jump scares), then it was "just" a good shooter. Graphics is nice, HUD elements are displayed on protagonist's suit which sucked me more inside the game. Enemies are truly repulsive, agressive and smart. It took me a couple of minutes before I learned how to properly immobilize (not kill) them. Shoot away it's limbs, let it crawl and move forward. Customizations of suit and weapons also came in handy. Great game.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best PC Game of 2008
8
#8 Most Discussed PC Game of 2008
6
#6 Most Shared PC Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. PTGamers
    90
    This is a highly recommended game for science fiction and survival horror fans, with its claustrophobic atmosphere and horrible creatures.
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  2. Gamer 2.0
    91
    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
  3. PC Zone UK
    81
    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]
See all critic reviews »