DEAD SPACE
Summed up in a line: Atmosphere
Memorable quote: OCHEDIN VALANNOR!
Genre: Survival Horror
Online: N/A
Open-world? No
Feels? Yes.
Platinum Hunt: Medium difficulty
Atmosphere. This game has an atmosphere—something most modern horror games lack. It’s not “oop, there’s a zombie, shooty it in its head and yay, we’re good”. It’s tense. It’s chilling. It’ll make you jump at sounds. It’ll make you want to NOT play it because of how terrifying it is.
Dead Space is the best horror game I’ve played, despite being released more than a decade ago, in 2008.
Gameplay
You play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer who’s been sent to a space mining colony aboard the USG Ishimura, a spaceship that’s gone completely silent. Upon reaching there, your ship is destroyed, and you find the residents of said USG Ishimura have turned into horrendous monsters—Necromorphs.
Unlike most horror games, Dead Space is different in that it specifically tells you NOT to aim for the head. Aim for the limbs, using ‘strategic dismemberment’, a quote from the game itself.
Unlike most action games, Dead Space is different in that you DON’T use guns. As an engineer, you make use of simple mining equipment, modified for slashing and dashing through limbs.
Expect lots of blood, guts and gore. And scares.