Dead Space (2008) Review
Isaac is given a heavy amount of ammo throughout the game much like in Resident Evil 4, but ammo can be stored in a safe at each store to free up inventory. Just because the game gives off a wealth of ammo at times doesn't mean it is easy, there were times where ammo became scarce and I had to resort to backup ammo. The main challenging aspect of the game really lies in sustaining Isaac's health and precision shooting to cut through enemy limbs, especially toward the end of the game when enemies pile up around him in certain rooms. Extra ammo and health items can be bought at the shop, so you can't actually get stuck in the game unless you simply run out of credits.
Some areas that Isaac enters have zero gravity and there are some rooms where the ship's hull has been breached. Hull breech rooms cause an oxygen gauge to appear while stepping into the area. These areas must be gone through rather quickly depending on the level of your oxygen gauge or if you happen to have any extra air items or find an oxygen refill control. The sound effects while in a damaged portion of the ship are quite impressive. The overall sound is basically silence with a deep rumbling tone whenever any type of major disturbance is made or a shot is fired. It perfectly captures the feeling of being out in space.
Zero gravity rooms allow Isaac to jump to any portion of the room and actually walk on it. By holding down the L1 button and pressing the triangle button, Isaac will leap to the targeted surface and the camera angle will change to showcase the usual behind view once again. Objects that are not pinned down will float throughout the room and enemies can attack from any portion of the room. Once gravity is restored in a zero gravity area, all objects in the room fall to the ground in a realistic manner. These types of rooms add a whole new dimension to the usual traversing of an area and they sometimes involve some sort of puzzle that takes advantage of the walk anywhere feature.
There are two mini games available in the later chapters also. A shooting range and a zero gravity basketball mini game can be played for extra items and power-ups. There are also a few shooting mini games displayed in the story that take a different approach from the usual behind view. One of them involves a tentacle that suddenly grabs Isaac and pulls him toward a hole. You have to target the tentacle's weak point as it stops and shoot the weak point in order to break free. The aiming in this mini game can be challenging since Isaac's aim is constantly thrown off and his hand positioning is awkward at that time, but thankfully, you'll start at a continue point right before it grabs Isaac if you happen to fail. The continue points in the game are usually very forgiving for the most part. Save points are very frequent also.
Dead Space displays an over-the-shoulder view during gameplay very similar to Resident Evil 4's camera view and the controls are slightly similar as well, with a few changes here and there. Press forward to walk directly ahead, press to the left or right to sidestep in that direction and press back on the D-pad to back up. The right analog rotates the camera around Isaac while standing still and it makes him turn while running or walking.
The L1 button is used for aiming his currently equipped weapon then any of the face buttons on the joypad can be pressed to make him perform different actions such as stasis (square), kinesis (circle), reloading (X) or jumping (triangle) all while aiming. Isaac can walk while aiming and the aiming can be so very precise - you can literally shoot off an arm, another arm and a head from an enemy with little effort. All of his guns have a primary and secondary fire that can be used by pressing R1 or R2 while aiming respectively. The D-pad is used to cycle through Isaac's four currently equipped weapons. The overall control setup was very comfortable once I got used to it. Using the right analog to move the camera while standing still really helps out a lot for scanning an entire room after stepping inside. Even though Isaac will aim in whatever direction the camera is facing while rotating the camera around him, a handy quick turn feature would have helped out for some of the more intense fights. The camera turning doesn't quite provide enough of an instant turn during later battles in the game.