Dead Space

[Desi Cuse]

Dead Space First Look
We go for a scare with EA's new survival horror game.
by Jeff Haynes

October 9, 2007 - In space, no one can hear you scream, but there will be plenty of screaming on Earth if Electronic Arts has their way. Their upcoming title, Dead Space, is being developed in a radically new way as EA makes its first foray into the sci-fi survival horror genre. The game has secretly been in development for a year and a half with a small team of 15-18 programmers, all hard at work trying to distill the essence of what truly makes terror. In fact, according to Glen Schofield, the producer on Dead Space, the team wants to make a title that's so scary that players will be afraid to play the game alone or with the lights out. As a result, they've been diligently working on including all aspects of horror in the game, ranging from quick and sudden scares to the finer spine-tingling chills of psychological terror.

To capitalize on the finer points of fear, the development team has taken two separate approaches to making the title a surreal and visceral experience. The first approach is that they've been analyzing every aspect of horror movies multiple times to see how directors have made their projects frighten their audiences. That includes everything from classic films and big studio scares to low budget schlockfests, because every single title has some moment that they could potentially use, such as the timing of a scare or an audio cue. The second approach is that the development team has eschewed the concept of standard level design; instead of working on an entire level at a time, the Dead Space team is polishing a section of a level at a time, tweaking and adjusting the level until it feels like it has the right mix of action, suspense and horror (and is free of bugs) before moving to the next section.The beasts that you'll go up against are truly hideous.

These two features have been applied to the expansive storyline, which the team foresees as the start of a brand new franchise with additional installments. While the game isn't intentionally being set up as an homage to specific science fiction or horror movies, it's rather hard to miss some of the obvious allusions to movies like Alien or Event Horizon. Set four to five hundred years into the future, mankind has begun a new way of collecting resources across the galaxy called planet cracking. Essentially, a gigantic ship takes a mining crew out to a dead planet and establishes a colony, carving the world into fifty mile chunks. These sections are then lifted to the ship, where the pieces are mined, smelted and processed over multiple years until nothing remains. One such ship, known as the Ishimura, is out on a deep space run when it suddenly loses contact with Earth. Losing contact with ships or colonies that are far away isn't too surprising or new, so after a prolonged period without any word from this ship or the colony of the world it was working on, a smaller secondary crew is sent out to the last known location to fix the communications issues and give a status update.

This new crew isn't expecting any kind of trouble; in fact, this seems to be a routine maintenance job. As a result, the team consists of a computer technician named Kendra, a systems engineer named Isaac Clarke and a small team of security officers. Kendra expects to simply go along for the ride and update some of the ship's software, while Clarke is going to work on the communications issues. However, as they near the ship and the planet with a gigantic excavated hole in it, they realize that something has gone wrong. No one returns their short range communications either, giving them an indication that the entire operation has gone wrong. They land inside the Ishimura, and while it takes a little time to figure out what's happened, they discover that both the colony and the ship's crew have been wiped out by an alien force. Even worse, their escape route has been completely eliminated, and when Clarke tries to get off the ship, he finds his escape route cut off and himself separated from his colleagues. Now, Clarke has to fight his way out of the Ishimura and survive in any way he can.Expect tons of gore and tons of brutal fights in Dead Space.

Now, this isn't one of those situations where Isaac will be able to get his hands upon a small arsenal and blast his way through the ship with a nearly unlimited supply of ammo. Remember, the Ishimura was primarily a mining ship, and while there are a few weapons onboard, this isn't a crew of space marines going on a bug hunt; it's an industrial ship with a few items of protection in case workers get rowdy. What's more, Isaac isn't a one man tank skilled with firearms. He's an engineer who's more comfortable with a plasma torch and a mechanical system. Even though his environmental suit looks like a suit of armor from Hellgate: London, he's more MacGyver than Marcus Fenix.

That means that he'll repurpose his tools, mining equipment that he comes across and other items as weapons to defend himself against aliens. Clarke will also be able to take his engineering skill and modify his acquired arsenal with extra equipment to be more powerful in battle. For instance, he will modify items to create a kinetic movement gun as well as an item that places an opponent in a temporary stasis field. However, you'll need to make sure that you clear out an area before you attempt any second hand adjustments. Monsters will continually search for Clarke, coming out of the vents, ceiling tiles and floor panels to hunt him down and kill him. This factor ratchets up the tension, and since the game doesn't pause when you're upgrading gear, you'll need to decide whether it's worth it during a calm period to augment a tool or cry to catch your breath

Due to the nature of the equipment Isaac gets his hands on, this will definitely be a much more brutal title than other survival horror games. With many of the weapons being cutting, drilling or other mining tools, many of the hits that you land won't simply injure or knock back advancing aliens; successful hits will frequently dismember a monster, ripping an arm or a leg off of its mutated body. This isn't simply done because it looks cool or for gore's sake; in fact, the Dead Space team made dismemberment a primary factor of battle. The aliens are mutated crewmembers of the Ishimura and its colony that have been transformed into freakish beings, and are hardier than other monsters you've fought in games - head shots won't kill these things. In fact, blow off a head, and the creature might charge you in a blind rage. Chop off its legs, and it will either crawl after you or sprout little feet to run towards you. There are even some beasts that you will need to dismember to avoid their secondary attacks. One such monster exploded when it was shot, producing a horde of miniature razor sharp insects that swarmed Clarke.

Needless to say, you'll have to adjust your tactics for each kind of creature that you come across, quickly figuring out what its weaknesses are before it kills you. The designers are planning on making much of the combat very close and claustrophobic, quickly reducing the distance between you and the beasts. Fortunately, Clarke can use his plasma torch either vertically or horizontally to target and slice off appendages, possibly setting the monster up for a finishing strike. The blade can also be used to break the beast into pieces, which is sometimes the only way that you'll know you've fully killed them. Once that's done, you can scavenge their remaining pieces for any items, such as health packs, spare ammo or air canisters. All of these elements will be placed into his inventory, which is scanned and catalogued by his suit.Make sure you keep these things off you at all costs.

Clarke's suit is rather interesting, because it's more than just a futuristic space suit. It ties itself into the ship's network and automatically updates him with surrounding information, such as item details, holographic video transmissions and computer stations. It also tracks Isaac's health with a highlighted energy bar that runs along his spine, keeping players in the action of the game without having to pause and access a menu screen. The suit also comes with its own air supply, which will be key for sections of the ship that have decompressed, and gravity boots, which will keep Clarke attached to the hull or other sections of the ship. In fact, air and gravity are two tangible concepts that the development team has been messing around with, making some damaged areas of the ship that have lost power to their artificial gravity systems or other areas that have lost atmosphere due to missing hulls. Considering that the Ishimura is the size of a small city, using your air supply and your gravity boots intelligently is the only way to navigate the 90% of the game that takes place on the ship.

While we weren't able to find out whether or not Clarke will travel down to the planet, we did witness Isaac operating in zero gravity outside of the ship. This was a truly awe-inspiring shot, particularly because of the beauty of space contrasted with the scattered debris of the ship. Bodies floated by, their blood streaming in spherical pools. The team has spent a lot of time studying NASA documents on the effects of liquid, fire and kinetic motion in zero gravity, and has taken great pains to replicate the agency's findings. As a result, you'll find Clarke kinetically pushing himself off hulls and towards wreckage, which he'll hopefully land on and lock down his boots before proceeding. It is possible to mis-time a jump and accidentally propel yourself into space, particularly if you find yourself attacked by a monster in mid-jump. Fortunately, the monsters have the same problems that you do, and if you can detach their connection from the ship, they will float off harmlessly.

Spacewalks can be beautiful and potentially deadly.
The level that we saw only took fifteen minutes to go through, but we were told that a full level could take up to a half hour or more to complete, with the final game comprised of at least 20 hours of play. While the visuals were very sharp and detailed, we were even more impressed to find out that the game is still more than a year away. With an estimated release time of late 2008, EA should have lots of time to refine the scares for Dead Space when it comes out on PS3 and 360. We'll have more on the game as soon as it becomes available. For now, check out these screens of the game.

-Source: IGN written by Jeff Haynes

Sweetness! Looks like EA might make a good game. There is also an article in the latest Game Informer magazine.

[Causedawg 83]

Sweetness.

[Quo]

Originally Posted by Cuse Killa

Sweetness! Looks like EA might make a good game.

If I had a dollar for every time that was said across the nation...

EA should stand for Exaggerators Anonymous. It's all about the hype. I'm trying to make it a point from now on to demo or rent any EA game before I buy. It's sad, really.

[Chubby]

Damn i was reading this and getting all excited and then i found it that its in 3rd person, YUCK!!!!

I know several of you might Enjoy this perspective, but In my eyes a 1st person perspective is the perfect way to play a scary game, one where things jump out at you and you cant see whats behind you.

Bahhhhh So Close!!
Chubbs

[NuclearCujo]

Sounded awesome til I read EA. They never stand behind their products and I bet wont fix the bugs that will surely come from such a game.

[Peench]

Originally Posted by Chubby

Damn i was reading this and getting all excited and then i found it that its in 3rd person, YUCK!!!!

I know several of you might Enjoy this perspective, but In my eyes a 1st person perspective is the perfect way to play a scary game, one where things jump out at you and you cant see whats behind you.

Bahhhhh So Close!!
Chubbs

Chubbs - good point. There were a couple of instances in Condemned where I nearly pissed myself. Anyone remember that chick jumping out of that locker?!?!

[Thornes70]

Thanks peench - now I'll never buy Condemned.

I don't really have anything against EA games, but the horror genre isn't my bag. Still, this does sound pretty good: because of the beauty of space contrasted with the scattered debris of the ship. Bodies floated by, their blood streaming in spherical pools.

[Peench]

Thornes - oh man, you'll be missing out. I still consider it to be one of the best games of this generation.