Got a headache? Not a problem!
Dead Space is certainly worth the wait! The game just oozes high quality production values. Everything from the direction to the sound work is just phenomenal— and the graphics; it goes without saying, although I should mention I’m playing the PC version.
Dead Space utilizes the tried and true survival horror formula: Get stranded, save your significant other/comrades, get out alive (or at least try) and in the process, find out what really happened.
I’ve just started Chapter 2 but I have to take my time due to some motion sickness. Some games trigger it in me such as Half Life 2 and, unfortunately, Dead Space is another one I’ll have to add to the list.
Thankfully, Dead Space isn’t a run-and-gun type of game. If it was, I think it might be unplayable for me.
There’s tonnes of information about Dead Space out there so I’ll just nutshell everything.
Ambiance
It may take place in space, but Dead Space has plenty of atmosphere
One can tell easily that everything was carefully chosen to heighten tension. The shadow-draped, blood and gore-stained rooms and hallways are filled with visual clues that something very very horrible had gone on and the sound effects were carefully chosen, crafted and implemented; everywhere and around you, you can hear things scuttling about or making unnerving noises.
Even the pressure doors have this brief, unnerving screech incorporated into the sound effect used when they open. Everything serves to heighten the player’s tension and preparing them for those classic sudden scares.
They don’t ignore the psychological element too. As mentioned, there’s plenty of evidence strewn about the halls of the USG Ishimura; personal affects, evidence of desperate actions, “last stands” and horrible deaths. You find video logs and audio logs that not only add pieces to the puzzle of what had gone wrong on the Ishimura, but also tease you with glimpses of what horrors you may face.
Despite the rather imposing looking suits that the main character Isaac Clarke can don, the rather effective plasma cutter you’re armed with, and the highly effective abilities you can use like stasis (slows time) and kinesis (remotely move objects), you still feel vulnerable enough not to go charging into rooms and running down hallways with abandon.
Controls
I use a Wacom Graphire tablet and its accompanying mouse. For Dead Space, I put the tablet in “mouse mode”. But it seems that Dead Space adds a little bit of acceleration and “ease-out” to the mouse movement making it feel a little too mushy for my tastes. No doubt this is due to the fact that the game was intended to be played with a game controller. On the PC, it made precise aiming difficult, and precision aiming is absolutely vital in Dead Space.
The menu control keys are controlled by the cursor keys. In my opinion, it would have been easier and more convenient to simply map the “WSAD” movement keys to control the menu as well. I haven’t tried it yet but I guess that should be easy enough to fix using the key mapping configuration menu.
Other than that, I have no real issues with the PC version of the controls in Dead Space.
Conclusion
I think Dead Space easily qualifies as one of the gaming library “must haves.” The fact that it borrows elements from various sci-fi horror movies (ALIENS, Event Horizon and so on) detracts nothing from the game since those elements are combined and extremely well executed in Dead Space.
Now if only I could play it for longer than 30 minutes at a time… 
Also, be on the look out for the Dead Space animated movie: Downfall
Oh, and Dead Space has been banned in Germany, Japan and China… It’s that good. 
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