Blowing S*** Up in Zero Gravity

Hopefully, you just watched the developer diary from EA's Redwood Shores development team. The video obviously discussed a very interesting aspect of their upcoming game, Dead Space; the ability to use zero gravity to solve puzzles and shift the advantage in battle. While the diary is rather short, it does hint at some cool possibilities. I no longer look at this game as a simple third person survival horror because the zero gravity aspect of the game may lead to some interesting situations in which you will be forced to walk on ceilings and make long jumps in order to escape your opposition or put yourself into a better situation. This coupled with the strategic dismemberment mechanic seems interesting and will hopefully prevent this game from being labeled another Resident Evil clone. The possibilities in terms of puzzle solving also adds an extra layer of depth to an already interesting formula.

On top of all these cool features, I must say that the game simply looks great. While it may not be the most amazing looking games technically, the basic art direction is definitely worth mentioning. Having gotten my hands on one of the pre-order art books today, I had a chance to look through some of the games character, environmental, and monster concept art. Color me impressed, this game has such an incredible look and atmosphere to it. I can't wait to see the final product come together in order to get an in depth look at how its visual style interacts with the games audio. Hearing the developers talk about the silence in space and the muffled sound really gets me excited. If EA can pull it off, this game could have one of the most memorable atmospheres this year. That's a big statement when you stop to consider the other huge games this fall such as Fallout and Mirror's Edge.


I have been both excited and incredibly skeptical of Dead Space since its announcement but every time this game is mentioned in the media or on other podcasts (opinions whom I truly value), they have nothing but good things to say. Is it possible that EA is developing a good horror franchise? Is it possible that EA is actually succeeding where so many others have tried and failed? Look at all of the relatively good attempts to create a new series in a genre dominated by the Resident Evils and Silent Hills. Obscure, Kuon, Alone in the Dark, Siren, Clock Tower; all of these games tried valiantly to become the next big horror game but none seemed to stick. While some of these games inspired sequels or were well received despite poor sales, none of them really got the attention they might have deserved. Despite my optimism, I can already see the less than inspirational 65% aggregate score on gamerankings. Only time will tell. October can't come soon enough.

-Nick