Is Dead Space the Next Frontier for Survival Horror?

The survival horror genre has been suffering from an identity crisis since the release of Resident Evil 4. The genre defined by its slow pace, obscured field of vision and severely limited resources was turned on its head when the franchise that wrote the rule-book received a massive kick in the ass and emerged with a new over-the-shoulder perspective, buttery smooth controls, precise aiming and a significantly faster pace. This new breed of survival horror still provided some creepy atmosphere but the feeling of vulnerability that characterized the genre’s old guard was replaced with a feeling of power, and it’s hard to feel scared when you feel like a badass. Fans have taken sides and the major players in the genre have committed to divergent directions, with Resident Evil continuing down its new direction while the latest Silent Hill is taking strong cues from the original titles. Survival horror is at a crossroads, but there is one game on the horizon with the potential to bridge the gap between both camps, and it’s coming from an unlikely source.

Dead Space, Electronic Arts’ first foray into the world of survival horror and one of the few titles to come out of the company’s doors with a big ol’ M stamped on the cover, is shaping up to be the game with the best bet of uniting the two schools of thought on survival horror. We recently had the opportunity to play through several sections of the game at an EA community event, and walked away very impressed – a surprising turn of events considering our less-than-flattering first impressions of the game. Actually sitting down and playing large sections of several levels gave us a far better impression of how all the features come together to form a cohesive experience. Even with only a few hours of gameplay time under our belt, we still feel confident saying that Dead Space is far more terrifying than any of the recent entrants in the survival horror genre. That the game achieves those levels of terror without crippling the player’s ability to defend themselves is what makes Dead Space feel like such an evolution of the genre.

Like the survival horror games of old, Dead Space does an admirable job of making the player feel like they could be killed at any moment and that feeling of vulnerability translates very effectively into tension and fear. The game establishes this sense of vulnerability via a number of means, most notably through an oppressive atmosphere and intelligent game balance. Lots of factors both subtly and overtly contribute to the atmosphere. Scripted sequences establish and reinforce the mood throughout the game, and the events that unfold range anywhere from morbid to terrifying. Elaborate scripted events segue into unscripted terror, all without the safety blanket of a HUD to remind you that it’s all just a game. The art direction obviously recalls the industrial ’truckers in space’ aesthetic from the Alien movies, but EA’s artists have infused that look with a unique concoction of oil-soaked grit and gothic undertones, the latter of which lends some of the environments an almost otherworldly vibe. The lighting and sound design add additional layers to the environments, suffocating areas of the ship that are exposed to the vacuum of space in dead silence, while filling other areas with wailing sirens and strobe lights.

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