So I've finally gotten to actually play Dead Space (that game I've been going on about forever). Not surprisingly, it's damn amazing. This game is by no means your standard shooter, or even normal for a zombie shooter.

The game uses weapons in the combat much more than I had understood it would, but this isn't a bad thing. The standard weapon is called a laser cutter, and it's a gun but it's not. It shoots three rounds at once, in either a horizontal or vertical line, and what's I think is really cool about it is there's a separate laser site for where each round will hit. This is the weapon I use almost all the time, because I like it and there are rounds for it all over the place. The way to use it is to shoot where limbs meet the body, trying to hit with all three rounds if possible. This thing severs limb really well, which makes sense since it's a cutter and not actually a gun.

Another weapon that I find very amusing, but not really practical, is this like remote saw thing. You can shoot saw blades out of it that will stick in the enemies, or you can make the saw extend out while spinning and chop them up. This thing is really fun, and does a ton for the gore factor, but I never have many rounds for it. I like this weapon, but I wish it were more like a chainsaw and not some weird future laser thingy that I can't really describe. When I grind or chop my enemy to bits, I want to be really close to get the full experience. If you don't get splattered by their guts, you're not close enough.

There are other weapons like a flamethrower, a wide version of the laser cutter, and a rifle. I haven't used all of these yet and there may be more I don't know about. The only comments I have on them is the flamethrower is disappointingly noneffective, and there's no ammo for the wide cutter thing. Not only does the flamethrower not hurt things, they don't even freak out or go up in flames to any notable degree. The pyro in me is not very happy.

The best part of Dead Space, and what really sets it apart from other games, is the combat environments it has. At various points throughout the game you have to fight in zero gravity, a vacuum, or both. In zero gravity your suit has boots that are magnetic or something, so you can still walk but you can also jump onto just about any surface and walk on it. Fighting in this situation is really interesting because at any time something can fly up to you from any direction, so you really have to keep an eye out. Unlike you, the enemies do not stick to surfaces and can be just floating around wherever. The first time a necromorph floated up to me it seemed like it came out of nowhere, and it startled the shit out of me. My favorite part of being in zero gravity though is that there's limbs and other body parts floating everywhere and when you hit an enemy the blood spatters in a really cool way. This game has shown me gore can be very different than what I am used to, and I like that.

Being in a vacuum doesn't really change the combat, but it changes how you feel while you're fighting. The fast that you have limited air makes everything feel more urgent and you're much more worried about dying (at least I am). Also, everything feels more creepy and suspenseful. While in a vacuum there is no sound, which is realistic, but really freaks me out. Things seems to pop up out of nowhere a lot more because you can't hear them coming. The up side (though I consider all this up side) is that it's really fun to shoot an enemy to pieces in total silence.

Dead Space is an amazing game. It's really different, but it still delivers what you want it to. There's gore, guns, and zombies. If it weren't for the fact that I actually have a life now (a recent development), I would be playing this game every day. It should be obvious how much I love it so far by how long this post is, and I may post on it yet again if I encounter any other amazing aspects of it.