Dead Space

Right. I've only played for a little over an hour so far, so I fully reserve the right to change my opinions on this game after some more playing, but I figured I'd share now what I think, freeform. Meaning less coherent structure than usual.

I started out hating this game. I had a ton of issues. The mouse didn't work well in the menus, the control scheme is obtuse, and the third person view is annoying. I keep trying to run to the side to make up for the odd angle Issac's looking at. However, you can use the arrow keys to navigate the menus, you start to pick up on the controls eventually (though the console roots show fairly well, since there's no good reason I should have to have my plasma cutter readied in order to use kinesis), and you may get used to the over-the-shoulder (though this is apparently one of those games I can't play on an empty stomach, or I'll get nauseous). However, those issues aside, I've started to enjoy myself. I still only have the starting plasma cutter, but I'm starting to learn to wield it well. I upgraded my suit so I can hold more inventory, and I've got the basic idea how things work, including having spent a quick jaunt in zero-gee. That was a fun little learning experience. If you can stick it out through the learning curve, you just might enoy yourself with this one. The monsters are pretty interesting-looking, though in the vein of survival-horror games, they keep coming through the "windows," are lurking on the other side of doors, etc. If you've any experience with the genre, you'll very rarely be surprised on how they sneak up on you. The zero-gee areas will present an interesting bit though. As I've said, I'm only an hour in, so this isn't a review, just some impressions. If you're not sure about this game, give it a rental on console, and play for at least an hour. You'll need that long to really give it a fair shake. Heck, I'm still not sure if I actually like it, but I don't hate it anymore.