Recommended by KB0 as part of this list.

"Libera temet ex inferis."

The USG Ishimura lies abandoned, harnessed in the orbit of Aegis VII, a metal coffin that holds within the full spectrum of life itself: The dead, the soon to be, and the reborn. The rhythmic thud of our hero Isaac's boots fill the vacant air of corpse-strewn halls, the far-off screams of either a victim or a perpetrator ringing just out of earshot. The ear-splitting thump-thump of the heart, the sounds of labored & panicked breathing on the precipice of hyperventilation, the subtle click of Isaac's repurposed-for-war power tool being raised and aimed at an elevator door that seems to descend into eternity.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The presentation of Dead Space is easily it's biggest strength. It's insistence at making every mechanic and video game genre convention a diegetic part of the world lends it an atmosphere like no other. Nearly every weapon that Isaac gains is a power tool instead of a designated instrument of war. The menus are hologram projections that we can see the back off when the camera is rotated around with the right stick. The health bar is a physical part of Isaac's suit. Posters around the USG Ishimura mention gameplay mechanics like the Stasis or Kinesis Modules. All these little details culminate in one of the most immersive horror games I've played in recent memory, despite it's futuristic setting and high-concept.

Alongside it's phenomenal UI, the suspense of its exploration is another aspect in which Dead Space shines. The somewhat cramped over-the-shoulder camera closing in on Isaac in cramped corridors. The near-silence of the vacuum of space, where enemies are silent and the only feedback you have is the subtle vibration of your controller as Isaac walks and shoots. The minimal cast of human characters which Isaac very rarely (if ever) directly interacts with or sees in any capacity, exacerbated by Isaac's silence in the face of it all. The entirety of Isaac's nightmarish affair trapped in the great starry abyss is permeated by an intensely isolating feeling that had me aiming my trusty Plasma Cutter at every doorway, tensed up at what could potentially be behind the turn of a hallway. It's a masterclass in horror suspense that had me on the edge of my seat dreading most encounters.

While Dead Space's idea of horror is incredibly cheesy, never really advancing beyond its initial arsenal of spooky monsters going "OOGA-BOOGA!" at you while the orchestral score puts it's whole pussy into the horn section, it's in it's encounter design that Dead Space makes the most of its survival horror aspirations. The Necromorphs unique weakness is their limbs, requiring a different skillset than the average third-person shooter since it's all about dismemberment; careful aiming and precise shots at constantly moving targets that love to ambush you from vents both above and below in these incredibly tight spaces, forcing you up close and personal as you try to line up shots with your limited ammo and somewhat clumsy unarmed moveset (aside from the best stomp in the industry bar none). Every encounter is tense, with item drops being somewhat stingy and usually only enough to barely get you by in a pinch, and it's truly sublime. In my first time playthrough where I never used anything aside from the starting Plasma Cutter, there was a section in Chapter 9 where I was neck-deep in the thick of it, with no shops nearby and only 14 shots left to my name. I was just barely scrapping by each encounter, taking care not to let even a single shot run errant, thanking the lord for every measly pickup of 6 bullets I found in a corner somewhere, and even making mad dashes across an arena looking for anything to use when I ran out of ammo, Necromorphs nipping at my heels all the while. It's the most fun I've had in an action game in a long while and it's the sort of thrill I can't get enough of.

Nearing almost 14 years since its initial release, Dead Space still stands tall above its contemporaries as a standout survival horror title, and no doubt one of the best from the 7th generation alone. It's oppressive atmosphere, love for its sci-fi contemporaries and no-frills tense gameplay make it a must play for both survival horror enthusiasts and action game junkies.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

...

"Hazardous Anomaly Detected. Quarantine Activated."

Guys, I think my girlfriend joined a cult.

I played Dead Space in 2008 under some pretty lousy pretenses. Someone I was into was playing the game, and so I ran out to buy a copy just so I could talk to her about it. I didn't have any inherent interest beyond that, not initially anyway.

That lack of interest turned around when I saw "CUT OFF THEIR LIMBS" scrawled in blood - an invitation to arm yourself with the plasma cutter, one of the best handguns in gaming. Of course, the plasma cutter is not specifically designed as such. Rather, it's a tool. One that can be employed in dangerous, even deadly ways, but protagonist Isaac Clark isn't a space marine or some sort of special operative. He's just some schlub being sent out to repair a mining vessel his girlfriend is stationed on. I've worked in medical claims, I know engineers and repairmen don't shoot people, they tear off limbs and fuck things up with power tools. Usually themselves, granted, but like, sometimes other people are involved!

Being an engineer means a lot of your objectives involve repairing the derelict USG Ishimura. The engines aren't working, asteroid/debris defense systems are down, gravity is messed up, and various sectors of the ship are closed off. Not only do you have to cut your way through Necromorphs, you have to do your damn job. Conceptually, I think the idea of having to repair the ship in order to navigate it is interesting, but the objectives you're given typically feel rote and unengaging. You have telekinetic powers and the ability to slow things down, but they're very rarely used in any interesting ways, and although you're armed to the teeth with power tools, you'll never make use of any of their unique functions in order to solve puzzles or patch up the Ishimura. It feels like they had this great concept for a setting and conceived of some cool ways to roadblock the player but struggled to realize it in a way that's consistently fun.

Perhaps it's because I played Resident Evil 4 right before this that I find myself so disinterested in Dead Space's structure. According to co-designer Ben Wanat, Dead Space started life as System Shock 3, but after the release of Resident Evil 4 it was decided to create a game based around it instead. Although RE4's DNA is here, I feel like Dead Space succeeds in creating its own identity and that it is mechanically distinct enough for direct comparisons to feel somewhat weak, but I'm gonna make one anyway and point out that Resident Evil 4's more audacious nature makes it a far more compelling game even though I find Dead Space to have better combat. You won't be running away from any gigantic, animated statues like you're in the opening of Excel Saga, or calling in helicopter support to execute Necromorphs in slow motion. Instead, you'll be slowing down fan blades so you can run down a tube or throwing giant green orbs through a hole. Exciting stuff. I do think they have something going on with the zero-gravity mechanic, but like a lot of other elements of Dead Space's design, it's just not used to its fullest potential.

Every time you lumber your way through another task, the game follows it up with another heart-pounding Necromorph attack, so it's good that Dead Space's combat is so satisfying that it carries as much of the game as it does. The setting and atmosphere pulls a lot of weight here, too. I love Alien and Event Horizon, and body horror speaks to me in some incredibly dark ways, so this is explicitly my jam. There is something terrifying not only about the visceral nature of the human form contorting, exploding, expanding, and crunching into a new shape, but the loss of identity and of bodily autonomy is what all that gore is meant to truly represent, giving it a psychological edge that fires off all the right chemicals in my brain. I really like this stuff, and even if the remake (Haven't played it yet, it's an EA game so it'll hit ten bucks by the end of the year or be free on PS+ before that) changes nothing but the fidelity, I imagine I'll end up liking it more.

It better not remove Isaac's animation whenever he's stepping in gunk, though. He just stomps around like a kid splashing in a puddle, I love it.

Actually, I never played this to impress anyone. I thought I did, but they never existed in the first place. A figment of my imagination, placed there by the Xbox 360, compelling me to buy Dead Space and to become part of a greater, horrific animal.

Guys, I think I joined a cult.

Overall, I thought this game was decent. While it did get somewhat tedious by the end...and I didn't really think it did anything too too special, it had some cool aspects.

The combat is fun but nothing amazing imo. What elevated it a bit tho were the weapons. Obviously the Plasma Cutter is really cool, love the mechanic of cutting off enemies limbs. However the real MVP was the The Ripper, that thing destroyed almost every enemy. Especially after I filled in every power node. The other weapons for the most part were cool too, I liked how they weren't just your generic weapon types. I also really like how your health UI is just built into the suit. Comes across as really natural and unintrusive. The final boss and ending I quite enjoyed as well.

However, as I stated...it did get tedious by the end. Going from level to level, doing simple tasks and then going back to the start of the stage. Idk man, I think it would have been cooler if the whole game was interconnected and you had to explore the space station like Resident Evil or something. The space setting is cool I guess (especially with the zero gravity sections tho they can be a bit disorienting at times) but I wish they did more with it because 90% of the time you're going through hallways that look and feel the same. Whenever they switch it up it's cool, just wish they did it more. Another thing is, I really didn't find this game scary personally. The only time I got spooked, and it was a jumpscare, was the ending. Otherwise, yeah didn't find it that unnerving. I also honestly didn't care about the story at all. The ending again was cool with the scenes that played out, otherwise the story was just there.

Yeah, the game does do some really cool things I feel but also never blew me away and was a bit tedious by the end, tho I'd say I enjoyed it overall. Next on the agenda is my Symphony of the Night replay and Silent Hill. Hoping I'm able to fit those in before Mario Wonder comes out!

Shigeru Miyamoto has gone on record saying that Mario “isn’t the kind of game you necessarily have to finish, it should be fun to just pick up and play,” and as a kid I often really would boot it up solely to jump around Bob-Omb Battlefield for a bit and feel myself or whatever. A pattern I’ve observed with a lot of gamers is that, as they get older, they slowly prioritize finishing games over simply the inherent fun of playing them — and while I definitely feel that was accurate for my late teens/early twenties as well, I’ve since returned to craving those more innate pleasures.

It’s wild how much Nintendo got right about Mario’s animations and the overall sound design on this first attempt, conveying that perfect sweetspot between weight and nimbleness, something I honestly don’t get as much out of 64's successors. Similarly, the level design also manages to find this nebulous since-unmatched middle-ground between open-ness and tight pacing, with many of the stages presenting you with vertical, spiral-shaped layouts, made up of multiple digestible paths that intersect so seamlessly that you never stop to think about them as anything other than one cohesive whole.

Aspects that feel like obvious limitations, like being booted out of the level when grabbing a Star or the rigid camera, end up aiding the game’s pacing and overall structure the more you actually think about it. The way you bounce between different paintings within Peach’s castle, completely at your own leisure, mirrors how you tackle the obstacles inside those worlds; loose and free-form and whichever way seems enjoyable to you at the moment without even having to think about it. It all seems so simple, and yet I’m still waiting for another platformer that is this immediately fun and endlessly replayable.

There have been tons of 2D Zelda-inspired adventure games over the years, but very rarely if ever have any of them truly hit the feeling that Anodyne hits. The dream-like atmosphere is phenomenal and extremely charming, frightening, and intriguing all at the same time. The writing is clever and endearing without feeling schmaltzy or overly-referential. The level design is fun and feels familiar yet fresh. Play this and Anodyne 2 as soon as possible if you want a game built on powerful emotional cores and hope.