"Dead Space" - I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this game came out way back in 2008, but it's still a classic in the sci-fi survival horror genre from a third-person perspective. My older brother was totally obsessed with this game when he first got it for his powerful laptop, and he'd spend hours playing it. To this day, he's still a huge fan, and he's even introduced his nine-year-old daughter to the game - not in the sense that he lets her play it, but rather that he plays it with her watching and occasionally covering her eyes.

We're talking intense battles here!Naturally, "Dead Space" didn't run smoothly on my computer, and I couldn't play it properly. It wasn't until recently that I finally got to experience the game, and I realized how much I'd been missing out on.

Fighting necromorphs is a given Our trusty chainsaw is a lifesaverAlthough I'm not a huge fan of the "Alien" movies, the game somehow managed to hook me with its similar theme.

System Requirements: Minimum:

Windows XP/Vista;Processor: Pentium 4 3.2 GHz, Pentium D 2.66 GHz, AMD Athlon 64 3500+;1 GB RAM;NVIDIA 6800 or ATI X1650 or higher graphics card with support for shader model 3.0 and 256 MB RAM;DirectX 9.0c;7.5 GB free space on hard drive.Recommended:

Windows XP/Vista;Processor: Pentium Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD 64 X2 5200+, AMD Phenom or higher;2 GB RAM;NVIDIA 8600 GTS or higher, ATI X1900 or higher with 512 MB RAM;DirectX 9.0c;7.5 GB free space on hard drive.Nowadays, it's a breeze to run "Dead Space" on my computer, but back in the day, it wouldn't even run on my office computer. And it's pretty clear why - the game has a solid gameplay and some seriously impressive graphics for its time.

The real magic of this game, though, is the full immersion in the atmosphere, which lets you feel the whole horror of the story, when you'll be jumping out of your seat from sudden sounds and inevitable battles with those necromorphs.

This review doesn't contain any spoilers for the main story; the screenshots I've included are mine.

Get ready to dive into the mysteries that "Ishimura" holds ************** THE STORY

The game starts off simple, but almost from the get-go, it throws you a bunch of questions that you won't get answers to until the very end. It's the year 2507, and humanity's all about mining resources on other planets since Earth's run dry. One of the ships, "Ishimura", sends out a distress signal. They send a shuttle with a team of three: senior officer Zach Hammond, computer expert Kendra Daniels, and engineer Isaac Clarke.

Our team The beginning A messy situation But the rescue mission quickly turns into a disaster - docking with "Ishimura" doesn't go as planned, but our brave trio steps right into the ship. And what they find is a complete and utter emptiness - not a soul in sight.

Listening to the audio logs The "Ishimura" is badly damaged, but most of its systems are still online. Before long, Isaac gets separated from his team (classic!) due to the automatic door locks. Isaac's gotta find another way to reconnect with his team and figure out what's going on and where everyone's gone.

We're in touch with our teamBefore long, Isaac's going to realize that responding to distress signals in groups was a terrible idea.

We're always ready to fire!"Ishimura" is crawling with unknown creatures that love to pop out of nowhere at the most inopportune moments. Stranded and combat-inept, Isaac Clarke's forced to fend off bloodthirsty monsters with nothing but a mining tool in the form of a plasma cutter. But he's gotta survive! Because on "Ishimura", he's got a mission to complete.

And that's our goalAnd we're going to have to make our way to it, cutting through hordes of necromorphs...

The enemy's not sleeping We're firing at the tendrils!This is the perfect scenario where a super-simplified plot doesn't feel dull and grey. Yeah, it's a bit clichéd, yeah, we've seen it all before in sci-fi; but the interest in the story doesn't wane.

You could live on "Ishimura"The game is presented in 12 chapters, each lasting around 40 minutes (give or take a few). I won't say it's a one-sitting affair, but it's not as drawn-out as "Sanctuary" either. I managed to finish the game in about a week and a half, not rushing through it, not knowing what to expect. But subsequent playthroughs were a lot quicker.

Danger lurks around every corner 12 chapters were more than enough for me to savor every moment of this game, and the emotions - both from the story and gameplay - were always different. I'm not gonna pretend to be some tough-as-nails guy with a steel backbone, but I'll be honest: I was scared. What's especially interesting is that the game started off with a string of generic jump scares, like "something fell suddenly." It's similar to the classic horror game Outlast, but I got used to it quickly.

Updating my costume in the store As for Dead Space, the atmosphere really impressed me - but it's worth noting that being scared only happens the first time you're not sure what's coming. When you play the game again, the emotions are completely different. The first time I played through to the final chapter, I was on edge the whole time. Dead Space really got my nerves going. Necromorphs always attack out of nowhere! I was jumping out of my seat almost every minute. Even when something just fell nearby, I'd flinch.

Necromorphs will come in all shapes and sizes The monsters will drop down from the vents, ambush you when you turn a corner, attack from behind, or set up an ambush. Necromorphs come in all shapes and sizes: from tiny crawling pests to giant tentacles.

We've been caught Crawling pests that love jumping on your head I wouldn't recommend using the "headshot" tactic that's so popular in other shooters, and wasting ammo on shooting at their bodies. When you encounter necromorphs, aim for their limbs and tentacles first! Those are their weak points. For the giant necromorphs, their weak spots are usually highlighted in yellow.

TipOne thing that really gets your heart racing is the intense music that kicks in when you're about to face off against a necromorph. As soon as you take 'em down, the music switches to a more mellow vibe. I was on edge the whole time, barely daring to take my finger off the trigger. Walking through the abandoned hallways of Ishimura, you'll hear all sorts of creepy noises - groans, footsteps, the works. It's a real nail-biter, and it'll keep you on your toes until the very end.

To take down this beast for good, aim for those long, spindly tentaclesAnd when my teammates were trying to establish contact with Isaac over the comms, I was literally on the edge of my seat - at first, it sounded like we were getting some serious static.

We're in touch with our teamThere are all sorts of logs and recordings scattered throughout the ship - grab 'em, read 'em, and get the lowdown on what was going on before the necromorphs took over. It's pretty fascinating stuff, and it'll give you a real sense of what's going on.

We're reading through some of the logsAs for the story, I'd say it's pretty straightforward, but it's been executed really well. They've done a great job of keeping things simple, yet still managing to pack in some real surprises.

We'll be exploring all sorts of different areas on Ishimura****************GAMEPLAY

We'll be playing from a third-person perspective, with all the standard controls: WSAD for movement, Shift for sprinting, right-click for aiming, and left-click for firing. Mouse movement will give you a full 360-degree view. Of course, this is all assuming you're playing on a keyboard and mouse - if you're on a console, it's probably a lot easier with a controller.

The End of the ChapterAt this point, I've gotta dock the game a minus (but not subtract stars from my overall rating) for how finicky the mouse is with it. I mean, you gotta tweak the settings super carefully. And I'm not the only one who's noticed this - other players have mentioned it too. The game's reaction to mouse movement is pretty weird and a bit delayed. But if you crank up the sensitivity to max, the camera view will start jumping all over the place at the slightest touch of the mouse. In Open SpaceLuckily, I splurged on a budget gaming mouse and was able to tweak the sensitivity to my liking with just a few button presses. I managed to find a sweet spot that works for me, but I did get stuck a few times - like when I had to blast a swarm of meteorites with a special gun, or when a giant tentacle grabbed Isaac's leg and held him upside down. Trying to aim at the creature with the wonky mouse settings was a real challenge, let me tell you. Taking Out Meteorites (or Asteroids?)To put it simply, the game requires you to navigate from point A to point B and perform a specific action - like activating a gravity zone, grabbing a key from a lab, or finding some special files. But nobody warned me that it'd be a cakewalk. I mean, we all know the Nekromorphs are just waiting to pounce on us from behind. The Enemy is Closing InOur arsenal will include some sweet tools to help us survive the horde. One of the first guns we'll get is the plasma cutter - a mining tool that shoots out globs of plasma. The cutter's got a triple-dot sight, which makes it way easier to lop off enemy limbs. You can even adjust the sight to be vertical or horizontal. Our emergency stash I'm always reminding myself to check every single crate, because you never know what you might find inside - like the plasma energy I needed for my trusty cutter.

Scavenging for supplies I've also been breaking open those green crates, but let me tell you - it's a crapshoot. I've had my fair share of finding creepy crawlies instead of ammo or medical supplies. I've wasted my health and ammo on more than one occasion. Checking the shelves and breaking open crates is basically a gamble. Who knows what you'll find?

You can upgrade your gear at the in-game store - which is a bit weird, but I guess it's just part of the "Isimaru" experience. Just make sure you have some local currency on you. But don't worry, money isn't a problem on "Isimaru". I've found cash just lying around in all the nooks and crannies.

The store Everything has its price At the store, you can sell off some of your gear or stash it in the safe - because, let's face it, Isaac's inventory isn't infinite. No matter how much you want to collect everything, you'll eventually see that pesky "inventory full" message.

Medkit Limited Lifting CapacityShopping in the store is a real treat – you can get your hands on just about anything: plasma energy, high-level costumes, medkits of all calibers, stasis batteries, oxygen tanks, and brand-new types of firearms. I mean, who wouldn't want to try out a laser rifle, flamethrower, pipe cutter, or impulse pistol? I'm still on the hunt for something better than the laser rifle, but one major downside is that its magazine is way too small – it's a real pain to reload. On the other hand, it's a one-hit kill most of the time, and it's a real lifesaver when you're facing a group of enemies. The flamethrower is pretty cool, but it's only effective at close range. I'd recommend using it against crawling monsters. As for the pipe cutter, I'm not a fan – it shoots metal discs, but they take forever to reach their target. And if you hit a wall... forget about it. You can only carry four types of firearms at a time. I'll give another minus star for the super annoying weapon selection system. I'm used to just clicking the mouse wheel, but here you have to press the number keys. It's a real pain, especially during intense battles with a bunch of enemies.

Enemies Don't Go Down Without a FightThe health system is pretty cool – you can track your progress by looking at the blue vertical stripe on Isaac's back. The only way to heal is with medkits. There's a quick-heal button on the keyboard, but you need to have some medkits in your inventory. The amount of health you regain depends on the caliber of the medkits you have.

The Cat in the BagYou'll also have access to a stasis module and a kinetic module. The stasis module is a device that slows down moving objects when activated. For example, there's this huge snake slithering across the floor, blocking your path. If you time it right and activate the stasis module, the snake will freeze in place for a few seconds, giving you time to pass. You can use stasis on enemies too, giving you some extra time. The only downside is that it has a limited energy reserve (which is displayed as a blue arc on Isaac's right shoulder). You can recharge it on special panels or with a stasis battery.

Some people aren't so luckyThe Kinexus module is basically a telekinetic device. It lets you pull anything of medium size towards you. You can move big objects around, but only if they've got a magnet symbol on them.

Using Kinexus Kinexus symbolKinexus comes in handy when fighting enemies, but only if they're not too mobile. You've got to aim at the object and pull it towards you before the enemy can hit you. But Kinexus really shines against story bosses, which you'll inevitably have to face at some point.

LeviathanYou can upgrade your gear, modules, and ICS (individual self-sustenance complex) on special workbenches, but you'll need to have some power nodes on hand. These nodes are scattered around the place, or you can buy them from the shop.

Power node Workbench UpgradingSurvival horror is no joke, and this game is a great example of that. Your ammo is limited, and there are hordes of enemies everywhere. You've got to be careful with your shots and not waste them on things like crates. I had a close call when I was running low on ammo for the first time. It's not fun when you're stuck in a corner with no way out. And it's even worse when the AI 'Ishimura' locks down the area because it's detected the presence of necromorphs. You can't move until they're dealt with. If you're out of ammo, you're basically stuck fighting with your bare hands – or at least, with your rifle and whatever else you can find to defend yourself with.

It's getting close But let's not get to that point. I've been grinding on the workbench whenever I can, upgrading my cargo capacity, increasing my ammo reserves, boosting my damage output, and tweaking my ICS stats.

Dealing with the tech

Restoring power

Back to the bosses I've got to give props to the devs for the zero-G and vacuum zone quests.

Zero-G zone It's a blast. I actually prefer the zero-G zone because I'm not limited by time constraints. My Isaac boots are immune to zero-G, so I can move around like normal; and if I need to grab something on the ceiling, no problem. I just jump up to it.

In zero-G

Moving around in zero-G Don't forget, enemies can still be lurking around. When Isaac makes a wall or ceiling jump, the camera flips, and the ceiling becomes the floor. It's easy to get disoriented - you're not sure which way to go. Luckily, the game has a button that highlights the path when you press it. I've noticed I'm a bit of a topographic moron, not just in the game.

We're on a roll The path ahead Time's running out in the vacuum zone - Isaac's oxygen supply is counting down on his back. We can top up oxygen at oxygen stations or activate the oxygen tank in our backpack if we have one.

The vacuum zone I love the physics in this game - in the vacuum, there's barely any sound, and the flamethrower is useless because it can't produce a flame. It's a real challenge to fight enemies in this environment, especially when we're already low on air. But that's all part of the fun, right? Sometimes we'll encounter areas with both vacuum and zero-gravity environments.

The thrill of the game Saving the game is a breeze - we just need to find the camera icon and press a button to choose where we want to save. Although, I've noticed that there are invisible checkpoints in the game, so even if we die, we'll start back up near the last checkpoint, not exactly where we saved.

Saving the day Before we start playing, we'll need to choose our difficulty level. I've only played the first three so far, but I'm looking forward to tackling the rest.

Difficulty levels The end is near On a final note, I just want to say that the gameplay in this 2008 game is absolutely insane! You can really feel the developers' hard work and dedication. There's so much to explore and experience in this game that it's easy to put yourself in Isaac's shoes. I'm giving a standing ovation!" Map*******************GRAPHICS

I don't want to nitpick about the graphics, but for the time, they're absolutely mind-blowing. The locations are cleverly designed, with every detail accounted for – every speck on the countertop, every colored letter on the poster.

Stranger in a Strange LandThe characters and necromorphs themselves look a bit off – a bit awkward and angular – but it didn't really bother me. Like I said, for a game of that era, the graphics are fantastic, and they don't detract from Dead Space's cult status.

I know it's a bit off-topic, but I want to give a shout-out to the quality Russian dubbing. The Russian voice actors did an amazing job, although I usually prefer the original voice acting with Russian subtitles. It's nice to hear the characters' dialogue – they convey genuine emotions – and it's equally nice to hear the AI's voice. Obelisk*****************

CHARACTERS

It's hard to get excited about the characters when you've got a game that's essentially a one-man show. There are hardly any characters, and we'll only interact with them occasionally through internal comms. Sometimes we'll even see them. I'll just focus on the main character, which we'll be controlling throughout the game.

Occasional human encountersIsaac Clarke – it took me a while to get used to seeing "Clarke" next to "Isaac". I was tempted to call him Isaac Asimov for a while. And, coincidentally, his name and surname are a direct nod to the famous science fiction writers Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. IsaacThis character never speaks. The other characters seem to take his silence for granted. Although, in moments when Isaac gets hurt or breaks something, he'll groan, snarl, or scream.

Another zero-gravity zone I'm lucky to catch a glimpse of it in all its glory in very rare, short scenes, but for the most part, it's going to be hidden away in a fully closed protective suit.

Observation deck Isaac's got his own reasons for being on the Ishimura, but I promised not to spoil it.**************

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

What a game! What an atmosphere! The game world is so meticulously crafted. That's my idea of a top-notch game. Dive into the mysteries of the Ishimura and fight off those necromorphs – you won't be bored.

Alien sky I'm giving this game a solid five stars, despite a few minor flaws, because games like Dead Space are so rare – they're that well-crafted and able to keep you on the edge of your seat. And, of course, I highly recommend it, if you haven't played it yet.

A very important missionGame downsides: mouse sensitivity is a bit wonky – you'll need to tweak it carefully;the weapon selection system is a bit clunky – you'll need to use the number keys and hope you get it right.

Moving the Obelisk with kinesis Tech timeGame pluses: stellar graphics;immersive atmosphere;keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end;good physics;well-crafted world;simple yet engaging storyline;skill and weapon upgrade system;varied necromorphs.Solid kudos to the creators for such an amazing product. I mean, trilogy, but we'll get to that later.