Every year there are blockbuster games that we all know are going to be amazing, receive tons of awards, and garner a sizeable chunk of the consumer market.  Here’s a run-down of the current scores and sales of some of last years big games:

Metal Gear Solid 4:               Score:  94         Sold:  4 million

Gears of War 2:                        Score:  93         Sold:  5 million

Fallout 3:                                    Score:  93         Sold:  3.83 million   (ps3+360)

I had already read about Dead Space, and played it in a store for a minute, and dismissed it as a Resident Evil 4 clone.  While the game does have the basic gameplay of Resident Evil 4, it holds up to that game, and in some ways surpasses it.  This game is definitely scarier than RE4, and its scares stand up to the older Resident Evil games.  It has a much darker and mature tone to it, and you won’t find any silly characters here (napoleon look-alike from RE4 anyone?).  Your first weapon has the ability to fire horizontally and vertically, and you will have to use both modes to effectively shoot off the limbs of enemies.  The graphics are great, and the atmosphere is one of the best I’ve ever seen in a video game.  I actually feel like I’m in a horrifying space ship, scared of what’s around the next corner.  The key to this game is the fantastic pace, and variety.  There is a constant stream of new enemies and situations to be encountered, and the developers don’t use the same scare tactics repeatedly like some games.

Even after beating Dead Space  (about 14 hours for the first run), immediately the next day I started it up again on the impossible difficulty just to see if the game would change.  It does.  There are more enemies in the fights that you already know are coming (which put me on edge), and there are some new ones where there weren’t any originally.  I’m half-way through impossible and having just as much fun as the first time I played the game, because I don’t know exactly what to expect.  If you’re in the market for a third-person shooter, or a survival horror game, I whole-heartedly recommend this game.  It’s one of the best, most refined games I’ve seen in awhile.  I got a brand-new copy of Dead Space via Ebay for $26 shipped, so there really is no excuse for not buying this game.

minor gripes:  I tried to take explosive canisters to areas they “weren’t supposed to be used”, and they disappeared.  Melee combat should be better.  A section in the game requires you to man a turret and shoot asteroids, and it feels very weird and out of place in the game.  The game will take the average person 10-13 hours to play, but please don’t let that deter you from playing this fantastic game.  Play it on impossible after beating normal and be scared again by the fact that your honed skills will be challenged as you get swarmed by more enemies.

Dead Space:                          Score:  89 (Xbox360)        Combined sales of PS3/Xbox360 versions:  1.41 million

I give Dead Space a 90/100.  It doesn’t have 40 hours of gameplay/exploration like Fallout3, but it certainly has more refined gameplay and scenarios. 

When keepin’ it real goes wrong.

**review scores were taken from metacritic.com, and sales numbers were taken from vgchartz.com**

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