Halloween Month: Dead Space 2 Video Game Review

Here's what you need to know; three years after escaping the USG Ishimura and destroying the Marker, Isaac Clarke wakes to find himself on the Sprawl, a massive space station orbiting Saturn in the midst of new Necromorph outbreak, As the station falls apart around him, it is clear that Isaac's job isn't finished yet, and that the Marker he destroyed isn't yet finished with him. With the Sprawl swarming with a fresh batch of even scarier Necromorphs, Isaac's fight begins again, only this time against not just the monsters on the station, but the monsters inside his own head.

As I made clear in my Dead Space review, I adore this franchise, and upon replaying Dead Space for the first time in years, that adoration has returned. But I debated for a while about reviewing Dead Space 2 or not, wondering if I should save it for next Halloween, but by the fourth or fifth hour as my dormant love for Dead Space reached new heights, it dawned on me that I probably wouldn't be able to wait another year, so here we are, reviewing one of the best video game sequels and one of my all-time favourite games, Dead Space 2. 

Dead Space 2 does not open with a bang, not at first anyway, instead it opens with a glimpse into Isaac's head as he is interviewed about his experience on the Ishimura. In Dead Space 2, Isaac is no longer a silent protagonist and undergoes a character arc throughout the game, so it's very fitting and very humanising to reintroduce him at his lowest low; tied up in a straitjacket and suffering constant nightmares and hallucinations about the Marker and Nicole who, in case you somehow don't know, was dead from the beginning. Don't think that means Dead Space 2 is slow to start though, because after that little bit of catch up, he gets woken up by some poor guy who never gets the chance to tell him what's going on before being forehead raped by and infector, turning into a Necromorph right before our eyes. What ensues is yet another nail biting chase sequence as Isaac once again runs for his life, Necromorphs closing in from practically every direction. This introduction isn't quite as intriguing or panic educing as the intro to the first game, but it does take its time a bit more than the first game which is good, it actually tries to build a bit of suspense, while also letting you get to grips with the mechanics. It takes a surprisingly long time for Isaac to get his hands on a weapon, with Isaac spending the first ten minutes or so literally unarmed before getting his hands on a kinesis module and eventually my baby, the Plasma Cutter. All this while you're walking around this spooky space hospital in the middle of a Necromorph outbreak, which is as violent and creepy as it sounds, it's good stuff. 

The first Dead Space's story was not the star of the show in that game, it wasn't a bad story, but it took a back seat to world building and atmosphere. Dead Space 2 on the other hand has a very prominent story and it's actually a really good one. Isaac Clarke's newfound voice gives the game a chance to develop him a lot more, and it does exactly that. Isaac starts the game as a broken man, clearly having been affected by the shit that happened in the first game, as well as suffering from the effects of his exposure to the Marker which tortures him in the form of an uncanny, distorted ghost of his dead girlfriend. His curse hasn't made him any less efficient though as he manages to survive the initial outbreak and builds a Plasma Cutter, and when told to aim for the limbs, he says he's had a lot of practice, badass, total badass. Isaac Clarke is a very compelling hero in Dead Space 2, he is a man on a very simple mission; find the source of the Necromorph outbreak and destroy it, and on the way he makes friends and enemies, narrowly avoids a horrific death countless times, and battles his way to the source which, unsurprisingly, is a Marker. This is no ordinary Marker though as to my delight, Dead Space 2 digs even deeper into the lore of the series and how the Markers work. We'll get to that, but back to Isaac, it's easy to say that he's just a normal guy, he was just some guy in the first game, but in Dead Space 2, that's not entirely the case because Isaac Clarke is basically Ellen Ripley. 

The engineer is dead and in his place is a monster hunter, one who knows his enemies well and will take them all on, no matter how much they scare him, I'm telling you, total badass. The game explores Isaac's mind in a very compelling way as the effects of the Marker worsen, triggering violent hallucinations that force him to confront his guilt of not being able to save Nicole. This personalises Isaac's quest as he's not doing it because he's a hero, he's doing it because he feels it's his duty and his way of finding peace. This is where the friends he makes on his quest come in, Stross and Ellie. Stross is an interesting fellow; having also been exposed to the Marker and having been left a twitchy, delusional mess who mumbles constantly about "the steps." Stross is, in many ways, the logical extreme of Isaac, as he talks to his visions and becomes more and more violent and psychotic, ultimately losing any focus he had on stopping the Marker and becoming another mindless victim of it. On the other end of the spectrum is Ellie, a survivor Isaac encounters and in whom he sees a chance at redemption. These two make a really nice contrast and are reflections of Isaac's struggle; the former being what happens if Isaac fails, the latter being the hope that he succeeds and the chance that he can save someone this time. And these are really likable characters too, it's fun to watch Stross go from awkward and pitiful to more dangerous and threatening as his mental state worsens, while Isaac and Ellie start to form a really sweet friendship as Ellie warms to him and starts to trust him. 

And should you be one of those types who get a bit squeamish at that thought of a woman needing rescue, don't worry, because the first time you meet Ellie, she's ripping apart Necromorphs with a Plasma Cutter, and her first interaction with Isaac is her threatening to kill him if he tries to attack her. The game has other characters but these are the stronger offerings, because the rest of the cast isn't quite as strong. Early on Isaac is in contact with Daina, a Unitologist telling Isaac what he wants to hear to get what she wants. All the while he is on the run from Tiedemann, the director of Titan Station and the game's human antagonist who wants Isaac dead for the threat he poses to Earthgov's Marker building operations. Tiedemann isn't the strongest antagonist, only infrequently video-calling Isaac to tell him the usual about him not allowing him to escape and not getting in the way of his plan. The other antagonist is the Marker, presenting itself to Isaac as a hallucination of Nicole, and this is a little stronger, but not much. This subplot hinges on the relationship Isaac had with Nicole and the guilt and responsibility he feels for her death and while the latter is strong, the former is not. The weak point here is that we don't really know who Nicole is, Isaac eventually confesses that his clinging to her memory is out of fear that if he lets go, he'll have nothing left, but their relationship was never really explored in the first Dead Space and it's not really explored in this one either. Nicole is ultimately a manifestation of the Marker and a reminder of Isaac's guilt, making her a good plot device in his struggle against the Marker and his redemption with Ellie, but that's all she is, a plot device as their relationship just isn't that deep or compelling. 

And then there's the Marker itself, which you don't see until the game's final moments this time, but Dead Space 2 takes the groundwork of what made the Marker so intriguing and scary in the first game and makes it even better. Dead Space 2's Marker is a full-on antagonist this time, both in its manipulation of Isaac through Nicole and through audio and text logs that detail its creation. Dead Space 2 portrays the Marker not just as a glowing lump of bad juju, but as a thinking entity with its own goals and plans, and Dead Space 2 further expands the lore of the series with Convergence, which isn't fully explained until Dead Space 3, but like the first game, Dead Space 2 gives you enough to keep you hungry without taking the piss. Dead Space 2 also gives you a reason for Earthgov wanting to build Markers, which you'd think they wouldn't after the events of the first game, and in a universe where humanity is resorting to mining entire planets to sustain itself, the Marker's use as a form of energy makes just enough sense, while further demonstrating the manipulative power of the Marker. Dead Space 2 also provides more context to the recurring line, "make us whole," which is said constantly and is scribbled on the walls all over the Sprawl. It refers to the Convergence, a divine event in Unitology which unifies its followers in body and mind, which sounds like typical religious doctrine until you factor in the Necromorphs, then it takes on a whole new dimension of creepy, playing deviously with Dead Space's knack for body horror. 

Not that there was anything wrong with Dead Space's story, but the sequel is truly on another level; it has its flaws like a weak human antagonist and underdeveloped relationship between Isaac and Nicole, but I still love this story and the characters that are strong are really strong. But like the first game, Dead Space 2 is a powerhouse in a few other areas; worldbuilding and presentation. Dead Space 2 leaves the dingy, claustrophobic, industrial wreck of the Ishimura behind and this time plants you on Titan Station, a sprawling (get it) space station built out of the remains of Titan, orbiting Saturn. And a creepy old mining ship this isn't, it's a shiny, high tech, futuristic civilian station with hospitals, school, shops and churches. Titan Station feels every bit as alive as the Ishimura thanks to all those little details that it doesn't need, but still has. From the returning audio and text logs you can find to details like there being balloons and toys in the hospital in the game's opening, or drawings of "our home" in the school, which are doodles the kids drew of Titan Station. You'll visit the station's civilian quarters and wander through small but decently comfy looking apartments, which is a massive improvement from the beehive bunks of the Ishimura, and from there you'll visit a retail plaza lined with shops and services, as well as train system that links the various areas of the Sprawl. The Sprawl is about as believable as I think a civilian space station could be, while it's cleaner and shinier, it's no less functional than the Ishimura as everywhere you visit has a clear and believable purpose; the hospital looks like a hospital, the school looks like a school and the Church looks like a church. 

The entire game isn't shiny and futuristic though as you'll spend a lot of time in the bowels of the station, back in those familiar dark, dingy halls with metal walls, or working around massive machines that could crush you like a bug, and the game has a good balance between the two aesthetics. You have the claustrophobic, ominous mines beneath the spotless, sterile and futuristic Government Sector, or the almost inviting and very grand halls of the Church of Unitology hiding the indoctrination centres and the frozen crypt with walls lined with ice-covered glass coffins. Every area you explore in Dead Space 2 is a joy, each twisted in a very Dead Space way; like a school you explore at one point with slightly off, overly bright lights and colours and an absolute creepfest of a soundtrack. A space pre-school that was probably already a little creepy before it was infested with exploding babies and the Pack, but we'll get to them. The aforementioned Church of Unitology is similarly awesome and similarly creepy, but every bit as fun to explore. At one point you'll visit the station's solar array, which is one of the more industrial areas, with flimsy sheets of glass between you and the vacuum of space and curving hallways with motion sensitive lights and hidden mines. But there is one area in Dead Space 2 that takes the cake, both in coolness and in creepiness, and that's the Ishimura. Oh yeah, at one point in the game, Isaac's solution to the latest problem the crew face is to power up the gravity tethers on the Ishimura, which for god knows what reason is docked on the Sprawl. 

This one level is probably creepier than the entire rest of the game combined, as you explore the decks of the ship, completely unchanged from the first game, save for the sheets of plastic and red tape. The first time I played this sequence when playing for this review, it was the most intense sequence of the game yet, and not until the final moments of the game did that intensity get topped. You will be exploring familiar areas of the ship like the flight lounge, the medical and engineering decks and the bridge, all of which is completely unchanged in its layout; you'll get on that lift from the start of the first game, then walk through the room where you found the Plasma Cutter,  you'll pass through the room you first met the Hunter in, as well as the room where you froze it, and you'll walk the length of the ship under the tramline. The Ishimura is also one of the most suspenseful areas of the game as it take a while for any Necromorphs to even show up, for what feels like hours, you'll just be exploring the ship, waiting for them to appear. You'll find audio logs of people researching the goop on the ship, which they're horrified to learn is human tissue, or logs from one of the clean-up crew who requests a transfer because he's convinced the ship is cursed. This level is just awesome, it's easily my favourite sequence in the game and I have a big smile on my face when Isaac ascends that service lift into the Ishimura's shuttle hanger. 

Part of the reason the Ishimura sequence in Dead Space 2 is so effective is undeniably the novelty of the setting, but the sequence's initial absence of enemies goes a long way to letting that setting speak for itself, and it's one of the most suspenseful stretches in the game. Because like the first game, Dead Space 2's horror is a little inconsistent, but in a good way. The game has an amazing atmosphere when nothing's happening; dark, gore covered hallways and rooms, the distant sounds of screams and roars echoing through, it's brilliant. Then a Necromorph will appear and just like in the first game, everything gets super loud and over the top, loud music and Necromorph screaming will instantly be assaulting your ears. And just like in the first game, this happens very quickly, often in the form of a jumpscare as a Necromorph bursts through a nearby wall or door. But just like in the first game, these jumpscares never bothered me, they either got me or made me laugh. Dead Space 2 has considerably more Necromorphs than the first, and these sequences get even more ridiculous in this game as a result. But again like the first game, there are some really effective moments in Dead Space 2, like the school and the Ishimura, and while the Sprawl is a less creepy setting overall, the game hasn't lost any of that haunted house vibe, it's great. However, I do think the Ishimura was creepier, which is probably down to it being a dingy old mining ship, as opposed to a more modern and clean civilian station, that might just be down to preference. 

But where would this horror game be without some monsters and unsurprisingly, Dead Space 2 has some pretty awesome monsters. The Necromorphs return from the first game and among them are some new and freaky forms. The Slashers, Leapers, Lurkers, Pregnants and alike all return and are mostly unchanged, but Dead Space 2 introduces some new monsters like the Pack, infected children that swarm you in groups and the Crawlers, infected baby suicide bombers that explode if they get close enough. You encounter both of these Necromorphs in the school, what a surprise, and also what a surprise, they are horrible, but they're both pretty squishy enemies that pose more of a threat in groups or with other enemy types than on their own. The Puker is a monster with an obvious function, to puke on you, covering you in acid that slows you down and melts your health bar. The Hunter is gone but not really, replaced by the Ubermorph which is basically the same but somehow even more intimidating and panic educing in yours truly, seriously, fuck regenerators. And one particularly cool new enemy type is the Stalkers and if you've seen Jurassic Park, these guys will be familiar to you. They hunt in packs but unlike the Pack who swarm you, the Stalkers use tactics; calling out to distract you while another goes for the attack, scampering around to confuse you and hit you from multiple sides, as well as to close the gap before charging at you. 

These guys just make me smile, it's easy to tell when you're in Stalker territory and they strike a perfect balance of being unsettling and cool, there's just something creepy about how they poke their heads out and look at you. In addition to the Brute, the game also introduces the Tripod, a similar mini-boss type enemy that's very annoying to fight with its hopping around and spindly, harder to hit limbs. But the Tripods being annoying doesn't really detract from what is yet another really good enemy line up, Dead Space 2's Necromorphs are every bit as gross, mean and awesome as they were before, but there is one area where the game makes a change for the worse and that's the final boss. In the first Dead Space, you go down to the planet and fight the Hive Mind, a building sized monster that emerges from the planet's core, and in Dead space 2 you go to the Government sector and fight the Marker. That's right, the game's final boss is an inanimate stone, a sentient, evil stone, mind you, but still a stone. Except it gets worse as to hurt the Marker, Isaac has to kill the form it has taken inside his head, did I mention that the fight takes place entirely inside Isaac's head. It's a very thematic fight, don't get me wrong, there's a lot to take away from it like Isaac finding peace and overcoming his guilt by literally killing it, over and over again, and killing himself if it so much as touches him, but it's certainly less spectacular than a giant monster and a falling continent. 

But whether you're shooting at a giant monster or a bad drug trip, one other thing that wasn't lost was the game's fantastic weapons and combat, so that's something. As with the first game, the bulk of Isaac's weapons are industrial tools, from the returning Line Gun, Ripper and Force Gun, to a devastating new Detonator that lets you place explosive traps, and a Javelin gun that lets you skewer Necromorphs to walls. Then there is the Plasma Cutter of course, the first gun in the game and easily the best, except now it's better because you can upgrade it to set enemies on fire, and even better still, the game also has the Plasma Cutter from the first game, which, while functionally identical to the Dead Space 2 Plasma Cutter, also makes it redundant because it's the Dead Space Plasma Cutter, fuck yes. Dead Space's only gun, the Pulse Rifle also returns and has a shiny new grenade launcher alt fire to replace whatever it had before, but now it's joined by the Seeker Rifle, a super accurate long range rifle that I barely used because why would I when I have a Line Gun. All of these weapons have alt fire modes like they did before; the Line Gun still shoots mines, the Plasma Cutter still rotates, and the Detonator has a very handy feature that lets you disarm the mines you place and pick them back up. Just like before as well, you upgrade your weapons and rig with Power nodes at the Bench and buy and sell shit from the Store, with only little changes like a better Store UI and the option to respec your upgrades. 

Your rig is also mostly unchanged, your health is still displayed in your back, carrying on that unique and genius gimmick from Dead Space, you still have a Stasis module for environmental threats and Necromorphs, only now it recharges on its own and can be replenished with a button push just like health, making it a lot more practical to use. Kinesis is also a lot more practical now, with you being able to upgrade the damage it does and therefore, should you want to, pin a Necromorph to a wall with another Necromorph's or even its own arm *cackles maniacally.* Dead Space 2's changes are all little but serve to make the game more fun, another change is how the suits work; whereas in the first game suit upgrades gave you more inventory space and better armour, in this game, different suits give you different perks like damage buffs for certain weapons or Store discounts, letting you pick the suit that best fits your preferences or even just the coolest one if you don't care that much. But just like in the first game, you need to find schematics for everything before you can buy them, so there is still that element of exploration as you hunt for those schematics to get the next suit or weapon. One big change to the rig though is how it works in zero gravity, in the first game, you would have to jump from surface to surface, effectively making whatever surface you landed on the ground, it was fine but it was obviously clumsy. In Dead Space 2 however, you have full three-hundred-and-sixty degree movement in zero gravity environments, letting you fly around like Iron Man, an ability made less vomit educing by the option to reorient yourself with the ground at any time. 

This is a big improvement from the first game, even if it gives you a bit more of a headache, and the game really has fun with it too, featuring several sections of solving puzzles and dodging deadly machinery in zero G, which is undeniably cool. This does come with a catch though, and it's good for me because Dead Space 2 gives you more air. One of my biggest anxieties in games and in the real world is working against a strict time limit and as such, the vacuum areas in the first game always made me hold my breath, which I'm sure was the idea. In this game though, there's one area where you have to take down a massive Necromorph zit that's throwing explosive squid things at you and then realign some big arse mirrors, and if this task was supposed to be stressful and intense, having a good three minutes worth of air  and air refills everywhere didn't help that. In the first game, I wanted to get these sequences over with a quickly as possible but in Dead Space 2, I dawdled in these areas very often, flying around and soaking in the game's gorgeous visuals with a not very Dead Spacey feeling of freedom. It's a decent way of summarising the changes to Dead Space 2 though; it's smoother, more fun to play but less creepy and oppressive, it's bigger and better but not as scary, and do you know what, that's ok. It has its creepy moments still and the joy of cutting down its space zombies isn't lost at all, in fact it's stronger than ever, but it is worth it to go into the menus and set aiming to classic, just something I thought I'd bolt on at the end. 

But We Never Expected This Many Bodies

When looked at purely as a horror game, Dead Space 2 is a downgrade from its predecessor; it has the same twisted and sadistic horror and atmosphere that made the first so memorable, as well as it's charmingly aggressive style, but the Ishimura level proves my point that something was lost in the jump from creepy old mining ship to shiny space station. But as a shooter and a piece of storytelling, Dead Space 2 blows its predecessor away, it tells a gripping and compelling story driven by the inner conflict of a broken man, it has memorable and likable characters and twists and turns that keep you firmly engaged in spite of its shortcomings, and to top it off, it has some utterly tasty world building, which I'm a sucker for. Mechanically, Dead Space 2 doesn't rewrite the script but if it isn't broke, don't fix it, because Dead Space's unique presentation and gameplay is on full display in the sequel. Dead Space 2 is an absolute blast from beginning to end and you already know what I'm going to say, it's an absolute must play. 

Halloween Month: The Wailing (2016) Movie Review

Here's what you need to know; following the arrival of a mysterious Japanese stranger in a little Korean town, the townsfolk start to show symptoms of a terrifying illness that drives them to madness and murder. Local police officer Jong-goo is on the case as the violence and hysteria spread, but when it reaches his doorstep, he is forced to resort to more drastic action to protect his family and resist the evil that has taken root in his town, action that unbeknown to him, will bring about the demise of him and everything he loves. 

I bought The Wailing on DVD about four years ago on a complete whim. At the time, I had no idea what the film was; what it was about, who was in it or where it even came from, and like a depressingly long list of films, it sat on my DVD shelf all that time, gathering dust. Fast forward to 2020 and I need a horror film for my Halloween special, and I figured that maybe I should get round to watching that one film I bought years ago, The Wailing, and if you're expecting me to gush about how absolutely amazing it is, yeah, I'm about to do that, sorry.

The Wailing's opening moments set up the mystery and lead of the film expectedly well, as Jong-goo is woken in the night by news of a murder but is easily persuaded to stay for breakfast. Once he gets to the crime scene however, the film wastes little time in establishing the threat in the form of a grisly murder scene and a catatonic, cuffed murderer, covered in blood and an ominous rash. Two things are very apparent in this opening sequence, how interesting Jong-goo is as a character, and how ominous and bleak the film's tone will be, as the sequence oozes with unease and dread right through to the title card. The film's characters aren't the most spectacular thing in the world, but therein lies their brilliance; Jong-goo is not a heroic figure, he's lazy and unambitious with a habit of showing up late for his job, he's a bit of an incompetent slob. Yet when push comes to shove, rather than being more heroic and taking the threat head on, Jong-goo is a coward who avoids getting his hands dirty at every opportunity, which inevitably becomes a problem when the peaceful little town he calls home starts seeing violent murders. He starts out ignorant and apathetic to the problems around him, but as the infection strikes close to his heart, he is forced to overcome his aversion to action and conflict to protect his family, in the process being driven to do some pretty morally dubious shit as reason gives way to hysteria and desperation.  

The film is ultimately a test of him as a man; a test of his faith and of his will and whether he can overcome his very human weaknesses, but to go further would be going into spoilers. Needless to say though, his journey takes him to some dark places, and by the end you feel the weight of his actions and choices, and his story leaves you with a feeling of tragedy that's hard to shake, it's one of the reasons this film is stuck in my head. The film is full of side characters to pad out the cast, like Jong-goo's sweet and innocent but pragmatic daughter whose innocence is gradually corrupted by the film's events, and his friends who start out as dopey and comical as him, only for the evil to start chipping away at them too. Speaking of evil, over the course of the film, Jong-goo encounters a host of strange and enigmatic people, like the charismatic Shaman his family hires to protect them and a mysterious Woman in White that watches over them. And then there's the Stranger, the old Japanese man at the centre of a whirlwind of rumours and hearsay about his involvement in the deaths. To say this guy is creepy is an understatement, but the film deliberately muddies the waters on whether he's really the evil or just a red herring, depicting him both as a twisted and malevolent being and a weak, frightened old man, making it hard to tell is he is really the evil or just a scapegoat in a confused, frightened little town. 

Further muddying things is the Woman in White who keeps appearing to him and Jong-goo, a mysterious figure who is also obviously not what she appears to be, though her role in this story is considerably more vague and open to interpretation. The same can be said of the evil itself, who's true form isn't revealed until the film's final moments. The Wailing's evil presence is a strange thing, initially taking the form of madness and a strange infection, then of a mysterious and sinister outsider, then taking a sharp turn into the supernatural in the film's second half. The Wailing has a very strong mystery surrounding its evil, one with clues that point in contradictory directions that obscure just who or what it really is, and it blends aspects of many different horror tropes; disease, insanity, murder, ghosts, demons, possession, zombies, and the town creep who has something to hide. But in addition to the more obvious barriers to entry in The Wailing is that it's not exactly a crowd pleaser. The Wailing is a very, very story and character driven film and it is a slow burn, a very slow burn. If you watch this film in search of more conventional scares, you will hate it because it doesn't have them. There is no monster or ghost that terrorises the characters, not directly anyway, instead the horror comes from the film's drama as Jong-goo and the people around him become increasingly desperate and scared, and as their peaceful and quiet lives slowly collapse around them.

Another barrier to entry is that the film is stupid long, two and a half hours, making it a bit of an investment to watch, even if it doesn't feel as long as it is. And then the final, most obvious barrier is the language barrier because the film is in Korean, which is a deal breaker for an annoyingly large portion of the horror audience, or just movie audiences in general. But this film might be a bit too dense for mass audiences to begin with because of how slow and psychological it is. The film has gore but never tries to shock you with it, you can go long stretches without really seeing anything scary, which might bore you. On the flip side though, the film spends that time developing its characters and story, and when something scary happens, the film earns it, growing your investment in the story as it unravels its horror. The scares of The Wailing come from how it corrupts the familiar and the comfortable; how a stupid story joked about by Jong-goo and his friends creeps into their real lives and starts destroying them. As the evil seeps in, they try and fail to resist and understand it, ultimately becoming tribal and hostile to anything they perceive as a threat to their normal lives. And when confronted by the evil, Jong-goo is left not knowing who he can trust or even why any of this is happening to him, further adding to the film's tragedy. But equally as satisfying as the film's horror is the conclusion of its mystery, as it becomes clear what is really going on and who or what's behind it. 

The film has flavours of all sorts of different horror films like The Exorcist, Sinister and The Crazies, and while I can see myself having a very, very hard time selling this film to others, something about it's really sticking in my head. The Wailing is open to a stupid amount of interpretation; it's ending alone could be mined for hours about just what it means, just who and what people were and whether any of them deserved it, which I think they didn't. In blending so many horror elements into it's evil, the film does a fantastic job of keeping you guessing and wondering what the evil is, like a mysterious shrivelled up plant Jong-goo finds in the beginning of the film which could be one thing that I won't spoil, but ends up being another thing entirely that I also won't spoil. That combined with the film's masterful character development sucks you into the mystery incredibly well, and I ended up being hooked on this film right up until its gut punch of an ending. The film ultimately ends with Jong-goo being forced to decide who he can believe in, with opposing parties pulling him in different directions and him being unable to trust that any of them are really telling the truth. It's a film that rewards you for paying attention and figuring out all the clues, but it's also a film that demands your patience, which isn't that hard when the film itself is so damn good. And while I didn't find it particularly scary, I have grown to love it over repeat viewings, the film is just getting better with time.

You've Already Said It, I'm The Devil 

So I might have gushed about how good The Wailing is in this review, but the honest truth is that the more I watched it and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it, to the point that I just want to watch it again, like, right now. The Wailing is definitely not the scariest film I've ever seen, but it's a rare horror film that demands you to have patience and rewards you for doing so, because by the end of this film, though I hadn't yet figured out why, something about it just made me love it. It's a beautifully dark tale about a relatable and flawed man having his faith tested and life torn apart, and its gripping supernatural mystery is absolute gold that sucks me in again and again. It's a shame that the film probably wouldn't be given a second thought by most people and to be honest, it's a shame that I never made time for it myself over the years, because The Wailing a bit special. I thought for a while about how I'd recommend this film, but ultimately my recommendations come from how I feel about a film more than how good or bad it is, so fuck it, The Wailing is a must watch. 

Halloween Month: Dead Space: Downfall Movie Review

Here's what you need to know; an illegal mining operation on the remote planet, Aegis VII has unearthed a Marker, an ancient alien artefact of great religious significance, but by the time the USG Ishimura arrives to collect the artefact, a series of sudden murders and suicides has turned the colony on its head, and many believe the Marker to be the cause. But the Marker's not finished spreading its influence as contact is suddenly lost with the colony during a mysterious attack. The faith of the Ishimura's crew is about to be challenged however as the colony's attacker finds its way aboard and a nightmarish infection begins to tear the ship apart. With the ship's security forces fighting a losing battle and the survivors being driven to madness, it's only a matter of time before all has been consumed by the power of the Marker.

Dead Space is one of my favourite game franchises and after compiling my 2020 Halloween ritual line up, I played Dead Space on a whim and was completely sucked back into it, I knew that Dead Space would have to be part of this year's Halloween Special which got me thinking, exactly how much Dead Space should I go for. I mean this is a season of spookiness, so why not just go a bit mad with the Dead Space. Many, many years ago I got a Dead Space DVD two pack for Christmas containing the two tie in movies; Downfall and Aftermath, but unlike the games, these two films have largely faded from my memory, and with Dead Space back in the forefront of my mind, I was drawn to re watch them and see if my vaguest memory of liking Downfall and not liking Aftermath was still so.

Dead Space: Downfall tells you what you already know right from the start, that this story does not have a happy ending, as Security officer Alissa Vincent records a video log telling whoever finds it to destroy the Ishimura and the Marker. We then jump back in time and down to the planet as a routine survey team discovers the Marker and the Church and CEC dispatch the Ishimura to collect it. There is something oddly captivating about this opening sequence, it does a very good job of establishing dread, which as the prequel to Dead Space, I would expect it to do, and this opening shows promise. Something that's immediately apparent in the film is the presentation, which fuses an animated style with the industrial look of the Dead Space universe surprisingly well, like the game, the film is very appealing in how ugly it is with dark, dirty environments and angular, mechanical uniforms and equipment. The film's animation is nothing special but the film is at least nice to look at, there is the film's shot composition however, which is sometimes really good, and sometimes a bit naff. The film really likes focusing on eyes for some reason, which isn't a bad thing and sometimes looks really cool, like early on in the film when one of the mining crew slices open her own neck and we see the life drain from her eye in a mist of blood. Speaking of blood, Dead Space: Downfall is violent as fuck and said violence looks great when it's allowed to, with the way the film shows blood in particular being very striking and appealing.

But while the film carries over the visual style of the game almost flawlessly, there is something it doesn't, atmosphere; the film's initial feeling of dread doesn't last for reasons we'll get to, and my best guess is simply that the jump from video game to animated movie is where the atmosphere was lost, the Ishimura just isn't as creepy as it is in the game and despite being pre Necromorph outbreak, feels less alive. Something the film does translate very well, though not necessarily for the better, is the simple characters which are split mostly into three stories; the bridge, the colony and Vincent's security team. Vincent and her team are the de facto heroes of the film and are the first to encounter the Necromorphs once they board the Ishimura and let me tell you, these guys kind of suck. Dead Space's simple characters wasn't a problem because of the game's other strengths but being a movie that's trying to tell a story, it would really help if your characters were good. Them being one dimensional isn't the problem, them being tryhard is, you have the standard fair in this kind of crew; the tank, the shit-talker and the rookie, same person, the alt chick and the assertive, fearless and blindly mission focused leader. On their mission, they also meet up with Irons, a Unitologist engineer who's the first to figure out how to kill the Necromorphs and I was far, far more interested in him than the security team. He's a devout Unitologist who understands that submission to the Marker, willing or unwilling, is inevitable but despite this, he puts the safety of his fellow crew before his faith and takes up arms against the Necromorphs. 

He dies, obviously, but his death might be my favourite scene in the film as he gives Vincent time to help some trapped survivors and goes down like a complete badass, killing as many Necromorphs as he can before eventually accepting his fate, uttering a final prayer with his dying words. In contrast, the security team is a collection of annoying stereotypes who say fuck like it's going out of style. In a film about religious fanaticism, monsters and an evil space rocks, these characters come across as immature and tryhard, as if they were written by an edgy teenager. In contrast however, the parallel stories on the colony and the Ishimura's bridge are a lot more compelling. The bulk of the bridge story consists of Captain Mathius' descent into madness and Dr. Kyne's piecing together of the mystery, and these two subplots are the most interesting parts of this film. For a time, Kyne essentially functions as the angel on the Captain's shoulder, trying to reason with him as the demon on his other shoulder; a holographic live feed of the Marker, drives him to paranoia and irrationality. These two are two sides of the same coin, with one abandoning his faith upon seeing the true effects of the Marker while the other becomes increasingly fanatical, seeking solace in the very thing that's corrupting his mind and seeing it as a test of his faith. If you've played the game, you know how this ends, and while it doesn't play out exactly the same as it does in the game, it is nonetheless a fun and intense scene, and one of the few scenes in the film with a solid amount of build-up. 

As you may also expect, the subplot of the colony ends pretty quick and isn't quite as fleshed out as my curiosity would like. Yet this part of the film does feature on of my favourite scenes, the previously mentioned sequence where one of the colonists slices open her own neck, a scene that's memorably purely because of how brutal it is, did I mention this film is hella violent. And yet this scene doesn't pack the punch I think it needed to because we don't know who these people are. This is part of the reason the conflict between Kyne and the Captain is so interesting; it's the most fleshed out part of the film, it's ludicrously short runtime of seventy-five minutes just doesn't allow for any substantial development. So towards the end of the film when one of Vincent's team does the 'buy you some time' thing, I just don't care, and that's the same as when the rest of her team bite it too, the only one with any kind of impact is Irons' death because he at least has a shred of depth. Granted, Hammond's death in the game didn't have much impact either, but Dead Space is carried by its gameplay and atmosphere more than its characters, Dead Space: Downfall doesn't have that. What it does have is appealing animation, a tasty bit of Dead Space lore, and its imagery and violence, the former of which is very strong, the latter, not so much.

It's Dead Space so obviously I'll talk about the Necromorphs and inevitably, they are the coolest thing in this film by far. They look completely amazing, and in a move that's actually better than the game, the Slashers all look different, and you can tell on a few occasions who they were before they turned, which the game couldn't do. The design of the Slashers is as cool and wretched as it is in the game, and it's undeniably cool to see them in this style. The film also features the Pregnants and the Infectors, but the bulk of the film's ghoulies are Slashers, which isn't bad at all, because they're great. One Necromorph however is actually done better in this film than in the game, the Lurker, who crawls around on walls and ceilings in the game, shooting at you with barbed tentacles. In Dead Space: Downfall however, the Lurker charges at full speed towards one of Vincent's crew on its baby legs and starts gnawing on his face. When he hurls it away from him, it charges again, this time on its tentacles like a nightmarish Doctor Octopus. It also doesn't take Vincent's team long to realise that guns aren't effective, and their makeshift weapons, the Plasma Saws, are pretty sweet, but not quite as sweet as my baby, the Plasma Cutter. It being a film and not a game, it does lose that all important haunted house atmosphere that's part of why the game is so special, but it could make up for that in its action sequences which, in all honesty, aren't terribly good. I alluded to the film's hit and miss shot composition at the beginning, but the issues with it become very clear in these sequences. 

The best way I can describe the effect is shakycam because that's literally what happens, the shot shakes as if the non-existent camera is being shaken about during filming. Why the animators saw fit to do this I don't know because it does hurt the film. The first time we see someone turn into a Necromorph, this doesn't happen and we see all the gory detail as his body is mutilated and mutated. Then there's the film's first large battle as Vincent's team take on a large group of Necromorphs, some shots are clean, some are a bit shaky but nothing too obnoxious, and then there are shots that are headache inducing as that clear and clean animation is lost in a blur of artificial movement. The film clearly wasn't made to the standard of a theatrical animated film, so maybe this was a way around the restrictions they were working with, or maybe it was done just to look cool, which it doesn't. The battle in hydroponics is another bad example of this, and it diminishes how well the Necromorphs are done in the film. The big issue is that this compounds with all the other problems; the spotty writing and poor character development, the passable animation and the runtime, and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm right about this because the film feels rushed, and as though the driving force behind its production was corporate instead of artistic, which is the exact opposite of how the game feels. Again I feel that Downfall could have benefited from being longer and treating its characters better, because there is a fantastic story in here, it's the prequel to Dead Space, but it's too weak on too many fronts to do that story justice. In simpler terms, Dead Space: Downfall could be awesome, but instead it's just meh. 

Landing, Crashing or Shot Down, Pick One

Dead Space: Downfall does not reach the bar of quality established by the game, and unfortunately, it doesn't add much to said game, instead relying on Dead Space for a lot of its enjoyment value. That being said, the film doesn't suck, and some elements of it are genuinely good, like its portrayal of the Necromorphs and its near flawless translation of the game's visual style. But the film struggles to tell a strong story, which considering it depicts the downfall of the Ishimura, is a crying shame, its imagery goes some way to make up for its weak characters and at times cringy writing, but then it starts suffering in the action sequences, which are hampered by the film's opting for fuzzy, shaky action that isn't all that good to look at. Like a lot of video game universe material, Dead Space: Downfall doesn't stand on its own as a science fiction horror animation, but I can't hate it too much because for all its weaknesses, there is enjoyment to be found in the simple fact that it's more Dead Space and that it does that well enough. So if, like me, you're in love with the game, Dead Space: Downfall might be worth checking out, but I won't be breaking it out for movie night anytime soon. 

Halloween Month: ParaNorman Movie Review

Here's what you need to know; life's anything but normal for Norman, a quirky, horror-obsessed social outcast shunned by the rest of Blithe Hollow for his unusual gift of talking to ghosts. But Blithe Hollow and the other side are on a collision course as the anniversary of a dark event in the town's past looms, heralding the awakening of evil spirits with a lust for vengeance, and after years of being ridiculed by the town, it now falls to Norman and his unique gift to protect it from the fury of a Witch, and to find a way to end her curse once and for all.

Now That Dead Space is out of the way, here's the introduction to this year's annual spookathon. Usually I plan to do eight reviews, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, sometimes they go up during Halloween week, sometimes they go up on Christmas eve because I am bad at this. This year the plan was again eight reviews, but then I started playing Dead Space again and now that number has ballooned, as has the special, which has gone from a week to a month. My tradition with these is to begin our descent into horror at the shallow end with something a bit more family friendly, this year it would have been Laika's follow up to the jaw-droppingly excellent Coraline, ParaNorman, and I'm just going to spoil it a bit and tell you that if you've never heard of Laika or haven't seen any of their films, you need to, honestly, they are one of a kind, anyway, ParaNorman.

ParaNorman opens wearing its heart on its sleeve with Norman watching a cheesy horror movie where a screaming woman gets her head eaten by a zombie, the film does very little to hide both its love of those films and its satire of them in this scene, and while it's surface level, it's a very appreciated detail, one that opens the film beautifully. What follows is our introduction to Norman and his dysfunctional family, as he overhears his mum and dad arguing about him after telling them he's spoken to his dead nan again, a topic which has clearly been brought up before and which causes a lot of tension between Norman and his dad. This sequence plays out in such an engaging way and introduces us to Norman perfectly. Like Coraline, Norman's relationship with his parents is very strained, and like Coraline, the film tackles this subject in a surprisingly nuanced way, while injecting an expected dose of comedy to it. Coraline's relationship with her parents was strained by their neglecting of her through their constant working, whereas Norman's parents are distant with him because of his ability, with his mum trying her hardest to see both sides, while his dad becomes hostile at the mention of said ability, with it fostering a fear of Norman in him. Both of these films play with these ideas beautifully; in ParaNorman, one of the film's central ideas is accepting people for who or what they are, which is inevitably tangled up in Norman's family learning to accept him and to not be afraid of his gift, which ties very poetically into the story of the Witch. 

Yeah, this is one of those feelgood kind of films about family and acceptance, but it has zombies, so it's a winner. The film's characters are also really good, many of which embodying a stereotype with a liberal helping of self-awareness; Norman's sister, Courtney is a stereotypical cheerleader, his bully, Alvin is a cowardly, nasally meathead, his friend, Neil is a fellow social outcast in whom he finds a kindred spirit, while his friend's brother, Mitch is a stereotypical jock. You can probably tell where this is going; with the opening sequence taking the piss out of cheesy zombie movies, it's obvious that the film is relishing in its love for them by satirising its archetypes, and it's really entertaining when it does, with Mitch and Courtney having a really funny dynamic with and equally funny payoff, and with Alvin learning to respect Norman over the course of the film. As does the audience as ParaNorman's hero is really compelling. From the outset, we understand his problems; he wants to be understood and accepted by his family and his town but isn't, and now thinks that they not only can't, but don't want to which again, very poetically lines up with the villain and her conflict, as both must learn to see the good in people as well as the bad, and not let their fear and hatred of them turn them to evil. And like the very best heroes, Norman does what he has to do, no matter how scary it is, as the saying goes, courage is not the absence of fear, it's acting in spite of it. And then there's the film's villain, which is probably the second strongest thing this film has going for it. 

Blithe Hollow's Witch and her zombies are fantastic, but it's hard to go into much detail with them without going into spoilers because the film's twist is really good. Not that it's a very shocking twist when it happens, but when it happens in the film, it's a very effective moment, one that personalises the conflict for Norman and forces him to find his faith in the living. The zombies are a classic red herring as the truth of their past actions comes to light and you realise that they are victims of their own mistakes. Meanwhile the Witch is a monster, literally a swirling mass of evil in the sky above the town, but again there is a very strong message of learning to overcome fear and hatred, giving her story a really sweet ending, as well as finishing up Norman's journey. ParanNorman's villains are sympathetic and flawed just like its heroes, and that's a mark of a great story. Another thing that the heroes and villains have in common is how funny they are because ParaNorman is really funny. As I said earlier, the film's band of heroes are a collection of horror stereotypes and there is a lot of comedy in that. Courtney spends the entire film lusting for Mitch, who is completely oblivious not just to her, but to the gravity of the situation they are in. Alvin is a standout, a cowardly, self-aggrandising yob who makes for some of the film's best moments, example; at one point he laments getting trapped in the town hall when there's "an adult video store just across the street." 

ParaNorman isn't the most kid friendly film in the world, but it never comes across as edgy or tryhard, its more mature jokes are really funny, and the film has more than enough jokes for kids too. One particularly funny moment is when the zombie puritans arrive in town and are horrified by the degeneracy around them, it's not the cleverest joke in the world, but it makes me laugh every time. The film's smaller characters are another source of comedy, from the cartoonishly dramatic drama teacher to the town Sheriff, who exists solely to take the piss out of arrogant, hypocritical, badge wielding Police. Another area where the film doesn't dumb itself down or play it safe is in its visuals, which can be pretty intense. Like Coraline before it, the film's villain is very imposing and visually striking, and in the film's finale when Norman confronts the Witch, she is truly something to look at; an arcing, pulsing vessel of absolute rage, one that literally starts to tear itself apart as Norman talks. It's not quite as intense as Coraline, but it's no less effective. The film's villain is a reverse of Coraline's in a lot of ways, whereas Other Mother becomes less human over the course of the film, the Witch becomes more human. Eventually Other Mother sheds all of her human characteristics, meanwhile the Witch ultimately sheds all of her monstrous characteristics and learns the same lesson Norman does, that it's okay to be scared and you can't let it change you. 

But Earlier I said the film's villain was the second best thing about it, and because this is Laika, the best thing about ParaNorman should be obvious. The film is gorgeous, like everything Laika has made, it's a visual masterpiece and in a lot of ways, it's even better than Coraline. The film just looks cool; the character designs are charming and stylised, the world is asymmetrical and ever so slightly wonky looking, and the animation is in a class of its own. Laika's method of character animation is a bit complicated but very clever. It has a name but the gist of it is they 3-D print the model's faces and swap them out between frames, Coraline also used this method by ParaNorman was their first film to use colour printers, it's a small detail for sure but this is stop-motion, everything hinges on the small details. The film isn't entirely stop-motion either, cleverly using computer and hand drawn animation to realise the world of the film in a way that probably wouldn't be possible with just stop-motion, not that what is and isn't possible in animation has ever stopped Laika. There are still plenty of moments throughout the film where you're left wondering how they did it, as well as all the tiny little things that you probably won't even notice like the models' costumes or the lighting of all of the shots. Again, it's all about the little details and ParaNorman is not a film where corners were cut, it looks incredible from the first frame to the last and after all the times I've watched it, which is about five or six times at this point, the film's presentation and animation just doesn't get old. 

There's Nothing Wrong With Being Scared

ParaNorman is great, it's just another fantastic film from Laika, and since I haven't seen Coraline in a few years, I can't say which one I prefer but I bet that line would be thin. There's just something a little special about pretty much everything the film does; its characters are ones you've seen before but done with the perfect amount of self-awareness, while the villains are brilliantly sympathetic and effective. The film has a few really sweet messages of acceptance and overcoming fear, wrapped up in a spooky tale with great drama, great comedy and some decent horror. And then there's the film's presentation, which is unbelievable, ParaNorman is such a good looking film in every way; from the cinematography to the animation to the effects to the sets and models, it's all the absolute best and I love it. And overall, I love this film, it's a wonderfully spooky little family film that's hard not to love, and it's definitely worth watching. 

Halloween Month: Dead Space Video Game Review

Here's what you need to know; during a planet-cracking operation on Aegis VII, communication is lost with the mining ship, USG Ishimura and a crew of engineers is sent out to fix the problem and get the ship running again. But the crippled, seemingly abandoned wreck of the Ishimura harbours something far more sinister than they were prepared for as they discover the nightmarish fate of the ship and her crew, who now scuttle around in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to rip them apart. And when Isaac Clarke and the rest of the doomed repair crew find themselves trapped on the ship, it becomes a fight for survival against the Ishimura's mutated, zombified crew and the horrific forces that created them.

This wasn't part of the plan, the plan is usually eight reviews for the spooky season, but I suck at scheduling and am easily distracted, case in point, I should have been finishing up my review of ParaNorman and starting on the next film of my ritualistic line up, but then I got recommended a Dead Space 3 review on Youtube. I've been meaning to replay Dead Space for quite a while, given it's my favourite Horror video game series. A Halloween or two ago, I considered playing and reviewing it, but I never did so I just thought fuck it, I'll fire up Dead Space and guess what, no regrets because Dead Space is awesome.

Dead Space is a game that knows how to make a great first impression, as the repair ship drops out of lightspeed into a field of debris from the planet-crack, and then into view floats the Ishimura. There is something beautiful about this opening, the Ishimura is such an intriguing and ominous thing to look at; a dark, silent mass of steel floating above a barren looking planet, backlit by the sun, sure there are characters talking on the repair ship, but it's hard to take notice of them with the foreboding vista in front of you. But the game doesn't take long to get into the shit as you very quickly crash into the Ishimura, what follows is a very brief, and I mean very brief, section of build up before shit hits the fan. Walking through the Ishimura's flight lounge, it's quiet and dingy, giving the impression that the ship's as dead on the inside as it looks from the outside, but then something drops from the ceiling and slaughters one of the repair crew, in the ensuing panic, Isaac is told to run for his life, which is exactly what you do as hideous monsters burst from the walls around you and give chase. After a pretty weak ten seconds of panic and running, you're safe on the lift, the monsters can't get you, or so you think until one of them pries open the lift door, screaming its inhuman scream at you before the door slams again, crushing it. I've played this sequence enough times for it to have no effect on me, but I still remember my first time playing Dead Space and how utterly panicked I was in that ten seconds, it's a sequence that sums up the strengths of Dead Space, as well as some of the weaknesses, but we'll get to them. 

Keep in mind this is all in the first five minutes of the game, meaning that the game really doesn't give itself the time to build any serious tension, you go from nervous to panicked in a flash, and while it's undeniably effective, it is kind of cheap. The game is about as quick at giving you a weapon, the Plasma Cutter, along with about nineteen prompts to aim for their limbs. One of Dead Space's strengths is actually its weapons, because your tools of the trade are literally tools. Your main weapon is an industrial Plasma Cutter which functions like a pistol; single shot, decent damage and plentiful ammo, and it can also be rotated ninety degrees to cut either horizontally or vertically. As fun as the rest of the weapons can be, this one is really the only one you need, especially when you upgrade it; the fully upgraded Plasma Cutter is absolutely unstoppable, that being said, Dead Space's other weapons are a lot of fun to play with. The game's gimmick of tools being used as weapons continues with the Line Gun, which is like the Plasma Cutter but big, the Ripper, a weapon that fires telekinetic buzz saw blades, a Flamethrower, obviously, the Contact Beam, which is basically a railgun, and the Pulse Rifle, a standard assault rifle and the only proper gun in the game. These weapons are cool, there's no denying that; blowing off both a Necromorph's legs with a shot from the Line Gun never gets old, nor does tearing one apart with the Ripper, and all of these weapons have secondary fire modes, some more useful than others. 

The plasma cutter's rotating barrel is crucial for cutting off different body parts and the Line Gun's mine can shred a small group of Necromorphs with ease, whereas the Pulse Rifle's alt fire; firing randomly in a horizontal circle, while half decent for crowd control and tight pinches, isn't really all that practical. Making the weapons tools is part of Dead Space's excellent world building, as is the rest of your tools. You have magnetic boots for leapfrogging around in the game's zero gravity environments, and you have Telekinesis to help you move heavy objects, useful for environmental puzzles and unblocking doorways, and throwing shit at the Necromorphs, you also have a Stasis Module that lets you freeze things, useful again for doorways and environmental puzzles, and for putting the brakes on a charging Necromorph. Your Stasis requires energy however so like your weapons, you'll need to keep track of how many Stasis packs you have in your appropriately small backpack. You can also stay supplied through the game's Stores, which are scattered around the ship and let you buy, sell and store items from ammo, health kits and suit upgrades that you unlock after downloading schematics found on the ship, to power nodes for upgrading your weapons and rig. Your upgrades are bought at the Benches that also litter the ship, and in addition to buying nodes from the Store, they can also be found around the ship in blue wall boxes or on heavy enemies, though there aren't that many, so you'll have to spend them wisely. Upgrades are your standard fair, increased damage, reload speed and ammo capacity for weapons, and character and equipment upgrades like increased health and Stasis duration and energy. 

One tree I was particularly compelled to invest in was the rig as in addition to health, you can also upgrade the suit's air capacity, and I've never liked working against the clock so the more air I have, the better. All of this though, the gear, the upgrades, plays into one of Dead Space's biggest strengths; its presentation, because in this area, Dead Space is one of a kind. Dead Space is an over the shoulder third person shooter, but what's beautiful about it is that the game as no hud, instead all the information the player needs to know is displayed to you in the game world. Your health bar for example is on Isaac's back, right next to his stasis meter, when in a menu or watching video logs, said menu or log is displayed on a holographic screen in front of Isaac, and instead of an ammo counter and crosshairs, your weapon displays its ammo count and projects targeting lasers. It sounds small and insignificant, but in a horror game like Dead Space, it makes all the difference. You may not consciously be aware of it while you play, but with all your information being delivered to you in such a natural way and without any visual distractions, it completely immerses you in the game's world. Further immersing you is that everything is going on in real-time; while you're in a menu, things are still happening around you and you leave yourself vulnerable to attack. This even applies to stores and benches and the game will try on many occasions to fuck with you in this way, adding to the feeling the game clearly wants you to feel; jumpy. 

Inevitably, a big part of this is the environment, and the USG Ishimura is a breath-taking setting to explore. This is not a clean, futuristic sci fi setting, this comes from the Alien school of sci fi visual aesthetics; it's dirty, it's dingy, it's well-worn and industrial. Several of the decks are scattered with dangerous pieces of machinery whose grinding and humming echo through the narrow, dimly lit corridors. You get the sense that the Ishimura was always a creepy place, but scattered around is evidence that the ship wasn't always a monster infested hellhole; you'll explore cushy luxury suites and the comparatively cramped and nasty crew's quarters with tiny bunks stacked on top of each other. You'll go to the hydroponics deck and see small, climate-controlled gardens growing tomatoes and melons, and at one point you find yourself in a zero gravity basketball court where you can actually play. Adverts for fictional products and services litter the walls, as well as vending machines, and linking the ship's various areas is a tram system. The USG Ishimura is such a well realised setting that it's kind of hard not to get sucked in, it's Bioshock levels of good and like the game's lack of a hud, it's an almost negligible quality that makes the game far more enjoyable and memorable. For what the Ishimura essentially is; a haunted house in space, it's impressive just how much thought and love went into its design and presentation, and it makes the game's backtracking and recycling of environments less annoying, yes, Dead Space has backtracking, but it's a claustrophobic, crippled starship and the setting of a survival horror game, it should be expected.

Naturally though, Dead Space is a horror game and a horror game needs some horror, and Dead Space is a bit of an oddball when it comes to that. The game's monsters, the Necromorphs are amazing, they take the basic concept of a zombie and make it something really, really nasty; with an alien infection that doesn't just reanimate cells, it reprograms and reconfigures them into nightmarish forms. Necromorphs are uncanny, fleshy things with massive claws jutting out of their hands and creepy baby arms growing out of their open, leaking abdominal cavities, they will creep up on you or charge at you like complete maniacs, roaring and screaming from their jawless mouths all the while. And naturally there are different types of Necromorph on top of the Slashers, each offering their own challenge; the Lurkers for example are creepy little baby fuckers that shoot at you with barbed tentacles, while the Leapers hop around and swipe and stab at you with their tails. Exploders will shuffle towards you, dragging glowing, explosive sacks on their arms that they will try to blow you up with. The Pregnants work like the slashers, but they're slower and have a belly full of Swarmers, little bug monsters that, you guessed it, swarm you, eating away at your health and leaving you wide open to attack from more dangerous foes. Infectors will skulk around looking for bodies to infect, making them priority targets when they show up, and every once in a while you'll run into the Brutes, massive armoured Necromorphs that will pulverise you if given the chance. All of these enemies are disgusting to look at and I love them, taking clear inspiration from classic horror films, most obviously The Thing, and like the Thing, they are hard to kill, which is where the game's excellent combat comes in. 

Forget what you know about zombies because shooting a Necromorph in the head won't kill it, in fact it'll just piss it off, your only effective means of killing them is dismemberment, which is such a simple and yet brilliant gimmick, it defies all video game logic by expecting you not to aim for their heads and bodies, but instead for their arms and legs. And like everything else in the game, it makes a weird kind of sense as the Necromorphs will stop at literally nothing to kill you, dragging themselves with a single limb if they need to, and there is something sadistically satisfying about cutting them up. Every now and again though, you'll encounter something to give you a headache, like the Divider, an enemy that breaks apart into a pack of little octopus monsters when killed, or the Hunter, an indestructible Necromorph you encounter twice in the game who will grow back any part of it you shoot off. The former is an imposing, lanky bastard who throws a spanner in the game's combat gimmick of dismemberment, while the latter exists purely to put pressure on you as your only means of dealing with it is to slow it down as best you can and run for your life. I hate the Hunters, at first I hated the Marauders from Doom Eternal, but as I played that game again and again and again, I got more confident in fighting him and eventually started mopping the floor with him, but this enemy, in the nine years since I first played this game, I've never stopped hating him. The Necromorphs have a lot of bark but are pretty mild on the bite once you start getting good at dismembering them, but this guy just doesn't die, you can render him a quadruple amputee and in thirty seconds he'll be back on your arse again, only stopping when you freeze him in your first encounter and incinerate him with a rocket booster in your second. 

Him and the ADS cannon sequence are the two parts of this game that I dread every time I boot it up, a relic of another time when I didn't have real stresses in my life. But back on point, Dead Space's enemies are fantastic, their scary appearance is neutered somewhat by how squishy they are, but they are nonetheless threatening and intriguing things, and very fun to fight. But I said Dead Space's horror was an oddball, and now I shall explain why. Dead Space is a masterpiece of sound design; you hear all the creaks and hums of the Ishimura around you, you'll hear Necromorphs in the distance and occasionally the scream of an ill-fated survivor, and the Necromorphs themselves sound amazing, be it the screaming of the Slasher, the pained crying of the Guardians, the creepily human snarling and muttering of the Exploders or the more otherworldly wails of the Dividers. In addition to the groans of the ship and her mutated crew, you will constantly be hearing Isaac breathing, with the breathing changing depending on how low on health and or air you are, which does a really good job of piling on the pressure and the unease. But I'm not the first person to say something to this effect, Dead Space seemingly has two different tones; when nothing's happening and you're just walking around the ship, it's really creepy, you can hear Isaac's breathing and the distant sounds of machinery and Necromorphs creeping around, its a marvel of atmosphere, but then a Necromorph will attack you and suddenly the game becomes jarringly loud. 

A Necromorph will explode out of a nearby wall vent and immediately start screaming at you, the music will immediately become really aggressive and intense, and this has a very odd effect. The game will switch from creepy and atmospheric to ear rape in literally seconds and the contrast is almost disorientating, which may have been the idea, or may have been an accidental side effect of the the game just not really knowing how to build tension, or how to do payoff without going way, way over the top with it. You may expect me to complain about this but to be honest, I kind of like it; the fact that the game can't go five minutes without trying to make you jump does get very predictable, but the sudden escalation from quiet and creepy to absolute madness is kind of fun in it's own way, and as predictable as these sequences are, you almost look forward to them at a point because it means you can shoot shit, which is really fun to do in this game, cutty cutty, slicy slicy. There are, however, moments where the game really got me and more often than not, it's when it wasn't trying, example; you'll often see Necromorphs just doing their own shit around you, you'll see them crawling in and out of the vents, scuttling around in the corner of your eye, and one time a Slasher just sprinted round a corner and attacked me, no screaming or sudden prompt or music, and it scared the shit out of me. How about the first time you encounter the Divider when it just slowly lurches around a corner and walks towards you, that shit creepy, or how about another time when you're being chased by a Hunter and you think you're safe in a narrow, short corridor with a save station, only for the Hunter to drop from the ceiling right in front of you and now you're trapped in this tiny space with it. 

I feel like there is a much scarier game in here somewhere, somewhere between Dead Space as it is and Alien: Isolation, but the combat is so much fun that I don't care, and the game's constant, repetitive attempts to make you jump do have a charm of their own, giving the game a haunted house kind of feeling, and unlike a lot of recent horror games that seemingly only exist to be streamed on Twitch and Youtube by people with facecams, Dead Space is actually fun. The game isn't all jumpscares and fodder enemies though, there are also occasional battles with bigger, meaner foes like the Brute and the Hunter, and then some impressive boss battles. Every once in a while, a tentacle will appear out of nowhere and start dragging you away and you have to shoot the obvious glowing weak point to break free, and the game's boss fights work the same way, shoot the glowy bits until it dies. But there is something spectacular about these boss fights and each one is unique and has it's own twist; the Leviathan is a creature you fight in a zero gravity environment, forcing you to leapfrog around to avoid its attacks, and another boss battle has you shooting at a similarly big and nasty thing clinging to the hull of the ship with an ADS cannon, which is certainly more enjoyable than shooting rocks with it. But nothing quite compares to the game's finale in which you take on the Hive Mind, which is far from the most intense or challenging end boss battle, but holy shit is it cool, it's a giant monster that you fight against the backdrop of a falling continent, it's ridiculous and I love it, and it sounds awesome, seriously, the Hive Mind makes the coolest noises.

This was eight or nine hours in when I played the game for this review, and upon completion, you get all kinds of fun stuff like a new suit and money and power nodes to spend in your second run, which gives you an opportunity to really experiment with the weapons and their upgrades in a way you couldn't on a first run, but once you have that new suit and those upgrades, the combat does become trivial, not that it's a bad thing to go from an underpowered engineer to an arse kicking monster hunter, and once you've maxed out a weapon and really started destroying them, the game is a complete blast. But as I established before, Dead Space's world building is breath-taking and that's not just in its level and sound design, Dead Space's universe is one of those that you can get seriously carried away with. There is a rich history behind this game's world and story, with shady corporations like the CEC and the Church of Unitology; a cult that fanatically worships the Markers, and then there's the Markers themselves, which are beyond cool. You see, the mining colony on Aegis VII found a Marker, an alien artefact that is very important to the Church of Unitology who are either unaware or accepting of the fact that it is seriously dangerous to any living thing that goes near it. It's never explained where the Markers come from or how they work, just that this particular Marker is a man-made copy and that its presence inevitably leads to a Necromorph outbreak, first by scrambling the minds of the living, then further scrambling the flesh of the dead. 

The origin and purpose of the Markers is explored in later games and in books and comics, because obviously this game has them, but this game gives you enough to know that they are far more than just glowing space rocks. When you see the Marker for the first time, it's hard to deny that it's a creepy looking thing, an ominous double helix monolith, faintly glowing a sinister red and covered in mysterious alien symbols. The physical presence of the Marker alone makes it a memorable antagonist, yes, you read that right, but it's how the Marker influences the story that's really interesting. In Dead Space, you play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer sent by the CEC to find and repair the Ishimura, but who is also here in search of Nicole, his girlfriend/ex girlfriend, it's not that clear which, who was serving aboard the ship. And at the start of the game, that's the mission; find Nicole, repair the Ishimura and survive the Nercomorph outbreak. But as you explore the ship, you uncover text and audio logs that flesh out the events prior to your arrival, and you'll really want to dig these things out if you're a lore hound like me. As the story unfolds, you eventually find that the mining operation on Aegis VII was illegal and that the obviously shady CEC have ties to the even more shady Church of Unitology. The web only gets bigger with the arrival of another ship, the Valor, who at first seemed to be coming to the rescue, but is later revealed to have its own, more sinister mission. 

This is a very twisty turny story filled with intrigue, uneasy alliances and betrayals as Isaac attempts to repair the ship with Hammond and Kendra, the other survivors from the repair crew, while having occasional run-ins with some of the Ishimura's surviving crew. It's not the most complex story in the world, and its characters aren't exactly complex either; Isaac is a silent protagonist, Hammond is a no-bullshit, level-headed leader while Kendra's the more whiny, confrontational computer chick. Dr. Kyne, one of your allies, is a scientist and ex Unitologist who's obsessed with the Marker and wants Isaac's help to stop it while Mercer, an insane Unitologist zealot tries to convince Isaac to accept his fate and embrace the will of the Marker. Muddled up in there is Nicole, who's role in the story is best left unspoiled, assuming of course that you don't see the twist coming from a mile away. It's a simple story made complex by intrigue and world building, which isn't a bad thing at all, Halo: Combat Evolved and the last three Doom games are the same and they're all brilliant, and like those games, Dead Space is carried far more by that excellent world building and intrigue than by its simple story, and that story ultimately has a very satisfying payoff with a climactic finale and a cliff hanger ending. Also like those games, Dead Space is just great to play; it's intense and spooky when it wants to be, it's incredibly violent and satisfying, and it strikes a good balance between fun and stress, like any good survival horror game should. 

Isaac, Make Us Whole Again

Dead Space rocks, I could leave it there because I think I've said more than enough. It tells a serviceable and decently fun story, and its horror elements are certainly interesting, but it's in the game's world building, presentation, combat and immersion that it really shines. The Ishimura is one of the coolest and best realised video game settings I've ever seen, going far beyond just a spooky old wreck and being filled to the brim with personality and detail, I don't even care that the game recycles levels because I love exploring this ship. Then there's the Necromorphs, who aren't as scary as they could be but are more than repulsive enough and fun to fight to fault them for what they aren't, and the same goes for the game's horror in general, whose apparent identity crisis ends up being more fun and charming than it has the right to be. And at the end of the day, shooting Necromorphs is fun; the simple gimmick of dismemberment makes Dead Space so much fun to play, and goes a long way to distinguish it and its monsters from similar games and stories, along with its masterful and unique presentation and immersion. Is it not obvious what I'm going to say yet; I love Dead Space and it's absolutely a must play.