Nato: Dead Space – Um, Everything?
Oh, you don’t think Dead Space is horrifying? My college dormmate begs to differ.
The thing that Dead Space knocks out of the park is the continually horrifying atmosphere aboard the USG Ishimura. Danger lurks around every corner in the form of alien infested crew members called Necromorphs, and Dead Space lets you know this through brilliant usage of the score and these dark, ominous settings which leave plenty of places for Necromorphs to pop out of.
I can’t tell you how many times I’d be wandering down a dimly lit corridor as engineer Isaac Clarke, minding my own business while trying to solve the next level, when all of a sudden it would get eerily quiet – too quiet. I’d slowly make my way around corners, waiting for the jolt in volume, terrified of the beast awaiting me somewhere down – BAM! NECROMORPH TO THE FACE, DECAPITATING THE SHIT OUT OF ME! HOLY F#CKSTICK!
It got to the point where I’d notice the music go down, I’d see an air vent or dark hallway ahead, and I’d just turn to my roommate and go “No. I’m not moving anymore. I know what’s down there. It’s just going to jump out, scare the shit out of me, kill Issac, you’re going to laugh, and I’m going be pissed. No way Dead Space. I’m just going to turn around and pretend like I never found this hallway.”