Dead Space is a survival horror game where you take control of engineer Isaac Clarke, who is thrown into a horrific situation aboard an interstellar 'Planet Cracker' mining vessel.

A contagion has been unleashed aboard the ship, turning the crew and passengers into hideous nightmare creatures called Necromorphs. You can probably guess that these creatures are violently antisocial. When you and your pals answer the distress call coming from the ship your own vessel crashes, leaving you to try and find a way off the doomed ship.

Many science fiction archetypes are paid tribute to in this game as you may be able to tell by the main character's name. There is a mysterious artifact of unknown origin that has been brought aboard, and a sinister cult that seems to be a dig at Scientology. A few plot twists keep things interesting but there's many nudges and winks to films like Aliens - I think this game was a labour of love for the developers and it results in an excellent game.

The visuals and audio are innovative and atmospheric. There are miles of twisting pipe-laden corridor, but also varied community and work areas and also some very well imagined spacewalk areas. Paranoia is ramped up as you navigate through flickering tunnels. Everything is represented in game instead of using a HUD, with health being displayed on Isaac's spine, and objectives and inventory being represented by holograms. Audio logs fill in the backstory, and nerve'wracking shrieks, bangs and crashes often take you by surprise.

Gameplay involves exploration, survival and combat. As Isaac is an engineer, he uses mining tools instead of conventional firearms, ranging from a small plasma cutter to an industrial laser. In combat the focus is on limb dismemberment, so the multiple functions on these weapons make the fights fun and varied. Isaac also has telekinetic powers which can be used to overcome otherwise overwhelming combat odds or specific puzzle elements.

There's some original moments involving zero-gravity as well, and the environments, challenges and dangers keep the gameplay interesting.