War like this can be just as exciting as the other two times. Call of Duty: Black Ops heralds another energetically convincing warfare title by developers Treyarch to hardcore gaming enthusiasts worldwide. The storyline introduces us to characters that are unforgettable in the emblem of Call of Duty, and the sounds with the incredibly stunning visuals make Call of Duty: Black Ops one of the most realistic warfare titles of 2010. The action is thrilling, the pacing brings players to the edge of their seats, and the multiplayer makes for one of the most nostalgic and more refined online gameplay campaigns ever set in the Call of Duty realm. Call of Duty: Black Ops prodigiously fathers itself into the hall of family name that makes up the incredible Call of Duty series up to this inception.

Call of Duty: Black Ops brings the heart of reality to the Cold War from early 1961 to post-1968. The primary protagonist’s of the character arch resides with Alex Mason and the Central Intelligence Agency’s Jason Hudson, both very apt and experienced with their jobs: to finish what they start. As part of the Studies and Observations Group (SOG), Mason and Hudson have to deal with behind enemy lines dangers as part of their everyday routine. The Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, or USSR, is planning on an experimental weapon mysteriously called “Nova-6.” Following the dangerous path will be many enemies and allies, some new while other notables make a notable return from previous Treyarch titles, such as Viktor Reznov and World at War’s protagonist Dimitri Petrenko. Through vast environments through the rough Ural Mountains to restricted Cuba and even harsh-cited Vietnam, the Black Operations unit will counter any terrorist threat from reaching the home borders of the United States.  

The remarkable single-player campaign gameplay makes a welcome return in Call of Duty: Black Ops with thrilling first-person shooting mechanics, bringing a level of intense pacing and extreme operative action to players worldwide with their friends. The gameplay is fairly the same thing seen in the previous iterations of the series, notably from World at War and Modern Warfare. Within the single-player campaign, players can choose from a variety of over 30 different weapons to combat enemies and additional Soviet Forces. The use of initiating bullet-time is a newer feature with the campaign series which is part of the scripted cinematic moments. While scripted seems less ideal in most games, Call of Duty has always been able to make it work to its advantage. Sadly, replayability can suffer as a result of having a strictly linear campaign with scripted moments, which is a shame for a series which can easily make a free-roam type title while still giving a climatic storyline for players.

One of the most notable features of any title within the Call of Duty series, post-Modern Warfare by developers Infinity Ward, has been the engaging and breath-enticing online aspects of any first-person shooter to date. Online multiplayer modes return with four player cooperative gameplay online through “Combat Training” or the newer modes of competitive gameplay. Call of Duty: Black Ops provides a new and revitalized sense of customization and player personality. Experience points and the reward systems return. Players can utilize “Create-a-Class 2.0” which can modify appearance items as well perks themselves to have different types of attachments for weapons, personalized clan tag notation, and even different emblems to newer reticles. Face paints can terrify the opponents while Killstreak rewards bring back the classical helicopter attacks, guided missiles, and a newer explosive RC car and much more. To finally provide a sense of ingenuity and replayability to Call of Duty: Black Ops, players can now focus on their monetary values through a new Currency System, which allows an even balance between higher ranked players and lower ranked amateurs just starting out. Newer modes revolving around this currency system include a Wager Match playlist, where four types of modes are included for currency and experience points to the highest scorer. One disappointment only arises with anyone hoping for local cooperative play as local split-screen multiplayer has no progression system, an odd choice considering Combat Training has its own separate progression mechanic. Regardless, Call of Duty: Black Ops makes an attention to detail and finesse with what truly matters: close quarters action and finally giving players a personality in the multiplayer experience beyond a rank.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is also provided exclusively for PC enthusiasts via the Steam platform by Valve Software. While the graphics are clearly better than the consoles at Quad-Crossfire X capability (and also on NVIDIA SLI), there are clearly a few problems – multithreading is disabled, which limits the CPU threads used to process the bit headers from the graphics adaptor on the I/O Hub. This can show slight decreases in frame rate per second. Lastly, it is clear the title is not as optimized for usage with the multiplayer in terms of general frames per second on high-end systems, but it should be updated with a patch. Lastly, cheating is a big issue despite Valve VAC. A lot of people can headshot 2 people at once, but 8 people in a row and constant headshot kills are rather unbelievable to be accurate in any legitimate sense. For anyone that enjoys a great online experience – avoid the PC version of this title.

Call of Duty: Black Ops consorts a culmination of a title that is simply enthralling, and wonderful despite the small problems with restricted multiplayer offers through local cooperative gameplay. The formula has remained immutable, showing that there is an honorable level of immutability involved with any series of titles that have seen such success such as Call of Duty. Sometimes keeping the old formulas and improving them is exactly what gamers want and even sometimes demand to see the greater, more realistic canvas of a painting as recondite and unrestrained as Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Review – Matching Expectations

by Stuart Blair

Treyarch was always going to have a tough job on their hands to try and match the successes of both Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 as their other successor titles (World At War) did not quite come up to par against Infinity Ward. Fortunately for the fans of Call of Duty, not only did Black Ops match the standards set by the Modern Warfare duo but it surpassed and greatly exceeded any of the experiences we have encountered before from a realistic first-person shooter title. The campaign is lively and exciting, despite a few problems in particular. Some niggling issues that are still present are the linearity and scripting that the campaign heavily relies on; although it does work to a certain extent, it would be really nice to see a bit more freedom when it comes to exploring levels with maybe a few different options of how to infiltrate buildings and take out targets. Multiplayer has again been brought up to the standards of Modern Warfare. The only downside is the ability to replay a map that has just been played which gets annoying after playing the same map 3 or 4 times in a row. The return of the zombies is another fun addition which again has been taken to another level with the player playing as the president defending the pentagon although it is much more fun playing with friends and is made really easy to do so. Call of Duty: Black Ops is a remarkable game nevertheless which keeps the player interested and intrigued throughout the whole campaign and then builds on that initial enjoyment by providing a fantastic domain for cooperative online multiplayer fun with zombies or combative multiplayer with the variety of online features it contains. Treyarch has truly learned from its mistakes in former titles and really gave everyone something to remember in keeping memories alive.

E3 2010 was a spectacle, due to the opening of admissions to smaller retailers and media publications – with numbers nearing the similar peak. We were there to get every exciting moment: from Dead Rising 2, to KINECT and everything in between the PlayStation Move inundation. E3 2010 was marked through displays of motion and 3D, similar to our coverage of the 3DGS Convention. As always, it was certainly a great time, and now that time is over. It is time to look forward, ahead to newer and better releases, and to ennoble titles in this year’s WhatIfGaming’s Best Of E3 Awards 2010.

Criteria: The Best of E3 Awards, a subcategory for the WhatIfGaming Prizes, are given solely to those video games that demonstrate a pure excellence in the field for which they are not only nominated but also chosen. These awards only apply to playable games at E3 given a few exceptional categories.

Nomination & Selection Process: Compared with other site awards, the WhatIfGaming Prize nomination and selection process is long and extremely rigorous. This is the sole reason why WhatIfGaming Prizes have grown in importance over the years to become the most important prizes in their field. Forms, which amount to a personal and exclusive invitation, are sent to 150 (2010) selected individuals to invite them to submit nominations months in advance from the latest builds per video game. Self-nominations are disqualified. For WhatIfGaming Prizes, inquiries are sent to such people as developers, industry experts, analysts, among others. After our deadline passes, the nominations are chosen by permanent committee of 5 selected individuals from staff and only the final stage of nominees remain per category. From all of these, a winner is chosen.

The names of the nominees are not publicly announced, and neither are they told that they have been considered for the WhatIfGaming Prize. Some are announced publicly by practice. Nomination records are revealed approximately 2 years after each respective award year.

Talk about intense. E3 was packed this year with resellers, and less media —but it got bigger, better, and more selective. We were there to get every exciting moment: from Project Milo to Heavy Rain, and exclusive interviews. As always, it was certainly a great time, and now that time is over. It is time to look forward, ahead to newer and better releases, and to ennoble titles in this year’s WhatIfGaming’s Best Of E3 Awards 2009.

Criteria: The Best of E3 Awards, a subcategory for the WhatIfGaming Prizes, are given solely to those video games that demonstrate a pure excellence in the field for which they are not only nominated but also chosen. These awards only apply to playable games at E3 given a few exceptional categories.

Nomination & Selection Process: Compared with other site awards, the WhatIfGaming Prize nomination and selection process is long and extremely rigorous. This is the sole reason why WhatIfGaming Prizes have grown in importance over the years to become the most important prizes in their field. Forms, which amount to a personal and exclusive invitation, are sent to about over 1,000 selected individuals to invite them to submit nominations months in advance from the latest builds per video game. Self-nominations are disqualified. For WhatIfGaming Prizes, inquiries are sent to such people as developers, industry experts, analysts, among others. After our deadline passes, the nominations are chosen by permanent committee of 5 selected individuals from staff and only the final stage of nominees remain per category. From all of these, a winner is chosen.

The names of the nominees are not publicly announced, and neither are they told that they have been considered for the WhatIfGaming Prize. Some are announced publicly by practice. Nomination records are revealed approximately 2 years after each respective award year.

Turn your mouse clickers and scroll wheel timers to WhatIfGaming this upcoming Saturday July 1st, 2009 for an exclusive presentation of our 9th year anniversary of the WhatIfGaming E3 Awards for 2009, with official public listing that celebrated from late 2001.

The WhatIfGaming E3 Prizes had their origins ever since the end of 1999′s E3 ceremony when we revealed to select publishers what our site cherished for their offerings during exclusive press meetings through an official sticker prize from yours truly. Very few gained them, and some were only notified. Over the years, the awards became public but remained even more strenuous in criteria, with no nominees ever being publicly listed until  a future predetermined date. 5 members of our staff in a permanent committee select the winners from a long line of industry related inquiries taken and personal consideration.

Also, feel free to log on Friday June 26th, 2009 for an Overlord II review (with over 46 hours played and timed only from us) and also an exclusive post-release interview with the creative minds behind Overlord II and their future plans!

Chinatown Wars seems like a return to Grand Theft Auto series’ 2D beginnings, but it’s far from that. The action is viewed from a top-down perspective, and the action from the actual previous games on consoles translates perfectly well. Chinatown Wars has a lot of similarity with GTA IV than it does with earlier games, and improves on the formula that made those games so successful with great features, incredible storyline, competitive multiplayer, and great minigames.

Set in Liberty City like GTA IV with the exception of one island, Chinatown Wars revolves around a power struggle within the Triad gangs from the perspective of Huang Lee, who just lost his crime-boss father. Huang flies to Liberty City from Hong Kong to avenge his father, and gets caught predictably in the war between those who want to take power for themselves. As Huang, you advance the story by undertaking missions for a number of different characters within the Triad organization, as well as for some people outside of it. Many of these missions involve killing people, and not getting caught by the cops, but there are many missions that use touchscreen and put it to use as a very well thought aspect of gameplay.

Chinatown Wars plays as you would expect from GTA IV, which is quite an achievement. Basic controls for movement and car-jacking are mapped to the same button positions that they are on other platforms. The on-foot and vehicle controls are similar, so GTA fans will find the control learning curve extremely easy. Autotargeting is available to make the game easier to play for drive-by shootings and a steering assist feature automatically straightens up your vehicle so that it is parallel with the road being driven on. A handy feature is superimposing GPS onto the streets themselves with yellow markers that are actually a welcome addition than having to deter to the map at the bottom of the screen.

Using the touch screen is something Rockstar Leeds does seamlessly without making the action seem dull or tacked on, but it does come with its problems. One downside to Chinatown Wars is in the attempt to replicate the GTA experience to the DS exactly. Fewer buttons give way to using some weapons by utilizing the touchscreen at the most dangerous moments of the game, which makes the stability of the entire gameplay unstable. Having to use the touch screen to both switch between weapons and to throw projectile weapons such as Molotov cocktails, and grenades is cumbersome.

There are a lot of weapons in GTA Chinatown Wars, and the Liberty City Police Department is a constant danger, and they readily give chase if they witness you doing anything inopportune. Similar to previous GTA games, a rating scale of between one and six stars lets you know how many police cars will be chasing you. The more trouble you cause the higher your rating, and the higher your rating the more cops will chase your untoward position down.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is surprising in some aspects, although it still has some problems that keep it from being great. Rockstar Leeds has fit the entire GTA IV Liberty City onto the tiniest fragment of the DS cartridge, which is quite a feat. The game does not feel like a scaled-down handheld version of a GTA game. It feels like a great progression for the series that introduces great design and features that never made it to the console predecessors.

Here’s some great reviews we have coming up:

Killzone 2 [We will be releasing this closer to launch than the February 2nd 'Permission Date' Sony set up for those with early copies of the game] Why? Because as you all know already, we take a more intense and thorough process than most and it does not get done in a day.

Skate 2 Review [This one might be a bit late from our end]

Resident Evil 5 Review [You all read the E3 Impressions already, but this final game is just alive from Capcom. Note: US will be covering all Capcom UK titles in the future since they have some very ignorant media people there].

Best of all: We have a surprise interview with a LEGEND from Japan and Anime Entertainment. Here’s a guess: it starts with ‘Ha’ and ends with ‘Ki’.

Sandisk Imagemate All-in-One Reader/Writer Review

Some other things in the pipeline.

Rock Band 2 is the latest game to emerge from Harmonix Studios from the previous rhythm game that was the first of its kind to provide party knockers and rollers guitar, bass, and vocal instruments all in a sexy blue box. Rock Band 2 still sticks to the roots of the first games, providing the same instruments but Harmonix definitely made an effort to refine and perfect features that were introduced in the original game and make everything more lively. Some new modes have strummed out, and the development team has completely streamlined the interface, making it better to navigate and go into a game than flip through confusing menus and over practical layouts. Rock Band 2 is definitely thee version of the Rock Band series that anyone wants to play. With a new interface, new band smashing modes, and dozens of new songs and downloadable content to enrich the experience, Rock Band 2 definitely has immense potential for the holiday season and for WhatIfGaming’s Game of the Year 2008- Best Music Game.

Everything you love about Rock Band is in Rock Band 2 and with an extreme sense of utter satisfaction that would make any singer fall down the stage in utter surprise. The instruments are back, and better than ever. The Rock Band 2 guitar is of a sunny design on the body and wood grain on the neck, but the buttons and strum bar are much more responsive and give feel better than those on the original cheap-ish feel guitar. The microphones bring up our keen side. Can we help it? We review hardware for a living. The standard drum kit has also been redesigned and now features quieter pads, and is completely wireless along with the rest of the instruments minus the microphone. The microphone isn’t your pre-amp sort of deal, but a standard microphone that comes with a USB interface. Now how many Kbps are playing every second? Good question. For those that don’t know, more Kbps = more quality from the microphone. This is a Rock Band game after all, and all rock bands have the best equipment. Then again you aren’t paying $4,000 for a Heil microphone. Nevertheless, the amount you pay should come with some quality. Standard 192 Kbps. Not bad! Close to audio quality, but not quite. Either way, it works.

The interface is the same essentially, but extremely improved. You can jump to play all of an album or certain selection of music; all you have to do is click the header for that item. Also, the difficulty level display has been broken down into individual elements, showing how difficult the song is for individual instruments and for the entire band, a welcome new addition.

Rock Band 2 modes are taking a turn for the best, making the formlessness of visual and instrumental experimentation a reality. In Rock Band 2, Tour Challenges mode is the latest thing. This mode is designed to be completed however in any way. If your band is new to the Rock Band experience, then the first set of challenges is a great place to start. The World Tour is seeing some changes immerge. The core premise behind the mode is the same: go from city to city and play different venues but now you can hire management and street teams. As you progress through the game, you can hire different kinds of managers that will have a different effect on what happens as your band travels the world. If you want big money, hire the guy in the suit. Want to be real with your fans? Get an indie street group to do your etching.

Something Rock Band 2 does is making the single-player so real. You can take your band on the road and tour different cities and venues using our World Tour mode. Want to jam out with real people? Rock Band 2 now allows you to bash online with any of your friends. Simply sing, have a concert, listen in on what other people are doing, it’s all up to you. The unmatched integration is the key that makes Rock Band 2 such a success as not just a music game, but a game that has the relationships of a band.

Rock Band 2 gameplay is pretty much the same as the original Rock Band but the difference is the leap and improvement Harmonix has made from the first game. The instruments feel more responsive, the new game modes really make the gameplay flow with the goals that the developer had for the game during development, and the redesign and tweaks in everything prior makes it much improved. Whatever the note, Rock Band 2 promises a future of a great Rock Band experience for anyone who decides to buy.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is a Naruto fan’s dream, and anyone who is just an avid watcher of anime. The game itself has many great aspects about it from the anime offsprings to the cohesive battle system as the first current-gen concoction of CyberConnect2′s Ultimate Ninja fighting series which just looks and plays out like a great anime.

The art style itself for anyone who glues themselves to their TV makes it feel as if you’re actually in the TV show. As always, we are really tough when it comes to marketing gimmicks, and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm really pushes the HD aspect of the anime series to a shonen punch. The striking battles and environments make Ultimate Ninja Storm’s all the more enjoyable.

How About You Don't Bother Me?

Players eventually start off in “Ultimate Mission Mode” which permits players to augment the TV show into the reality of the game through the wondrous town of Hidden Leaf Village. You can freely roam around and jump from rooftops in a 3D version of Hidden Leaf Village. As your Chakra level increases throughout the story mode, you will be able to access more areas in the village and hence the whole world of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm.The game has dozens of side missions to complete that are organized in rank in difficulty from D to S, and ranging from battles and fetch quests to anything for an NPC in the world. The structure of the game is very different. Anyone can play scene battles that contribute to the series’ pivotal points, and also that get across the framing of the storywork. The cut-scenes depict events from both the manga and the anime series but they skew toward the TV show, complete with voiceovers done by the original English and Japanese casts. The storyline by Masashi Kishimoto makes Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm a realistic experience and something true to the show and the Weekly SHONEN JUMP strips.

As you roam around in free mode, the battle system is a refreshing aspect. As dynamic as anything becomes, the Chakra meter gauge shows the level of endurance allowed per attack if you run across an enemy in the village. It is all real time, and there is no akward pauses or the like, a great stimuli compared to the dozens of load screens that end up coming from the game quest-to-quest. One big gripe we have is just that there is absolutely no tutorials for the battle. Every ninja skilled ass kicking move is covered in the manual, and just that. No tutorial interface or documentation in the game is given, and kind of seperates as a huge gap in the streamline of the focus: the battle.

You Call That A Punch?!

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is definitely a delight for a Naruto fan and anyone who enjoys anime storylines and integrative qualities of a great game to a level of authenticity to the original series. For other gamers, the ninja clawing attacks, blur effects, graphics interest just a little and the lack of a adjointed battle system leaves more to be desired. Couple the mediocre battle system to the upsetting bland and sometimes mysterious quests from the menu interface, and it is hard to view this game that does some things right in the woodwork in a positive setting.

The 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E³) will take place from June 2-4, 2009, at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today. The expanded E³ will welcome all qualified computer and video game industry audiences, including international and U.S.-based media, analysts, retailers, developers and business partners to preview the latest in interactive entertainment and technology.

When directly asked if “public,” meaning Timmy and his 4 parkour friends to the game lines will be able to attend, ESA stated to us rather directly:

The changes only include: increased booth sizes, increased qualified audiences, and an intensified focus on reinforcing the improved plans for E^3.

Update: Talk about the level of hate mails I just received (around 500) from posting this. This is what ESA wrote to us. We specifically asked if “non-members” of ESA meant anyone in the public, and that’s a no. It just means that people NOT in the ESA group (few companies, exhibitors, and now developers) can gain access to this event in 2009. Public is still not allowed.

Update # 2: Confirmed again. Not Public. Press/Developers/Attending Companies/Business Partners still need to APPLY to attend. E3 2009 will be like the “old” E3′s in terms of scale in the booths, not public attendance. Public cannot attend.

What!? A newcomer to the survival horror genre, that offers a much needed twist to the stale pre-established franchises of the genre? While many companies may stick to the familiar, and take the “don’t fix what’s not broken” approach, EA Redwood Shores is doing the exact opposite. Dead Space challenges the genre taking it into unfamiliar territory supported with strong story elements, fresh game triumvirates, and plenty of scares that are terrifying enough to pull away fans of the other games in the genre and others and even make new fans of horror survival. In short, Dead Space is the new benchmark on “how to launch a new franchise.” EA has a winner here.

The story behind Dead Space takes place hundreds of years in the future where mankind is debilitated of its natural resources and has developed a solution to the predicament: a process result known as planet cracking. A celestial body is split into pieces, and is mined until its minerals are completely stripped, and returned to earth for consumption. Problem solved – if only it was that easy. One of the many ships in the mining fleet, the USG Ishimura which performs many planet cracks than any other vessel in the fleet. The ship cuts off all communication from galactic command, which is strange to everyone. To discover the problem, a small maintenance crew is sent to fix any problem the vessel may have or is.

Upon arrival, players take control of Isaac Clarke, a Systems Engineer (space welder) with a bad ass costume to wade it through space. Quickly, you learn Isaac has many reasons for participating on this mission as he has personal relationships with people stationed on the ship. Little does Isaac and his crew know, hell has broke lose on the vessel and its up to Isaac to search the halls, search for friends or survivors, while having to fix the many problems infesting the ship all while engaging in a very dangerous game of life or death all in the whirlwind of survival and horror.

Sorry space marine’s, Isaac isn’t an everyday hero in most Sc-Fi games; no steroids, no big bulky armor, no cheesy catch phrases, or any typical firearms (except one).  The only real training Isaac has he uses in his own style, using his engineering training, which was once a tool for mining becomes a powerful weapon that can be analyzed and improved by rewiring them at workbenches. Even Isaac’s space suit can be upgraded with his engineering training such as, strengthening his suits armor or his all important air supply. A handy feature on his space suit is the ability to use stasis or kinesis modules, which can be used in a variety of way to combat the monsters on the ship. One of the key mechanics is dubbed “ strategic dismemberment” which essentially is weakening and effectively killing a monster by blowing off strategic limbs to your advantage. Unlike many monsters in other games, Necromorphs will take direct hits and keep coming for more. Blasting off their limbs is only way to cause enough damage to avoid harm, and you will have to aim direct and quickly at there weak spots. This adds a great deal of tension to the game when your surrounded by Necromorphs each with a specific weakness. The decision on what weapon on what monster becomes a pivotal decision to make and can more times than not be whether you survive a encounter or not.

When talking about tension, the atmosphere caters greatly to the sense of tension players  endure as they walk about the USG Ishimura. There really is something eerie about space in general. Combine that with horrific shadows, many things at the corner of your eyeballs and then you have trouble. The moment we step on board of the ship, we can’t help but feel distressed and help but imagine what events unfolded to lead to such a disaster. EA Redwood Shore really took great care to immerse the player in the world. In fact, there is no HUD at all. Isaac’s ammunition is displayed via holograph above the gun, health bar is displayed on his back, and in game transmissions are displayed holographically from his helmet. This is done to keep you always in real time, meaning you can receive a message while being attacked by a barrage of Necromorph slashing at your throat. Because of this you really feel immersed in the world and a bit paranoid.

Like any other game, Dead Space isn’t without some issues.A minor issue but it’s a issue none the less, the zero gravity area’s can be a bit confusing at times, and the camera can sometimes be restricted to a certain angle, particularly if you’re on a wall or ceiling. Though rare, when the camera locks up, you may be getting attacked by a creature out of view, which is frustrating.  Another issue isn’t a technical one it’s more of a bad choice on behalf of the developers, it regards the New Game+ Feature.  Once you complete your first run-through of the game, you’ll unlock some features, one being a fourth difficulty mode previously not listed.  You will also be able to retain all your previous upgrades and equipment intact, and ready to go making the game much quicker second time threw. However, here lies the problem, you will be locked at the level you chose when you first started the game, and wont be able to switch. This is more of a bad decision than anything else but would have been a major plus to be able to retain all your equipment and have the option to use the new difficulty given after completing your first play through. If you’re eager to use the new modes, remember you will lose all the upgrades and have to start from scratch, which can be a bummer for many – myself included.

One thing you can’t ignore is Dead Space’s breathtaking visuals, you will definitely be amazed by the detail in the world and gore. The amount of detail on Isaac’s suit alone is out of this world, no pun intended, the more I upgraded the suit the more detailed it became also, same can be said about the weapons, gaining new visual and audio. Another thing to note, each level truly felt unique never the feeling of copy and pasting the same area’s over and over. The visuals on the Necromorphs themselves is horrifically good, which appear to get drastically more stunning with each creature. The Necromorphs are seriously grotesque, same can be said about the graphical violence throughout the game.  The holographic implementation is really well done as well.

Having great visuals is great but having excellent voice acting is a must, and Dead Space doesn’t disappoint. Isaac really doesn’t utter a word, but other members of the cast do a great job, whether its just holographic movie or a Audio Log. Lucky for me, I sport a really good 7.1 surround sound system that highlighted probably the most impressive aspect of the entire game: the sound. The game’s sound is eerie and intense that levels the sound design as fantastic and really pulls you into the game. If you are easily scared don’t play alone late at night with the lights off or you will be freaked out.

Dead Space is a wise man’s true horror survival game and does the genre great justice with intense gruesome action, engaging story, overused but extremely relevant violence, and a welcome new take on the survival horror genre. Dead Space is here to stay people and has the staying power to be a great franchise. Just remember to look at the moon while you’re playing from time to time, and really learn to appreciate the not so gruesome things about the stars at night.