I was quite interested in this game from when it was first showcased. The game was directed by the co-creator of the original dead space game so finally having a new full linear horror game series on the new gen consoles was right up my alley. Even if a remake of dead space dropped like 2 months later, which I haven’t picked up yet at some point I probably will give that a bash. As it was very well reviewed across the board. Something that this game wasn’t, it seemed to get 6’s and 7’s which isn’t bad by any stretch. So when going into this game I was unsure how it’d go.
The first thing to note is the games graphics are great, having the main character Jacob Lee mo-capped and voiced by actor Josh Duhamel. The army dude from the first three transformer films. As well as Dani Nakamura played by Karen Fukuhara who is Kimiko in the boys and the bad guy of the game Captain Ferris portrayed by Sam Witwer, who for me is notable Starkiller in the force unleashed games. They all look top notch, honestly no complaints on that front if that’s a thing you rate highly in your gaming life. The game takes place in an infected and over run prison called Black iron on one of the moons of Jupiter. I’ll try to keep this review light on the spoilers, but seem will inevitable slip through the cracks.
It’s a short game, taking me about 11 hours to complete, I think. The game is split into 8 chapters that naturally role into one another, progressing the story. Now with the game being as linear as it is, it means traversing the bowels of the prison, the nuked colony underground it was built on, and the blizzard ridden snow fields briefly. All of it looks fantastic in design, and when it’s dark I found myself having to walk round with my gun ready and primed as it gave you more of a flash light. All of it aids in the ambience and feel of a treacherous horror film. The enemies all look disturbing enough and distinct to know which variety you are facing. Now their could’ve been a few more just variety as by chapter 5 you’ve basically seen every enemy type. Including the dirty stomach tentacle fuckers, that if you don’t shoot immediately they mutate and become bigger bastards to kill. Being set in the future, and out in space it’s very sci-fi laden design which also appeals to my tastes. So from this perspective it’s a visually impressive game in design and styling. It fits the story very well. Even if that story could’ve used probably 2 chapters more just to flesh it out a bit more and make Captain Ferris that more of a bad guy.
Now combat in this game is limited and fairly basic. You get your stun baton which is used for melee, then there are 5 guns you get schematics for. Now you can only dodge by flicking your right stick left and then right, cause if you do the same direction twice you will get twatted out. So make sure you use that 1-2-1 pattern for optimum dodging. Now I only used three guns, I didn’t bother wasting credits on the other two and honestly the hand-cannon, the riot shotgun and assault rifle did me a solid. You don’t have any unlockable skills or extra defence, so learning to dodge early on is key, and it’s a bit wank to be honest. I like the simplicity of it, but some buffs, or specific upgrades wouldn’t have gone amiss. As you wonder around you come across printers where you can print weapons, attachments, health injectors and ammo. The only other item you get is the GRP, where you can suspend enemies and fling them around. On the weaker ones slamming them into blades, or spiked walls is a blessing sometimes. Or shooting the exploding enemies or red canisters help out a lot as well. You get credits by curb stomping the ever loving fuck out of defeated enemies, inflicting further maiming upon the dead. Some are laying around like extra health which become sparser as chapters go on, from crushed boxes or selling certain types of items which are all they are good for. Now the upgrades ain’t cheap especially on the assault rifle which you get in chapter 7. However I used that two thirds upgraded to rinse of the final boss, and it would be better if it wasn’t locked into burst fire. You’re hand-cannon though go for top upgrades on that and the damage on the stun baton. This will make your life far easier.
Oddly there are only really two bosses in this game a two-head which you fight four different ones I think it is, and Captain Ferris. As with the other enemies there is a healthy helping of body horror, and the whole facility is spread in blood and viscera. As well as guards in various states of mangled in most rooms. The gore in this game is heavy and might not be for everyone, and Jacob is no exception, with most of his death animation involving getting his head exploded or lopped in half, or if you are really lucky he might lose an arm. From the body horror and gratuitous violence, you get typical jump scares, you get constantly jumped from behind or some shit launching at you from around corner. For the most part it’s fairly standard and I think they could’ve amped it up a tad more. Another feature of this game is stealth kills, which again aren’t great, you crouch get behind them and stab them if the option flashes. This doesn’t work on most enemies as they clock you immediately and will run over to bitch slap you in the chops. You are also limited on carry capacity for half the game and it’s a bit bollocks, even once you get the suit which increases your health and carry capacity. It quickly becomes full of ammo, and I found I need a lot of health injectors which seemingly just stop being around for pick ups once you hit chapter 5. Where the enemies also die the same but for some reason begin to inflict a lot more damage, and with the slightly shit dodge system. When you are surrounded and killed off one enemy the next will pretty much just fuck you up before you can re-act. The two heads and Ferris will pretty much one shot you regardless of difficulty as well.
I did enjoy the story as for the first few chapters it builds the world and the circumstances around what was going on more with little droplets of why all the inmates suddenly mutated and began eating the survivors. Then the last two chapters kinda just dump everything else on you, and this is where the extra chapter or so could’ve really been used. As a few more characters are introduced and conveniently have the answers you need.
I did really enjoy the game for what it’s worth. The length of the game does come with the perks of playing it on the other difficulty options you have, each harder then the last with a permadeath option if you hate yourself that much to go for it. The game has since launch has added in a few improvements from what I’ve read, as well as the DLC adding new modes. The wave based riot mode, and the story DLC is dropping in a couple days, which I will actually be getting as the game does end on a cliffhanger. This all comes with new weapons, death/kill animations a different suit, so as far as season pass goes it’s not the worst going.
I think this game is a solid 7/10 Positively Tasty. Which falls squarely in line with what a lot of other reviewers gave this game. I think there was a good story there which could’ve been a tad longer, a bit of an upgrade system for melee combat and dodging/blocking. As you can improve damage output but ultimately is very limited and not as fluid as it should be. Maybe a small skill tree could be implemented if a second game comes, just spice things up a bit. For a new IP, it’s a strong start, everything done here needs to just be finessed and built upon. More exploration is needed as there isn’t much to look for outside the main path you have to follow and a few more enemies and a bit more weapon variety. If you like horror or the original dead space games I would recommend giving this a go still. It’s mostly enjoyable and easy to get into.
Released 2nd December 2022, Sony Playstation 5.
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