Dead Space

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Exreme blood and gore splatter mature horror game.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that they should take heed of the "Mature" warning. Just like horror films that served as an influence in this video game thriller, players will shoot at alien creatures who spray blood and fall in a bloody heap to the floor. This is an extremely bloody and gory game. You will find decapitated humans (and can kick around their heads, as all items in the world operate on real physics). Human body parts can also be found and you can target specific parts of the body in combat. Extreme foul language abounds.

  • You are trying to solve a mystery of what happened to a space ship; but must fight aliens using extreme manners including disemboweling them. Players are a male but the person in charge who leads the expedition is an attractive female.
  • You are trying to find out what happened to your fellow space travelers, but when you encounter the life-threatening aliens, you use extreme methods to kill them. It is a kill or be killed situation.
  • A gory shooter with decapitation, plenty of blood, and the ability to target specific body parts. Some enemies you must disembowel.
  • Not applicable.

What's it about?

A refreshing change from all the video game sequels and movie tie-ins these days, DEAD SPACE is a brand-new thriller that combines a sci-fi storyline with "survival horror" game-play elements -- therefore it's no surprise the game makers refer to it as a cross between Alien and Resident Evil. Dead Space takes place 500 years in the future, when a rescue team travels to deep space to investigate a mining ship that has abruptly ceased contact with Earth while orbiting above an ominous-looking planet. You play as an engineer, Isaac Clarke, tasked to restore the Ishimura's communications system, but while roaming the eerie corridors you discover the ship's crew has been decimated by vicious aliens. And the E.T.s are still here.

Played from a third-person perspective, you navigate Clarke around gorgeous, high-definition environments with no icons, numbers, or maps on the screen to remind you this is a video game. Instead, you'll keep an eye on the back of the protagonist's spacesuit as it reveals his health (indicated by a glowing turquoise meter), an air supply timer (ideal for zero-gravity sequences), and on the back of most weapons, you'll see a digital number that counts down how much ammo is left. The only thing that ruins the suspension of disbelief is pictures of floppy disks you'll find strewn throughout the spaceship, which is where you can save your progress during the game.


Is it any good?

 

Dead Space offers plenty of action (with the ability to target and dismember specific alien body parts); puzzle-solving challenges (such as getting machinery to work or opening locked doors); handy gadgets (like gravity boots and purchasable items using found credits); and boasts a Hollywood-worthy script, tense atmosphere, and a music soundtrack that begins with a haunting rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Kudos to EA for creating an exhilarating and nail-biting mature adventure to play alone, at night, and with the lights off. Note: the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions of the game all play out the same.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about whether EA went too far with the amount of blood and gore in this game. Could they have evoked the same spine-tingling effect without it all? Or do gamers, like many horror movie fans, enjoy all the "splatter"?


This review was written by Marc Saltzman
Kid, 12 years old
July 7, 2011
 
DO NOT BUY THIS GAME FOR KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am being seriouse: DO NOT BUY CHILDREN THIS GAME!!! This game is meant to give you nightmares and heart attacks. Storyline is the ship the Ishimura loses there signal so Issac Clarke is sent to find out what happened. When he arrives all the crew is dead and mutilated. Issac soon learns this is happening from an insane bread of space zombies he then has to try and survive the insane monsters. Again this game is really NOT for kids the violence, blood and gore are everywhere along with swears. Keep away from kids. But if you'r of age and like survival / Horrers and violence with a lot of frightning scenes you may like this game. But keep away from kids!!!!

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Kid, 13 years old
July 1, 2011
 
WARRING IF YOU FAINT WHEN YOU SEE BLOOD DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME
Hello parents and kids i am playing dead space right now at it is a great bloody and gory game the game is a little too voilent at some parts example 1: you walk into a room and see a woman cutting up a dead alien with a knife she laughs crazily and then slices her neck with it. Example 2: you walk past a line of hospital beds and see a woman crying over her friends dead body the body is full of blood and body parts (most likely hers) and the woman wont stop crying it dosen't sound so bad but it is preety intense. Example 3: one of the aliens in this game is stuck to the wall he has blood dripping from his mouth and a round bloody stomach and he shoots out bloody small aliens that you have to kill. these are just few of the many voilent events in this game i haven't beat the game yet so there is probaly many more to come but it is great game and you no matter what your age should try it

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Parent of 18 year old
April 20, 2011
 
pretty gory but nothing that a 13 year old cant handle
this game gets fairly graphic and is best for teens

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Teen, 14 years old
December 31, 2010
 
Children aren't as scared of gore as much these days. All it is, is looking at the inside of the human body. The only reason a 13 year old shouldn't play this is because its to scary, not to gory. This game is a true master piece or EA's part because this game is pretty scary! The atmosphere is very intense and there are a lot of jump moments and sometimes your scared to look around the corner dreading what monster will be there. A mature 13 year old could play this game.

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Teen, 18 years old
June 28, 2010
 
The game itself is supposed to scare the heck out of you, and from my experience is a combination of the two movies "Alien" and "The Thing." The controls are easy to use and the atmosphere is increadible. There is actually less combat than you might expect in a horror game, it is obviously there, about fifty percent of the game, but the other fifty percent is problem solving, which can be quite challenging at times, due to the game's physics engine, which is highly realistic, and occasionally puzzles are located in decompressed areas of the ship, giving you a time limit. I would say if you can sit through a horror movie, you can play this game. So to all the parents out there, if you showed your child Alien, they should be allowed to play the game.

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Teen, 17 years old
December 3, 2011
 
GREAT FOR MY TOTS!
Let me tell you, this is one of the greatest video games ever! I may be a teenage father, but I think being 15 and wifeless is giving me the perfect edge, putting me one step ahead of the crowd. Why, just yesterday, I let my kids run free in the local gamestop. It was just so cute watching them shove as many random games under their shirts and making a run for it. But anyways, most of the games got broken in the process, but Dead Space survived. We started to play, and now my kids just LOVE running around quoting it! Today my daughter ran up to me, beaming and said "Cut off their limbs! Damnit! Some sh*t is going down here!"

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Parent
January 15, 2011
 
great, but intense
this game is very fun. do not, i repeat, do not play the game until ur 14 or older. it loaded with dismemberment. issac can also lose all his body parts. very grusome. play at night when the kids are asleep.

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Teen, 18 years old
November 24, 2010
 
A great game for older gamers
This is an extremely fun game, however it is quite scary for the first few chapters. You will be constantly paranoid as you turn a corner or enter a new room. The disturbing imagery and creepy atmosphere make it not suitable for kids. Many times the player is confronted with unnerving stimulus. For example, a transmission is heard by the player during which a man cuts off his limbs to avoid turning into a monster when he dies. Another example is when you see a woman laughing histerically, her corpse next to her. Multiply these examples by 100 and you will start to get an example of just how insane this game is. However, despite the violence, this game is quite good. The storyline is rather deep, and the gameplay provides the good kind of challenge. I would recommend this for older teens or adults. I felt the game was a little mature for me though. I guess it depends on how used to this kind of games you are, and how mature you are as an individual.

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Kid, 12 years old
July 15, 2010
 
gory and scary 15+
over the top gore corpses limbs come off if stomped or shot at. a very scary and dark atmosphere. the necro are scary and the only way to kill them is to shot off their limbs. some language but its ocassional. this game is like a maze you walk deep into the ship and somehow end up at the begging of the game. not for those that don't like lots of gore and limbs flying everywere. if you don't mind that this game is for you.

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Adult
May 3, 2010
 
For Adults and Young Adults
Dead Space is a really scary, intense, well made piece of art. The HUD-less interface is revolutionary. The plot is compelling and the characters have depth. It is very violent, but the violence is directed solely at aliens.

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This review was written by Marc Saltzman
Platforms:Xbox 360
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Survival Horror
Developer:Electronic Arts
Release date:October 14, 2008
Price:$47-60
ESRB rating:M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

This review was written by Marc Saltzman

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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