Parents' Guide to Dead Space

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.