Dead Space - iOS Gets Scarier

The Dead Space series is well known for two things – gratuitous amounts of violence and gore and its 'uh-oh I just soiled my underpants again' scares. Thankfully, both aspects of the game have been retained with the move to iOS platforms. Add in some serious technical wizardry and you have an action game that is without a doubt, a must buy.

Dead Space takes place nearly three years after the first game and leads up to the events of Dead Space 2. You play as an engineer by the name of Vandal who during his time aboard the ginormous space-station, the Sprawl, inadvertently causes a Necromorph outbreak. People die in horrific ways, come back as lumbering corpses and it’s up to you to end their misery. I mean that’s the least you can do right?

It's about to hit the fan now

Gameplay for Dead Space is near identical to its console counterparts. You skulk around the shadows, dismember nasty aliens and solve minor puzzles that generally involves fixing stuff or opening doors. Dismemberment not only looks hella cool but is also a strategic way to annihilate foes before they get too close for comfort. Throughout the campaign you'll regularly come across newer weapons, all of which can be upgraded using Power Nodes found across the Sprawl.

The one aspect in which the iOS version differs drastically from the console version is obviously, controls. Using the iPhone/iPad’s touchscreen functionality, players can control character movements as well as the camera angle via invisible virtual joysticks of sorts. This takes some getting used to and I’ll be lying if I said I was comfortable with this sort of a control scheme but it then again, this is a drawback with nearly every third/first person action game on the iPhone or the iPad. Tapping on the right hand side of the screen will draw your weapon and tapping that same part again will fire a shot. Opening doors and picking up items is also a touch based affair and there were times during the frantic action when I ended up shooting stuff instead of picking it up or shooting at doors instead of opening them.

I always bring a plasma sword to a gun fight

There’s no doubt that gameplay in Dead Space is tense but there are instances when it gets a tad predictable. You’ll find yourself in a room and just as you’re about to leave, it gets locked down and you’re left fighting for your life against a wave of necromorphs. It was intense the first few times, but after that it just loses its charm.

On the technical front, Dead Space delivers – and how. There were times when I found it hard to believe I was playing an iOS game. Environments look stellar, character models are awesome and Necromorphs look as menacing as they did on your Xbox360, PS3 or PC. There are a few framerate issues on the 3GS platform but on the iPad, the game performed flawlessly.

Bring it

I’m really glad EA went ahead and meticulously created a game from the ground up that’s fully capable of complementing its console counterparts. Boasting of stellar production values, Dead Space is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for the casual gamer. I may have had a few issues with the control scheme but that’s a small price to pay for slaughtering Necromorphs on the go.