Not dead

Yes, I realize it's been weeks since my last blog post. No, I'm not dead. I apologize profusely for the lack up updates, but school has been keeping me extremely busy. In case you don't believe me, I'll throw some facts your way: just last week, I had three mid-terms and a paper due. This week, I have a 50-point assignment to turn in and another paper due next week. So yeah, don't expect too many blog updates for awhile, but I'll definitely be making more of an effort to blog more regularly than I have the past few weeks.

Besides school, another thing keeping me busy has been the videogame Dead Space. I went to Hollywood Video to rent it on Friday, but I didn't realize that they charged an arm and a leg for a measly rental. Faced with this travesty, I did what any money-grubbing frugal person would do: spend even MORE money and outright BUY the damn thing. So, $60 lighter, I took home my shrinkwrapped copy of the game. I normally never buy a game without trying it first, but Dead Space had been getting good/very good reviews, so I decided that my odds were fair enough. I'll write a more detailed analysis/review of the game when I finish it, but here are some general first impressions.

First off, this game just oozes with atmosphere. Dead Space sets you in the shoes of engineer Isaac Clark, sent with his team to examine the derelict mining station Ishimura. When you first approach the station, it's obvious that something has gone terribly wrong, and it's up to you to find out what happened. Everything about the game is very polished, particularly the sound design. The space station groans, creeks, and sighs like a giant industrial haunted house. Just think of a submarine in space and you'll get the general idea. It's actually reminded me a lot of BioShock's sound design. Trickling water, bangs and noises in the distance. Things like that.

Dead Space and BioShock also share a similar setting: an abandoned and mysterious colony where something horrible has happened. Along with the setting, another similarity BioShock and Dead Space share is their mode of storytelling. Instead of being told story elements by NPCs or through cutscenes, Dead Space uses text logs and voice diaries to inform the player of what happened aboard the Ishimura. Although story isn't the game's strong suit, it's interesting enough, but impatient gamers can skip as much of the story as they please. (WHAT?! I have to READ in this game? THIS IS AN INJUSTICE OF GREAT PROPORTIONS!)

As of right now, I'm in Chapter Five, so I figure I'm about halfway through the game. As I feared, the beginning of the game is scary enough, but the tension quickly fades as you become more powerful and the necromorphs become less mysterious. They're frightening enough as you catch brief glimpses of them early in the game, but once you actually see them in their glory, they become a little silly. And I can only fight the same monster so many times before I begin to grow weary. Still, it isn't stopping me from enjoying the game.

Like I said, I'll review the game once I finish it, so for now, I'll just leave it at that. I didn't mean to write so much; I just wanted to let people know that I haven't forgotten about my dear ol' brog. So forgive my spelling mistakes and occasionally bad syntax in this post, I wrote it in one go without reviewing it for mistakes.

Until next time (which will be sooner, I promise).