Style Case Study #6: Dead Space

Style Case Study #6: Dead Space
Genre: Survival Horror, Action
Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Engine: Godfather Engine, Havok
Release Date: October 14, 2008

Image Source: http://images.wikia.com/deadspace/images/archive/4/47/20130214213841!Dead-Space-Wallpaper-.jpg

Dead Space is a relatively recent addition to the survival horror genre, yet it has already made a strong impression on the industry at large. Granted, this is partly due to some questionable decisions made by it's publisher (really EA? Micro-transactions in a horror game? For shame...). However, at the same time, the series has been lauded for it's visual design and aesthetics, which are inspired by classic horror films such as Alien and Event Horizon.

Of course, the character design is fairly strong in its own right, particularly in how it seamlessly integrates with the gameplay. Let's take a look at the main protagonist, Isaac Clarke; the game's UI is literally incorporated into his design, with his RIG (the glowing thing on his spine) representing his health bar and various holographic projections  being used for menus, ammo etc. If nothing else, it's a clever way of integrating the UI into the general gameplay.

Image Source: http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/dead-space-holographic-hud.jpg

Even without this, however, the various suits that Isaac wears are well designed in their own right. Each one not only looks like something a futuristic engineer (or in some cases, soldier) would wear, but are also practical and ergonomic in their design. Some of them, such as Dead Space 2's Advanced Suit, even managed to look good while defying the 'less is more' rule, which is somewhat impressive. Further more, the various helmets and visors that Isaac wears are each pretty distinctive, with some being almost iconic.

Image Source: http://images.wikia.com/deadspace/images/9/96/Advance_suit_art.jpg

The game's enemies, the Necromorphs, are also disgustingly well designed; their gory, distorted bodies and primal movements are gruesomely alien, while at the same time disturbingly human, resulting in an odd variety of the uncanny valley, which considering that they're enemies in a horror game works well (such as pity the gameplay doesn't make them that scary...). Naturally, the whole game is rendered realistically, and many of the characters' faces are modelled after their voice actors, so no artistic style is used.

Image Source: http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101212220131/deadspace/images/c/c4/DS2_Necromorphs.jpg

So now for the Verdict; did Dead Space's art style result in better character design?
No