+ PROS:+ Several "jump out of your skin" scares throughout the game+ Upgradable weapons, armor, etc.+ Unique method to dispatch Necromorphs+ Greatest Hits pricing makes this game a bargain- CONS:- Only takes 3-4 days to complete (on easier modes)- Scare factor is diminished with repeated play-throughs- Some missions feel like repetitive fetch-quests- Slight glitch with object pick-upsPLOT:The year is 2508. The Planetcracker ship USG Ishimura sent out a distress call; and the crew of the USG Kellion was dispatched to get them up and running again. Unfortunately, the landing didn't go too well. Upon entering the station, all was quiet...or so we thought.My shipmates and I were savagely attacked by some kind of monsters. I can't explain what they looked like...not without sounding completely insane.We're alone out here. No help is coming. We'll have to fight smart if we want to stay alive.GAMEPLAY:We take control of Isaac, an engineer who starts out with a basic suit of armor and no gun. As the game progresses, various weapons and schematics can be found all over the ship.Each level has ship repair objectives to complete and two of the levels have mini-games, but the main gameplay focus is combat with the alien infestations known as Necromorphs.Isaac learns quickly that shots to the body only stun, and even decapitations are ineffective. Using the sage advice of "cut off their limbs", he strategically dismembers each enemy until there's nothing left.Ash Williams would be so proud.The game is presented in a over-the-shoulder-shooter format almost identical to Resident Evil 4.Killing Necromorphs earns credits, health items, ammunition, or power nodes. Players can buy and sell items at an in-game store; and there are upgrade benches to maximize effectiveness for weapons and armor. Mercifully, the game spoon-feeds us objective locations by using the R3 button so we're not back-tracking for hours to find door keys and such.A power-up called STASIS can be used to freeze Necromorphs while Isaac uses them for target practice/dissection, and another power-up called KINESIS can bring objects to Isaac or hurtle them away with lethal velocity.Some rooms have zero-gravity where Isaac can jump from floor to wall to ceiling and stay attached with magnetic boots, and there are a few boss battles thrown in to keep the game even more intense.BUT IS IT SCARY?The creators of Dead Space did a PHENOMENAL job creating feelings of uncertainty and fear and panic - the phrase "survival horror" is very appropriate. The hallways are dark and cramped, the echo of the floor plates in an empty room gives the player a feeling of dread, and some rooms can only be lit up by the gun Isaac is carrying.This game lulls you into a false sense of security...If you see a Necromorph disappear into the ventilation system, you might think you're safe...but then the music sharply changes and the Necromorph flies out of the vent cover right behind you or above your head, and that delicious moment of gameplayer panic makes you either shoot blindly or you get cleaved in half at the torso.Isaac's spacesuit has a very claustrophobic design to it: the helmet suggests that he has a limited range of vision, we hear panicked gasps and wheezes when he starts getting low on oxygen, and whoever decided to make the "spinal cord health bar" deserves much praise...everything about his outfit is designed to invoke a fear response when he gets attacked.When you play through this game on the easier settings, you might think you've got it made. However, when you try playing on hard/impossible mode, that's where you have to carefully plan out each attack so you don't run out of ammunition.TROPHIES:There are 49 trophies to earn here. Most of them are fairly easy, such as 12 trophies earned for completing each chapter. There are 8 hidden trophies that may require players to make attempts while playing on an easy difficulty setting.Without a doubt, the hardest trophy to earn is to complete the game on the "impossible" difficulty setting. Conservation of ammunition and avoiding damage is paramount, and you'll find yourself doing things like moving dead bodies out of a room so infectious Necromorphs can't create more enemies for you to fight.CONS:The first time through Dead Space will take a while because you're going to jump at everything you see (or don't see). If you play again to earn more trophies, you'll start to memorize the gameplay and you can fly through the levels in about a day or so. Things get a bit easier and less scary, until you try the more difficult play modes.The fetch-questing and revisits to previous levels does get a bit repetitive...each chapter starts with something broken that Isaac has to fix, so we fix it. A junction box turns off, we turn it on. A room loses gravity, we have to restore it...and so forth.To stave off the repetition, the developers borrowed a tactic from Resident Evil 4 and put 2 mini games into Dead Space: One is a Shooting Gallery, the other is Zero-G Basketball. Both are fun to play, though a 2-player option would have been excellent for the basketball game.The only other item I noticed was an occasional error trying to pick up objects. I had to restore my game to the last save point when I couldn't pick up the Captain's RIG, even though it was clearly at my feet. Another time I couldn't take credits out of a hallway box, there was nothing blocking me but it wouldn't register as a clickable item.This only happened to me twice in 3 playthroughs, so just save whenever you have the chance.FINAL VERDICT?Being a horror movie fanatic, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Killing Necromorphs was fun, upgrading my weapons and armor was fun, but being scared of the unknown was the MOST fun. I found myself strategizing more and more when I played on the harder difficulty settings.Dead Space feels like the perfect offspring of The Evil Dead, Event Horizon, and Resident Evil 4. If you're a fan of those movies/games, you will definitely enjoy this.