I’m just beginning the fourth chapter of Dead Space, and I’ve found myself pleasantly surprised about a number of things. I’ll admit that in many ways it feels like a direct copy of Doom, but Dead Space calls itself a survival horror game rather than a shooter. As such it borrows concepts from the earlier Resident Evil games, and this works to its favor.

For example, the game has succeeded in starling me at least twice, and the last game to do that was Resident Evil 2. [insert golf clap here] The game’s store also has a vault feature, which works exactly the same as Resident Evil’s chest system. Neither actually makes much sense, but they’re very useful inventory management tools. I could go on about save points and weapon upgrades, but those are very common mechanics.

The method by which weapons are upgraded is also pretty cool. You’re given a grid with different points. By finding power nodes, you can weld them into the weapon’s grid and upgrade ammo capacity, reload speed, damage, or other attributes.

I would probably consider Dead Space more a shooter than a survival horror game, but that said, the game still has a number of genuinely cool moments. The weapons are also unique and a lot of fun to use. They’re generally focused towards removing limbs from enemies, since in Dead Space, as Yahtzee so eloquently put it, “limb shots are the new head shots”. One really neat feature of the game’s main weapon, the plasma cutter, is its ability to change the angle of its cut from horizontal to vertical.

While I much prefer mouse and keyboard for this type of game, I found the Dualshock 3 controls to be as intuitive as any other gamepad game I’ve played. I’ve often said that the only shooter I played with a gamepad and enjoyed was Resident Evil 4, but Dead Space comes very close, largely in part to the fact that every weapon in the game has a laser site. There’s another thing Dead Space has borrowed from a Resident Evil game. Now I only wish I had Resident Evil 2’s quick turn ability, where I could pull an instant about face by hitting a certain button. With all the necromorphs sneaking up behind me and dropping out of overhead vents, it would be very very useful.

The game’s two coolest innovations are the zero-G areas and the total vacuum areas, which sometimes overlap. There are zero-G areas with air, and there are airless areas with gravity. The zero-gravity areas are implemented so much better than Prey’s gravity strips. You stick to walls with gravity boots most of the time, but can choose to leap through space and attach to another surface at any time. And the coolest thing about the vacuum areas is the sound. Without air, sound doesn’t travel well, and even life-or-death struggles make nearly no sound. Speaking of sound, the creepy music in Dead Space is probably the best spooky music I’ve ever heard.

I also appreciate the game’s transparent checkpoints. When killed, rather than going all the way back to my last save, I only go back to the previous checkpoint, although I may not know exactly where that was. The game is also very easy to navigate, as in addition to the 3d map, you can also hit R3 to see a line along the floor leading to your goal.

Overall, I’m enjoying the game, although given how quickly I’ve reached chapter 4, I’m wondering how long the game will be.