Dead Space more of a shooter with RPG elements and heavy atmosphere than a survival horror. Similar to Bioshock and System Shock 2.

It's not that I'm scared so much as worn out by being in a constant state of tension and alertness. The medical area in Bioshock is the closest it gets to what is on offer in Dead Space. That area was built to be creepy in order to suppliment Doctor Steinnman.

Dead Space is employing all of the tricks. It has sudden shocks. It has creeping dread. It has tense audio and atmosphere. It has psychological tricks. It has monsters you catch a glimpse of and then lose track. It has obvious trap rooms. It has blood, guts, gore and horrific ugly monsters. It has surviving people driven into terrible states. It has safe rooms which turn out to be not so safe on your final trip through. It has build up from audio logs. Out of all of these only the atmosphere touches me. The rest bounce off, same as normal.

The default gun is neat; it's all I am using. It packs a punch, is accurate, reloads and fires at a good pace, and provided you are a good aim the clip size is good. The alternate fire mode demonstrates the game's idea about combat quite well. In standard mode the gun fires a beam which is like this - In alternate mode it fires like | The beam set up is the only difference; power, accuracy, nothing else is affected. Different modes are better for removing limbs from different monsters.