bit-tech Shopping: Electronic Arts Dead Space (PC)

• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Microsoft Windows XP

Rating: 6

Time with product: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Fantastic graphics and sound; probably the start of a whole new franchise; new style of monster killing

Weaknesses: Ported to PC from consoles, and the mouse suffers as a result

Summary: Overall this is really an amazingly entertaining and addictive video game; this is one of that select group that made me lose all track of time, frequently playing into the dawn without realizing it. The graphics and sound are simply fantastic, and more than once I actually caught myself sitting on the edge of my seat - quite literally, and unintentionally. They're definitely on to the start of a whole new franchise here. The new monster-killing twist - you have to dismember them, rather than going for headshots or chest shots - requires quite a bit of adjustment, and precision aiming. After the adjustment, it's really fun. But that adjustment is nothing compared to the 3rd-person, over-the shoulder-or-from-just-behind viewpoint; that is something they should simply do without, or make optional, at the very least. It limits your view and experience too much, and makes for some truly nauseating moments for the first few hours, until you adjust. And finally, the mouse lag is horrible, and has generally been pointed out by every professional review site as an error that needs patching; it clearly indicates an incomplete port from the consoles. PCs are great precisely because of their graphical horsepower, but you have to disable VSync to play this game at all with a mouse. With it turned on - which it is by default - the lag is so bad that it is nausea-inducing in and of itself (like a deliberately slow camera panning in a movie). And with VSync off, the tearing is pretty bad. But overall, it's a great game, and so long as VSync is off, you'll probably love it too, as soon as you adjust (but remember you won't adjust for at least the first hour).