Electronic Arts gets a lot of grief from gamers. Their catalog is heavy on movie-based games that have to meet a rock-solid release date, or sports games that have to come out on a yearly basis. These games are always released for multiple platforms on a short time table, and they almost always suffer in some fashion because of it.

So what happens when EA gets a chance to show what they can do?

Really good things, man. Really good things.

Dead Space was developed by EA Redwood Shores, who have created a dark, gritty, atmospheric fright-fest that can stand toe-to-toe with any game in the survival horror genre.

You play through the game as engineer Isaac Clarke, an employee of the Concordance Extraction Corporation. The CEC owns fleets of mining ships that literally tear planets apart for their mineral resources. One of CEC’s ships, the USG Ishimura, has broadcast a distress signal, and Isaac is part of a five-person team sent to investigate what is believed to be a simple malfunction. While docking with the Ishimura, your ship is destroyed, stranding your party aboard the damaged vessel. The Ishimura and crew have been horribly ravaged by unknown lifeforms, and you must fend off your attackers while following the guidance of your comrades to get the ship functional again.

The name of the game is survival horror, and nothing scares people like a good bump in the night. Dead Space has a lot of it. Your weapons cast a flashlight glow a short distance in front of you, and I found myself with weapon poised at the ready as much for the light as for the protection. Clicking down on the right thumbstick will place a blue line on the floor (as seen though your HUD) that points you to your next objective. You can also see the line in its entirety by hitting the back button, which brings up a map of your current area.

So here you are, Isaac the engineer, running these little errands for your crewmates and trying to get the ship ship-shape again. And there are all of these … things … that would love to rip you in half so your spleen can bob along in the vacuum of space.