Dead Space
Released back in 2008, Dead Space rocked the horror world thanks to its excellent setting, creature design, and unique story that tasked players with surviving an alien infested spaceship. However, where Dead Space truly shined was in its dismemberment based combat that removed the traditional idea of shooting an undead being in the head. Instead, players were forced to cut off enemy limbs to not only hurt them, but put them down for good. This offered an inventive way for players to approach each engagement, as lopping off the legs of certain creatures forced them to crawl towards you at a slower pace.
The approach offered a layer of complexity we do not often see in horror game combat systems, and afforded players a unique amount of freedom. Yet, this could have easily undermined the scares of the game if developer Visceral games didn’t dial up enemy aggression to 11. What this creates is incredibly fast paced, moment to moment gameplay that has yet to ever be recreated outside of this series.
