Dead Space Ignition

The Short


Pros
- Bridges the gap between Dead Space and Dead Space 2...sort of
- Multiple endings
- Has a character that shows up (and is killed) in the first few moments of Dead Space 2
- Unlocks some gear and text/voice logs in Dead Space 2
- Was free if you pre-ordered Dead Space 2


Cons
- Actual game is total garbage
- Story is poorly written and poorly voice acted
- Animations for the "active comic" look horrendous
- Only has three "games," all of which quickly get dull and tedious
- Costs $5 if you didn't pre-order. It should just be free.

Dead Space Ignition only has three "games" included

The Long

Dead Space: Ignition is a great example of how to try and ruin an excellent game's upcoming release by promoting it with a crappy one. Made to try and promote the quite good Dead Space 2, Ignition is an "interactive comic" that follows the stories of two people on the Sprawl space station shortly following the necromorph outbreak there (which sets the stage for Dead Space 2). In concept, having a story that (sort of) bridges the gap in story between Dead Space and Dead Space 2 and is provided as a free pre-order exclusive sounds like a good idea. That would have been true, if they'd actually put any time, effort, or care into this "game."

This is some quality art. 

First off, everything regarding the presentation is horrible. The art is hideous. The "animations" could have been done with paper cutouts and moved by three-year-olds. The voice acting is stilted and the script is unrealistic. For a story about a space station being overthrown by rabid zombie aliens, they sure putter around for a good 10 minutes with horrible "romance" and some failed attempt at character development. Once the aliens do show up nobody sounds particularly worried, which is probably more the fault of the voice actors and script than anything else.

As a bonus, the game has a lot of alternate endings, but in order to get to them you have to endure the first horrible bit over and over again. Luckily you can fast-forward through parts you've already seen, which sort of helps if you are burning through it to get all the achievements. But you could just not play this game at all, which would probably be a better idea.

That guy's dead. 

The game has only three minigames, as outlined above, but I'll give you a quick blurb for each. It's worth noting that the puzzles never change between playthroughs, meaning you'll be doing that first puzzle several times for the multiple endings. 

- Hardware Crack is essentially a grid-based, mirror puzzle game. Essentially you have lasers emitting different color lights, and you have to re-arrange the mirrors/splitters given to you in order to have the right colors light up the right nodes. It's actually a pretty decent puzzle, I guess, but isn't particularly exciting. It also gets stupid hard near the end. 

- System Override is a reverse tower defense, where you send out little "viruses" in order to break through a system's defenses (towers). Which would be cool, except it's really easy to just spam specific viruses to easily win. So...this one is cool in concept, total failure in execution. 

- Trace Route is kind of like one of those side-scrolling shooters, mixed with the "survival run" games they love putting out in the iPhone. Basically you are racing through an obstacle course in an attempt to beat the other nodes to the end of a thing. This is the most "game" like of all of them, but there is nothing more frustrating than being right next to the end and having the game cheat to make you start over. 

I sort of light the light puzzle game. I think? Too bad the graphics look so boring. 

If this seems sparse, it's because it is. Each playthrough of Ignition maybe has two of each of these above games, with the games changing slightly when you change "routes" through the story. All in all there's maybe two dozen total unique games which, for a $5 game, is pretty damn awful.

The only positive thing I can think of is that if you have this game and have beaten it on your account, special rooms in the Dead Space 2 game unlock, giving you exclusive audio logs (that relate to Ignition's story, though the game never says which ending is "canon"), some weapons and items, and an exclusive "hacker" suit that is more cosmetic than useful. 

At least you get a pimpin' coat

I bought a code for this game off eBay for $2 because I was getting Dead Space 2 and wanted to be sure I was getting the "whole experience." After playing through the entire game multiple times and finding all the secret rooms unlocked by this game, I can assure you that you are missing out on nothing by completely ignoring this piece of crap. Yeah, having the hacker suit early is nice, and the extra items and money is useful, but is it really worth subjecting yourself to both the hit to your wallet and having to play through this unfun, uninspired prequel? Hint: it isn't. Pretend this game doesn't exist and just play Dead Space 2. It's a lot better.

Since there is hardly a game here, giving it zero out of five stars isn't too difficult. Here's hoping when the inevitable Dead Space 3 comes out their "bonus" to those who pre-order is a bit more rewarding to the early adapters.