The backdrops bounce between corny CG and what appears to be a more traditional approach. The animation is jerky, but that’s to be expected with the budget they were on. The production values aren’t great either. Within minutes we’re treated to a brief montage of the lead suiting up and declaring that it’s “about fucking time.” No one ever runs out of bullets until it’s time for them to die. There are no shortage of officers grunting about “doing our job,” captains demanding “a sit-rep ASAP,” and doctors who sound like mad scientists. The dialogue and actions of the characters play out like a greatest hits collection of sci-fi cliches. I think there’s a certain expectation of maturity with an animated movie made for adult audiences, but no amount of blood and gore could pull Downfall above Saturday morning cartoon status. The opening scene is quite similar in the game, comic, and movie.ĭead Space fanboy fellating aside, the movie stands as the weakest piece of the puzzle. That’s something few crossmedia projects accomplish. In fact, Downfall’s biggest accomplishment is that it never contradicts the other parts of the Dead Space universe. The setting is the same as the game, complete with recognizable areas like the morgue in chapter 2. The callbacks to the backstory from the comic and game are fun. That wouldn’t be a problem if Downfall was more solid. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to infer what happened between the comic and game. The game, as revealed in most previews, has you exploring the remains of the Ishimura, a ship that arrived at the colony shortly after the incident. The comic set up the backstory – the takeover of a colony of humans by savage monsters.

With the game being the main ticket, and Downfall coming two weeks later, the middle of the story won’t really be the middle for most people. As an animated movie bridging the gap between the Dead Space comic series and video game, its plot is mostly a foregone conclusion. There are a lot of problems with Dead Space: Downfall.

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