I'm sitting here playing Dead Space right now, and it's got me thinking about art in video games these days. Visually, the game is stunning...everything is textured down to the most minute detail, with an overall polish that rivals something you'd get out of a movie studio. Story-wise, it's extremely well-written. Sound-wise, you couldn't ask for a creepier ambiance than what they've given, and it's amazing what you can do with a bunch of string instruments screeching at key points.

Where does the line start to blur between movies and video games? As it stands, the game has absolutely no cutscenes...everything important that happens does so in real-time, with no jerky transitions or loading screens. All the information you need is displayed on the character's back, and melds into it in a way that makes it seem as though it's part of the design, rather than a way to tell you you're about to die. This all adds up to no HUD for the game at all, letting you get completely immersed in it.

With the amount of polish and detail that's gone into every aspect of this game, it makes me wonder when games will cease being games, and movies will cease being movies, and will have a night of heated passion (surprise buttsex) to produce a bastard offspring that will appeal to lovers of both sides. Sure, the Final Fantasy games have always portrayed their stories in a cinematic manner, but all the windows and HUDs and inventories ruin the effect. This is one of the first games I've come across that avoids that issue (although I'm sure there are more out there.)

As technology progresses and better graphics, sound, and writing work their way into game design, the production aspect grows closer to that of a movie, as well. Concept art for games like this ranks up there with top box-office offerings, and more and more game designers and producers are using mainstream actors for voice work. Case in point, the game Heavenly Sword; the main villain is voiced by Andy Serkis, motion-capture lead and voice of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings movies. He also lead the team for motion and facial expression capture for the game, giving it an eerily natural quality to the movement and speech of the characters, some of the best acting and animation in a game to date.

As well, Call of Duty comes to mind when I think of excellent video game acting, especially the second and fourth games; the third game was just a farce. If the other games were a delicious sangiovese, the third game was piss in a Dixie cup. You can't get much more cinematic than Call of Duty 4.

Many people have compared Dead Space to Event Horizon, a Paul Anderson movie (and coincidentally one of his only worthwhile pieces) from 1997. In it, a drifting spaceship is investigated by a team of people to see what happened to it and its crew. ([link])

I distinctly remember watching this movie when I was younger, and being scared shitless by it. At this point in my life, it takes a LOT to scare me, but I find myself literally on the edge of my seat with Dead Space. Every little sound, every bouncing pipe and piece of furniture knocked over, make me whip my camera around and get ready to start shooting. And I'll admit...there have been some points during the game when I gasped in terror. That's a big thing for me, to be actually scared by something I'm watching, even more so because it's a video game.

Flanked by Gears of War 2 and so many other wonderful titles this holiday season, I think we're making grand leaps ahead in the video game industry, tiptoe-ing closer and closer to the movie industry in the hopes of surprising it and shanking it in the kidneys.

I for one can't wait to hand it the knife.

*NINJA EDIT* AND MY AXE!!! (Not for the faint of heart...)

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