Dead Space: Salvage

Dead Space was the first game in a very long time that has truly sucked me in, made me thoroughly explore its universe, ferret out every little secret and play through multiple times. Oh, and freak me the hell out.

Seeing how much I loved it, I'm mostly happy about the fact EA seemed to leap on Dead Space as a target to build an expanded universe around, and to date have created two animated movies, two graphic novels, a one-shot comic, a novel, a Wii spinoff game, a universally panned downloadable mini-game and a sequel (which I am still waiting to play as soon as I have a new console).

I'm a sucker for this kind of thing - once I'm invested in a world I want to know everything about it. I'm often tempted to buy stuff even when I know it's highly likely to be crap. In other words, I'm a completist.

Here I want to talk about Salvage, the latest graphic novel, which was released in the run up to the Dead Space 2 launch.

First things first, what hits you as soon as you open the book is simply how beautiful this thing is. I loved the art in the original Dead Space graphic novel, but it was less well suited to the universe. With art by Christopher "Ronin" Shy this time - no stranger to the genre - the imagery is effortlessly evocative of the wonderfully creepy atmosphere the game oozes with. Too often comics are guilty of supplying stunning cover-art and putting far less effort into what's inside. Not here. Whilst occasionally Shy's unique style can dip into the uncanny valley, or sometimes leave characters with somewhat wooden features, these are mere nitpicks. It is perfectly suited to the setting and a real joy to admire.

Unfortunately the story fails to reach the same heights. Whilst the writing is solid and the characters are believable, the plot fails to tread any new ground or add to the setting in any real way. We're told the story of a group of "magpies" who stumble upon the USG Ishimura (the ship on which Dead Space takes place) and decide to move in and see what they can salvage. A couple of elements are added to the story that hold it a little above people-find-ship, people-die-on-ship, but not that far above.

As an art book, Salvage shines. As a graphic novel, less so. If you're a fan of the universe and are hungry for more, it's well worth a look, but is far from essential reading for anybody else.