The Dead Space games do a masterful job of presenting nightmarish and visceral sci-fi imagery, thanks largely to its macabre artwork. The Art of Dead Space is a compendium that chronicles the series’ wildly imaginative art, featuring concepts, settings, and an extensive chapter on the hellish monsters that make the games so terrifying – the Necromorphs. It may just give you bad dreams. You’ve been warned.
Even for people who aren’t really a fan of the series, this hardcover gem is a real treat, especially for horror buffs. As someone who’s played through the first two games, I found the commentary and concept art really fascinating, particularly the Necromorph chapter (no surprises there), which has some of the most unsettling illustrations I’ve ever seen. The book explains that in order to create such disturbing monsters, the artists were required to do some unorthodox research.
“We bought a goat at the butchers,” says Ian Milham, Art Director of Dead Space 1 and 2. “There’s actually footage of that goat in the front-end of the first Dead Space, where we were puling it apart and sticking our hands in it. We were trying to get that contrast between pallid skin and insides, old blood versus new blood and all that kind of stuff. Fish blood was also really good – it’s really dark and it coagulates, and it’s got a real thick viscous quality that is kind of horrific.”
And the results speak for themselves, as the artists who created and developed the Necromorphs succeeded in fashioning some of the most hideous creatures ever. Many of these iconic beasts are proudly displayed in the book, along with artist commentary. There’s a lot of insight to be pulled from The Art of Dead Space that you won’t necessarily find in the games; it’s your backstage pass to the nightmare that is Dead Space, and fans of the series are sure to eat up every page.
The book compiles art from every game in the series (including the just released Dead Space 3), and in addition to exploring the characters, gear, and locations of the Dead Space universe, the book also showcases how the Unitology religion came to be, along with with a hefty serving of the series cultural propoganda, such as the enigmatic Peng.
The Art of Dead Space is published by Titan Books and features full color illustrations throughout 192 pages. It is bound in hardcover and retails for $34.95.
Pssst! For the time being, you can get it at Amazon.com for little more than twenty bucks. Your welcs, homie.
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| Mark A. Brooks uses the A. initial in his name so as to seperate himself from the teeming legions of other Mark Brookses (there are at least 65,000 in the state of Michigan alone).
Keep up with him on twitter, because why not. @unoriginalG Mark A. Brooks has written 578 posts on Delta Attack. |
