Dead Space (2008)

Third-person shooter Dead Space (2008) is the foundation of a series of sci-fi horror survival games about the suffering of engineer Isaac Clarke in the depths of the Universe. In 2023, Dead Space was released — a reworked version of the original with numerous graphical improvements, new cutscenes, several plot adjustments, and all additional content.

Full of misadventures, violence, and dismemberment, Dead Space tells the story of survival in the cramped spaces of a ghost ship that sent a distress signal from deep space. The main character, Isaac Clarke, volunteered for the rescue team out of fear of losing his beloved, who remained on the ill-fated ship. The spaceship, as if alive, resists any attempts to leave it. It is captured by necromorphs — dynamically shape-shifting zombies that can only be defeated by dismembering their limbs. This is harder than it seems when only engineering equipment is available.

The near future. Humanity is struggling to move into space, building space stations and colonizing planets in nearby systems. The expansion is constrained by a shortage of minerals, which cyclopean ships, grinding planets into dust, are supposed to cover. One of them, the "Ishimura," somewhere in deep space, began to gut the planet Aegis VII and stopped communicating. This triggered a chain of fatal events that only the player can interrupt.

The lore of "Dead Space" is well-developed, both in general and in detail, swelling with info from the depths of the past to the beginning of the game. In the first hours, one can learn about the local political system, major corporations, the sect of fanatic unitologists and their influence on all spheres of life, how the world's economy works, what technologies have been invented, and even the everyday problems of future people. All this helps to better immerse in the atmosphere and events.

The premise of Dead Space creates intrigue and many questions, but the writers ration the answers and slowly immerse the player in the plot, unraveling it fully in the last quarter of the game. The story, though linear, is unconventional, with a couple of plot twists and unexpected betrayals, keeping the tension until the very end.

The staging by modern standards is outdated, but it successfully conveys how Isaac Clarke, finding himself in a stressful situation as he delves deeper into the "Ishimura," reaches a peak of nervous tension and experiences horrifying hallucinations, yet finds the strength to fight for his life and sanity.

In addition to the main quest, secondary storylines develop, tied to Isaac: relationships with his girlfriend, communication with allies, survival itself, the struggle with the ship and the antagonist. Additional characters in the cutscenes will explain their motives on the "Ishimura" and show their character. Following the horror canon, most of the data can be gleaned from text, audio, and video recordings.

Dead Space changed the traditional rules of shooters. Isaac is far from a fighter, but an aging engineer, so any action is difficult for him — movements are slowed, he can only shoot after aiming, the recoil hits his hands, and he strikes with all his weight. This feature of the protagonist creates tension in any skirmish, especially when different enemies attack.

The roster includes about a dozen species and two types - regular and improved. The combat is based on the mechanics of cutting off limbs from the body, which is facilitated by the highly modified shape of the bodies of people who have turned into necromorphs, and the arsenal represented by a miner's tool for working with rock.

Cutters, saws, impact and pipe cutters do not hit the target, but release damage in a plane, the slope of which is determined by the player himself. Over time, the weapon of last resort appears - the army assault rifle. All “trunks” can be upgraded by improving the basic characteristics. And the alternative shooting mode expanded the scope of their application.

The enemies are very persistent, knocking out health points or aiming at the head is just a waste of ammunition. Even if they lose “spare parts,” they will not die immediately, but will continue to attack for some time. More advanced ones will regenerate severed parts through necro-mutations and will become even more dangerous.

Close combat is rudimentary - hand hooks will push away enemies that come close, and stomps will finish off crawling ones. They will also allow you to knock out useful items from enemies or from boxes. A necromorph that comes too close can trigger a QTE, and if lost, the player will see the protagonist's cruel fatality.

The hero's engineering armor is equipped with stasis and kinesis modules. The first slows down moving objects, from fans to necromorphs, the second allows you to pick up certain objects and throw them at the same enemies.

The passage of Dead Space is a linear movement forward with crushing undead and clearing locations, searching for secrets and additional rooms with resources, solving engineering problems and puzzles. Diversity comes from levels without gravity, where you need to walk with the help of magnetic boots, and levels in outer space, where you need to save oxygen.

All collected resources go into a compact inventory and are spent on various improvements through the workbench, and credits can be spent on equipment, first aid kits and ammunition in stores.

It is necessary to visit each compartment and repair many systems - fighting for survival, the team has brought the Ishimura into critical condition, the ship is ready to fall apart. The compartments of the futuristic spaceship look convincing, its structure is logically thought out and well interconnected, although the visuals suffer from monotonous execution.

Suspense is pumped up through all channels of perception - hand-crafted, gloomy and ominous scenery; nauseating enemies; a bunch of “screamers” based on the script and QTE for any reason; sound accompaniment appropriate to each moment. The hellish screams and screams of necromorphs behind the bulkheads, the sounds of bursting flesh, the slamming of doors and the grinding of mechanisms, the noise of the surrounding space and so on, instantly inspire a feeling of fear and constant danger.