Deep within the vast, dark expanse of space the mining ship USG Ishimura hangs in silence in orbit of a planet below. Drifting in to investigate why communication with the ship has been lost, Isaac Clarke boards the dank and blood stained vessel unaware of the nightmare he's about to enter...
Dead Space
Mainline Entry 01 - Dead Space
Formats: Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC
Following in the footsteps of Capcoms Resident Evil 4 reboot effort, EA took on Viscerals new future set survival horror title that transported similar gameplay to the space setting but with a greater emphasis on weapon upgrading and psychological terror. The greater mystery of the events on board the ship unfold as Isaac explores its innards seeking his girlfriend Nicole. The game received immediate praise for its polished presentation, scares and gameplay as well as the subtle yet intuitive manner in which the traditional HUD elements were grafted into Isaacs suit design making their presentation useful but more immersive. Selling over 2m units, the game was a breakout success and EA had a new hit franchise on its hands.
Spin Off Entry 01 - Dead Space: Extraction
Formats: Wii and Playstation 3
This on-rails shooter acts as a prequel to the original game, showing the events of the outbreak as they unfold. The player works their way through a exact design replica of the Ishimura (impressively) from the first game as they aim to escape the doomed vessel. Developed in an incredible mere 14 months, the game never proved to be a hit but it immediately became a key example of the genre done well to those who played it thanks to the impressive use of the Wii origin hardware, its narrative strength and fun mechanics.
Spin Off Entry 02- Dead Space: Ignition
Formats: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Acting as a prequel to the impending sequel game, Ignition was a puzzle game developed partially by Sumo and mixed puzzles with an interactive comic and once again covers an initial outbreak that the main game follows. Unlike the Wii title Extraction, this fared very poorly in reviews with no-one taking to the budget puzzle nature of the title.
Mainline Entry 02 - Dead Space 2
Formats: Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3
Set on the Sprawl, a space station three years after the events of the original game, the sequel see's Isaac awake from cryosleep with no memory of the last few years. Awakening just as the outbreak takes hold, Isaac once again finds himself fleeing for his life plagued by visions and a call by the Marker. The sequel amped up the action compared to the first game and refined some of the mechanics but broadly remained consistent. It's main change was the addition of a multiplayer mode that mixed team and horde mechanics for the most part but failed to expand its hit status. The game was a big hitter and reportedly doubled the sales of the first game.
Expansion Entry 01 - Dead Space 2: Severed
Formats: Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3
On occasion in these threads a game will have DLC worth mentioning on its own. In DS2, the first story expansion returned to the characters of Extraction and follows Gabe as he follows his own narrative running parallel to Isaacs. The gameplay is the same as the main game but the continuous nature of the sub-plot and its context against the spin-off and mainline entries makes it worth exploring for fans.
Spin Off Entry 03 - Dead Space
Formats: Mobile
Mobile entries rarely feature in these threads but this title repurposed a lot of the original games design but in the context of a canonical spin-off, set shortly after the original game following a Unitologist betrayer. Though using touch screen controls, gameplay follows a traditional series model and proved highly regarded for its platform.
Mainline Entry 03 - Dead Space 3
Formats: Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3
John Carver joins Isaac in this trilogy closer to bring co-op to a series that should have never seen it due to it being the in-fad during the time. The addition of cover and rolling to Isaacs moveset was seen as a way of expanding the moves whilst making more contextual sense of encounters. Ignoring the inherent issues of co-op in this sub-genre, Visceral designed areas and encounters so players could defend and support each other yet continue fine if the other player wasn't present. This opened areas up and coupled with the new moves felt like the series was straying well away from its roots. The game was once again well received though these changes were often the ones cited as the aspects that proved least popular.
Expansion Entry 02 - Dead Space 3: Awakened
Formats: Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3
Set after the climax of the third game, Isaac and John awaken and must find a way back to Earth after realising the Marker is still in effect. The action continues off planet aboard their escape ship before leading to a climactic cliffhanger that would have seen the story finally reach Earth itself. However, that wasn't to be as the game failed to meet EA's projections and the company ruthlessly axed the entire franchise.
Share your thoughts and memories of the Dead Space series
Dead Space
Mainline Entry 01 - Dead Space
Formats: Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC
Following in the footsteps of Capcoms Resident Evil 4 reboot effort, EA took on Viscerals new future set survival horror title that transported similar gameplay to the space setting but with a greater emphasis on weapon upgrading and psychological terror. The greater mystery of the events on board the ship unfold as Isaac explores its innards seeking his girlfriend Nicole. The game received immediate praise for its polished presentation, scares and gameplay as well as the subtle yet intuitive manner in which the traditional HUD elements were grafted into Isaacs suit design making their presentation useful but more immersive. Selling over 2m units, the game was a breakout success and EA had a new hit franchise on its hands.
Spin Off Entry 01 - Dead Space: Extraction
Formats: Wii and Playstation 3
This on-rails shooter acts as a prequel to the original game, showing the events of the outbreak as they unfold. The player works their way through a exact design replica of the Ishimura (impressively) from the first game as they aim to escape the doomed vessel. Developed in an incredible mere 14 months, the game never proved to be a hit but it immediately became a key example of the genre done well to those who played it thanks to the impressive use of the Wii origin hardware, its narrative strength and fun mechanics.
Spin Off Entry 02- Dead Space: Ignition
Formats: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Acting as a prequel to the impending sequel game, Ignition was a puzzle game developed partially by Sumo and mixed puzzles with an interactive comic and once again covers an initial outbreak that the main game follows. Unlike the Wii title Extraction, this fared very poorly in reviews with no-one taking to the budget puzzle nature of the title.
Mainline Entry 02 - Dead Space 2
Formats: Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3
Set on the Sprawl, a space station three years after the events of the original game, the sequel see's Isaac awake from cryosleep with no memory of the last few years. Awakening just as the outbreak takes hold, Isaac once again finds himself fleeing for his life plagued by visions and a call by the Marker. The sequel amped up the action compared to the first game and refined some of the mechanics but broadly remained consistent. It's main change was the addition of a multiplayer mode that mixed team and horde mechanics for the most part but failed to expand its hit status. The game was a big hitter and reportedly doubled the sales of the first game.
Expansion Entry 01 - Dead Space 2: Severed
Formats: Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3
On occasion in these threads a game will have DLC worth mentioning on its own. In DS2, the first story expansion returned to the characters of Extraction and follows Gabe as he follows his own narrative running parallel to Isaacs. The gameplay is the same as the main game but the continuous nature of the sub-plot and its context against the spin-off and mainline entries makes it worth exploring for fans.
Spin Off Entry 03 - Dead Space
Formats: Mobile
Mobile entries rarely feature in these threads but this title repurposed a lot of the original games design but in the context of a canonical spin-off, set shortly after the original game following a Unitologist betrayer. Though using touch screen controls, gameplay follows a traditional series model and proved highly regarded for its platform.
Mainline Entry 03 - Dead Space 3
Formats: Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3
John Carver joins Isaac in this trilogy closer to bring co-op to a series that should have never seen it due to it being the in-fad during the time. The addition of cover and rolling to Isaacs moveset was seen as a way of expanding the moves whilst making more contextual sense of encounters. Ignoring the inherent issues of co-op in this sub-genre, Visceral designed areas and encounters so players could defend and support each other yet continue fine if the other player wasn't present. This opened areas up and coupled with the new moves felt like the series was straying well away from its roots. The game was once again well received though these changes were often the ones cited as the aspects that proved least popular.
Expansion Entry 02 - Dead Space 3: Awakened
Formats: Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3
Set after the climax of the third game, Isaac and John awaken and must find a way back to Earth after realising the Marker is still in effect. The action continues off planet aboard their escape ship before leading to a climactic cliffhanger that would have seen the story finally reach Earth itself. However, that wasn't to be as the game failed to meet EA's projections and the company ruthlessly axed the entire franchise.
Share your thoughts and memories of the Dead Space series
Comment