Dead Space Gameplay

Dead Space

Dead Space is a survival horror third-person shooter video game, developed by EA Redwood Shores for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows released in October 2008. The player takes on the role of an engineer named Isaac Clarke, who battles a polymorphic, virus-like, alien infestation which turns humans into grotesque alien monsters called "Necromorphs", on board a stricken interstellar mining ship named the USG Ishimura.It was revealed in September 2009 that Dead Space 2 is in pre-production.

Gameplay

The player takes the role of Isaac Clarke (named after science fiction writers Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke), an engineer who must fight his way through a stricken mining ship infested with hostile, grotesque monstrosities called Necromorphs, which are human corpses transformed and reanimated by an unknown alien organism. The game features an 'over the shoulder' third-person perspective.Players can upgrade modules, including suit and weapons.

The interface of Dead Space does not feature a traditional head-up display. Instead, all information is relayed to the player via holographic projections and the features on the suit and the weapons themselves. For example, a small display on the weapon shows an ammunition count; also, the 'health meter' that indicates Isaac's condition is integrated into the spine of Isaac's armor.Via floating holograms projected in front of Isaac, the player can check the current objectives and the 3D map, or access the inventory screen to manage items. Meanwhile, however, the game still progresses through time, and the player is always in danger of being attacked.The only menus in which the game is not still in progress are the pause and save menus. The player can still be attacked when using the store or upgrade bench, meaning there are effectively no "safe" points.

In combat, the already-dead Necromorphs do not simply die after receiving a certain amount of damage. In fact, depending on how they are wounded, Necromorphs can adopt new stances and tactics, even sprouting new limbs or giving birth to new enemies in the process.[8] To defeat Necromorphs, Isaac must use "strategic dismemberment", the methodical severance of specific limbs or sections of the Necromorph.

In keeping with Isaac's profession as an engineer rather than a soldier, the weapons in Dead Space are mostly improvised from mining tools,such as a plasma cutter, rotary saw, a hydrazine torch used as a flamethrower, and a force cannon emitting powerful shock waves.A military automatic rifle is also available.All weapons feature a secondary-fire mode;for example, the plasma cutter can be rotated 90 degrees for an optimal angle, and the flamethrower can set fire traps. The player must scavenge for ammunition and other various items, which are found throughout the ship or dropped by Necromorphs when killed. Automated stores throughout the ship can be accessed to buy and sell items or store them for later use. Also, the player can use work benches and spend "power nodes" to upgrade Isaac's suit and weapons.

Other than weapons, Isaac is also equipped with other tools to help him survive, solve puzzles, and combat enemies more effectively. These are all contained in his suit, the RIG. Isaac's Stasis ability can be used in the game to slow down enemies and objects temporarily, and a Kinesis module allows Isaac to pick up and throw items.Dead Space also features zero gravity and vacuum environments, and Isaac can navigate through them using his pressurized suit and magnetic boots. Isaac can also enable a GPS laser that will point to the next point of interest.Isaac will eventually suffocate while in a vacuum or a toxic environment as his suit can only contain a limited amount of air, so the player is forced to proceed quickly when in these situations. Also, Isaac can jump from platform to platform in weightless environments. Some levels even lead out onto the surface of the ship's hull. Floating debris presents a hazard, however, and if they hit Isaac can lose his footing and simply float off into space.

Plot

Dead Space takes place in the 26th century. The USG Ishimura ("石村" literally "Stone Village") "Planet Cracker" ship, during the process of mining the planet of Aegis VII, sends out a distress signal to the Concordance Extraction Corporation (CEC); the CEC dispatches the USG Kellion to investigate. As the Kellion attempts to dock with the Ishimura, a malfunction occurs and the Kellion is badly damaged, crashing into the Ishimura's dock. The crew then begins to seek another means of transport by venturing into the Ishimura. As they explore the apparently abandoned ship, they are attacked by grotesque monsters, who kill off all but Clarke, Hammond, and Daniels. Hammond recognizes that many of the ship's systems are failing, threatening the ship due to a nearby asteroid belt, and sends Clarke around the ship to fix the core systems to keep them alive.

During these treks, Clarke discovers various text and audio logs scattered throughout the ship and pieces together the events that transpired before his arrival: the ship's captain was actually an agent of the "Church of Unitology", a large and influential religious cult. The Ishimura is assigned to retrieve his religion's most deified relic, known as "The Marker", from Aegis VII, under the guise of an illegal mining operation as the planet itself has been deemed off-limits by the Earth government. Soon after the Marker was extracted and brought to the Ishimura the civilians, first on the planet-side colony then the ship, suffered from mass hysteria brought on by violent hallucinations, before subsequently killing each other. The captain cuts off traffic and communications between the two sides and later goes insane as well, prompting Dr. Terrance Kyne, the Chief Science Officer, to relieve him of duty, only to accidentally kill him in a struggle. An alien organism then began ravaging the colony, infecting the bodies of the dead and turning them into "Necromorphs" - mindless abominations that kill to spread the infestation. It then spread to the Ishimura via a colony shuttle that crashes into the docking bay, carrying several Necromorphs on board. Though Hammond states that he is unaware of what the Marker is, Daniels confides to Clarke that she believes Hammond is lying. Clarke later encounters his girlfriend Nicole, one of the Ishimura's crew, though they are unable to meet directly.

With the critical systems repaired, the three are able to launch a beacon, attracting a nearby military ship, the USM Valor. However, the Valor, having picked up an escape pod launched earlier by Hammond containing a Necromorph, is overrun and crashes into the ship. Hammond then deduces, from the heavy military equipment he finds on board, that the Valor was actually assigned to destroy the Ishimura. The group then decides that they must find a shuttle and escape while they can. Clarke and Hammond retrieve the Valor's power core in order to repair an available shuttle, but Hammond is killed by a Necromorph Brute in the process. Dr. Kyne, one of the few survivors, later contacts Clarke and urges him to return the Marker to Aegis VII, believing that it was a means of restraining the Hive Mind that controls the Necromorphs. After assisting Clarke in loading the Marker onto the shuttle, Kyne is murdered by Daniels, who reveals her position as a government operative ordered to retrieve the Marker for her superiors. She further reveals that the Marker is a reverse-engineered copy of an artifact found on Earth, and was placed on Aegis VII by the government to monitor its effects. She then leaves on the shuttle without Clarke, but Nicole arrives and is able to help him recall it, prompting Daniels to flee via an escape pod.

Clarke takes the shuttle with the Marker back to the colony, and replaces it there. This pacifies the Hive Mind, but also disrupts the gravity tethers holding a large portion of the planet several miles off the surface, threatening to destroy the colony. As Clarke attempts to escape, Daniels appears and starts to take the Marker back to the shuttle. She shows Clarke (through a fully recovered distress transmission) that Nicole actually committed suicide by injecting herself with what appears to be a poison before they arrived on the Ishimura, and Clarke's visions of her had been the Marker's way of attempting to bring itself back to the planet. Clarke makes his way back to the shuttle where Daniels is loading the Marker. Before she can leave, the gigantic Hive Mind kills her, but Clarke is able to defeat it. Leaving the Marker behind, Clarke flies off in the shuttle before the colony is destroyed. As he sets course away from Aegis VII, Clarke removes his helmet and watches Nicole's first transmission again. Lost in thought, he then suffers a hallucination of a "dead" Nicole, caused by his dealings with the Red Marker. The screen cuts to black and the game ends.

Characters

Isaac Clarke - The main character and silent protagonist of the game. Isaac is a ship system specialist and an engineer traveling aboard the shuttle Kellion to investigate and repair the USG Ishimura, accompanied by three security personnel and a computer specialist, Kendra Daniels. Unfortunately for them, they are thrust into the middle of the nightmare that the USG Ishimura has become. Clarke is also trying to find his girlfriend, Nicole, a medical specialist assigned to the ship, whose fate is unknown at the start of the game. Throughout the game, Isaac stumbles across a conspiracy involving the Church of Unitology and the government. It is also implied that Clarke's mother is a high ranking member of The Church Of Unitology. Isaac is the only non-speaking character in Dead Space, only producing unarticulated sounds.
Kendra Daniels - Kendra is a technologist and part of the team sent aboard the Ishimura to repair communication systems. She helps the player through the Ishimura in many ways, giving directions and assisting through areas of the ship that would otherwise be inaccessible. She frequently expresses distrust of Hammond, but turns out to know more about the situation than anyone previously thought. Tonantzin Carmelo provides her likeness and voices Kendra.
Zach Hammond - The senior security officer on board the Kellion who travels with both Isaac and Kendra to the Ishimura. Hammond's initial desire to complete the original mission and not immediately abort puts him at odds with Kendra, who finds this suspicious. Throughout the game, he works to fulfill their original mission, but as time goes on, he becomes more disillusioned and focuses instead on getting himself and the rest of the surviving team off the ship. Peter Mensah is the voice and likeness of Hammond.
Dr. Challus Mercer - A doctor aboard the USG Ishimura, a devout Unitologist and one of the main antagonists of Dead Space. In the wake of the calamity that has gripped the Ishimura, Mercer has become a religious fanatic, attempting to convince the crew of the Ishimura to commit mass suicide. Mercer often works to bar the progress of Isaac and even attempts to kill him outright, sending a "prototype" regenerating Necromorph nicknamed "Hunter" after Isaac several times throughout the course of the game. He may be responsible for getting rid of most the escape pods in the Ishimura in order for the crew to be killed and become Necromorphs, as he eventually allows himself to be killed by a Necromorph "Infector". To Mercer, everything that has happened is God's will; he insists repeatedly that Isaac should allow himself to die and let Mercer's "children" to take over. Navid Negahban is the voice and likeness of Mercer.
Doctor Terrence Kyne - The Chief Science Officer of the Ishimura who appears later in the game and asks for help from the surviving members of the Kellion team. He is suffering from dementia but offers to aid Isaac in stopping the nightmare that has gripped the Aegis System and the Ishimura. Kyne attempted to relieve Captain Matthius of duty during the crisis on the ship, but instead seems to have been complicit in the captain's death either in whole or in part. He regularly interacts with his dead wife, an apparition caused by the Red Marker that can't be seen by the player. He also believes the Marker was containing the Hive Mind, and that the only way to contain the Necromorphs is to put the Marker back into place on Aegis VII. He is then shot and killed near the end of the game by Kendra as she flees the Ishimura with the marker. Keith Szarabajka is both the voice and likeness of Dr. Kyne, and also provided that role in the animated movie Dead Space: Downfall.
Nicole Brennan - Isaac's girlfriend and a medical specialist assigned to the Ishimura. The game starts with a video from Nicole, asking for help after the ship's infestation, establishing one of Clarke's reasons for coming to the Ishimura. He meets and receives messages from Nicole several times as he moves through the ship and she, like Dr. Kyne, believes that the Red Marker must be returned to the surface of the planet, repeatedly asking Isaac to "make us whole again." Her voice and likeness is provided by Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Iyari Limon. She also appears in Dead Space: Extraction.

Necromorphs

The major threats of Dead Space are a species of violent aliens known as "Necromorphs", most of which are human corpses that have been reanimated by a strange alien microbe. Several logs and other information throughout the game explain as to how it was created or originated.

The main strategy employed by the virus is the rapid transformation of deceased humans into Necromorphs. This is usually performed by an "Infector" type that latches onto a corpse, penetrating the skull with a proboscis. Other mutations are largely variable, including short tentacles, large tumorous growths, and corroded flesh. This is the main form of Necromorphs, but many others exist, including tentacled creatures called Lurkers, which are made from the converted corpses of infants, and heavily mutated crawling variants, known as Leapers. Some of the Necromorphs are made up of multiple corpses merged together to form very large monstrosities, such as the massive, gorilla-like Brutes. In addition to the humanoid Necromorphs, known as 'Slashers', encountered in the course of the game, there also exists an extensive presence of some biological material seen clinging to the walls of the ship's interior. Furthermore, Isaac encounters several enormous Necromorphs, far too large to have been formed out of human bodies, and which vary greatly in physical composition.

The virus' DNA code was engraved on the Black Marker, an obelisk-like alien artifact discovered on Earth by Michael Altman, founder of Unitology. Experiments with the DNA code for purposes of biological warfare resulted in a polymorphic virus that responds only to necrotized tissue, transforming dead bodies into the ravenous Necromorphs. As it is put in the game, the Infectors' task is to turn corpses into Necromorphs, and the other variants' job is to create more corpses.