Developer : Elctronic Arts
Release date : October 24, 2008
Synopsis :
Dead Space is a 2008 survival horror video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts. It released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows as the debut entry in the Dead Space series. Set on a mining spaceship overrun by deadly monsters called Necromorphs released following the discovery of an artifact called the Marker, the player controls engineer Isaac Clarke as he navigates the spaceship and fights the Necromorphs while struggling with growing psychosis. Gameplay has Isaac exploring different areas through its narrative, solving environmental puzzles and finding ammunition and equipment to survive.
Dead Space was pitched in early 2006, with an early prototype running on Xbox. Creator Glen Schofield wanted to make the most frightening horror game he could imagine, drawing inspiration from the video game Resident Evil 4 and films including Event Horizon and Solaris. The team pushed for innovation and realism in their design, ranging from procedural enemy placement to removing HUD elements. The sound design was a particular focus during production, with the score by Jason Graves designed to evoke tension and unease.
Dead Space debuted slow sales but eventually sold over a million copies worldwide. Critics praised its atmosphere, gameplay and sound design. It won and was nominated for multiple industry awards and has been ranked by journalists as one of the greatest video games ever made. The series spawned two numbered sequels (released in 2011 and 2013), several spin-off titles, and other related media, including a comic book prequel and an animated film. A remake of Dead Space is currently in development by EA’s Motive Studios.
Dead Space is set in the year 2508, a time when humanity has spread throughout the universe. Following near-extinction of human life on Earth due to resource shortages, ships dubbed “Planetcrackers” are being used to harvest resources from barren planets. The oldest Planetcracker is the USG Ishimura, which is performing an illegal mining operation on the planet Aegis VII. The backstory reveals that Aegis VII was the home of a “Red Marker”, a manmade copy of the original alien Marker monolith discovered on Earth. Attempts to weaponise the Marker and its copies led to the creation of a virus-like organism that infected corpses and transformed them into undead creatures called Necromorphs. Two key factions in Dead Space are the Earth Government, which created and then hid the Red Markers, and Unitology, a religious movement that worships the Markers. Unitology was founded in the name of original researcher Michael Altman.
In the events leading up to Dead Space, the colony on Aegis VII discovers the Red Marker hidden there. Following its discovery and the Ishimura’s arrival, first the colonists, and then the ship’s crew, begin suffering from hallucinations and eventually severe mental illness, climaxing in the emergence of the Necromorphs. By the time the maintenance ship Kellion arrives, the entire Aegis VII colony, and all but a few of the Ishimura crew, have been killed or turned into Necromorphs.
The game’s protagonist is Isaac Clarke, an engineer who travels on the Kellion to find out what happened to his girlfriend Nicole Brennan, the Ishimura’s senior medical officer. Aboard the Kellion with Isaac are chief security officer Zach Hammond, and computer technician Kendra Daniels. Unbeknownst to the Kellion crew, Kendra is an Earth government agent sent to control the situation. Other characters encountered by Isaac on the Ishimura are Challus Mercer, an insane scientist who believes the necromorphs are humanity’s ascended form; Dr. Terrence Kyne, a survivor who wants to return the Marker to Aegis VII; and Nicole, who mysteriously communicates with and appears to Isaac at various points through the ship.
Isaac arrives at Aegis VII on the Kellion with Kendra and Hammond. During the journey, Isaac has been repeatedly watching a video message from Nicole. A docking malfunction crashes the Kellion into the Ishimura’s landing bay, and the ship’s quarantine is broken. Necromorphs kill all the Kellion crew but Isaac, Kendra, and Hammond. Isaac navigates the ship, restoring systems and finding parts with which to repair the ship, so that they may escape. They almost succeed, but the Kellion is destroyed in a further malfunction. During these events, all three survivors begin experiencing escalating symptoms of psychosis and dementia, ranging from hallucinations to paranoia.
During his exploration, Isaac learns through audio and video logs about the ship’s presence and Necromorph invasion. The Ishimura’s illegal mining operation on Aegis VII, which was designated off-limits by the Earth Government, was meant to find the Red Marker for the Church of Unitology. The Aegis VII colony was almost entirely wiped out by mass psychosis triggered by the Marker, causing killings and suicides. The Marker was brought aboard the Ishimura, along with survivors and bodies from the colony. A combination of the Marker’s influence, factional fighting and the emerging Necromorph invasion resulted in the deaths of nearly everyone aboard. Isaac finds the two remaining survivors of the Ishimura crew: Dr. Terrence Kyne, who has abandoned his belief in Unitology, and Dr. Challus Mercer, who has gone insane and worships the Necromorphs.
Despite Isaac’s efforts, Hammond is killed by a Necromorph, and Mercer allows himself to be transformed by them. Another ship, the Valor, arrives and is infected through an Ishimura escape pod containing a Necromorph; records show that the Valor was dispatched to remove all traces of the Ishimura’s presence. Kendra kills Kyne before revealing her Earth Government allegiance, as the deranged Kyne threatened to return the Marker to the Necromorphs’ controlling “Hive Mind” on the planet. The Marker was left on Aegis VII as part of an experiment, and Earth now wants it retrieved. Reunited with Nicole, Isaac sabotages Kendra’s attempt to escape the Ishimura, then returns the Marker to Aegis VII, neutralising the Necromorphs and initiating Aegis VII’s collapse.
Kendra retrieves the Marker and reveals to Isaac that his encounters with Nicole were hallucinations created by the Marker to return it to the Hive Mind. Nicole’s message had ended with her committing suicide to avoid becoming a Necromorph. Kendra is then killed by the awoken Hive Mind before she can escape with the Marker. After killing the Hive Mind, Isaac leaves on Kendra’s shuttle as both Aegis VII and the Marker are destroyed. In the shuttle, a distraught Isaac mourns Nicole, and is then attacked by a violent hallucination of her.
Source : Wikipedia
