Games based on the ever-shrinking genre of survival horror, the Dead Space trilogy is definitely one of my absolute favorite games in said genre by testing my abilities to conserve ammunition and think about my next move carefully.

            The first game in the series takes place on a planet-cracking vessel called the Ishimura and follows a crew of engineers that are sent in to repair the ships communications system after the ship sent a distress signal to a space colony. Taking the role of Isaac Clark you are sent to the ship to repair it and establish communication with the crew. Upon Isaac and the crew entering space near the ship they attempt to dock the ship but their ship, the Kellion, has a malfunction and crash lands into the landing bay where they manage to escape the badly damaged ship and begin looking for the crew. Entering the flight lounge to evaluate the ships damage, but just before they leave the room a quarantine lockdown begins and they are trapped. A few moment’s later humanoid creatures burst through the vents and begin attacking the crew, though only Isaac, Zach Hammond, a senior security officer sent in to protect the crew, and Kendra Daniels, a technologist sent in to evaluate the damage done to the main communication systems, were able to survive and get away. Trying to get back to the Kellion Zach and Kendra are separated from Isaac and must now find a way back to the ship so they may escape. After finding an elevator Isaac manages to get it to work and in his brief moment of safety Isaac is then attacked by the creatures that attacked the crew earlier and you see just exactly what you are up against, the undead crew horribly transformed into the vile monsters called Necromorphs. Revived and reconstructed on the genetic level by an alien artifact known as a Marker, also being the base for an entire religion called Unitology, the Necromorphs only goal is to kill and make more of them to complete a process called Convergence, a process that occurs when the marker has enough bodies to create a giant Necromorph called a Brethren Moon. With the crew reunited and getting ready to board the Kellion Isaac is informed, although the information presented by the remaining crew is pointless at this current moment in time, that the only way to kill them is to strategically dismember the monsters. After getting the ship to work well enough to fly away they are attacked by a special type of Necromorph called Exploders and the ship is destroyed just like their hopes to escape. For the rest of the game’s story you must play the game for yourself. Although I will disclose this little bit of information, all events lead to Dead Space 2 and 3. Being a great horror title and being the first Dead Space game in the series, this game deserves an 8 out of 10.

            Following the events of Dead Space, Dead Space 2 takes place 4 years after the first Necromorph outbreak on a colony on one of Saturn’s moon called Titan Station. After using his mind to build another marker for the station, Hans Tiedemann then puts Isaac into an insane ward where he has his memories wiped and is forced to remember everything that he witnessed on the Ishimura. After being woken up by a doctor, who dies almost immediately after waking him up, Isaac sees that the undead monsters have overrun the station and must now escape and try to destroy the marker. As you make your way through the residential areas of the station you come to a store to see a fellow survivor named Ellie Langford, who is fending off hordes of Necromorphs while to her dead friend. After meeting Ellie, Isaac suggests that they team up to escape but Ellie is to afraid to get close to Isaac because she is afraid he will die and she would be all alone again to survive on the now hopelessly overrun station. After Ellie leaves telling Isaac to not follow her he receives a call from Ellie saying she found a patient named Nolan Stross, a scientist who was aboard the Ishimura but had no impact on the story presented, who tells Ellie that he knows Isaac and that Isaac needs him to destroy the marker and escape the station. Once Ellie, Stross, and Isaac finally meet up, Director Tiedemann contacts them and tells them he is going to shut that part of the station down to try and kill them. With no power to keep the air flowing in the tram station Isaac must fend off hordes of Necromorphs and turn the power back on to resume their trip to the Marker lab. As Isaac gets the power and train running we are shown a scenic view of the entire station along with a decrepit and ruined Ishimura awaiting repairs. Upon viewing the ship, Tiedemann destroys the rails of the train forcing the group to stop at a station and have Isaac go onto the ship to turn on its gravity tethers, the ships that were considered planet crackers would mine planets and take resources aboard the ship using said tethers, so they can be shot into the lab station. The rest you will have to find out for yourself, but being the first Dead Space game I have ever played I have an unusual amount of love for the scares and pants destroying game and it gets a glorious 9 out of 10.

            With the events of both Dead Space and Dead Space 2 forever ingrained into Isaac’s mind, he fell into a depression and ultimately lost Ellie because of the past he cannot forget. After receiving a message from Ellie saying that she is moving on from the relationship she and Isaac had, captain Robert Norton and sergeant John Carver both sneak into Isaac’s house to request help from him. At first Isaac refuses to help with the mission until he hears that Ellie had went to find the source of the Marker signal, the signal is used to cause insanity and turn humans into Necromorphs, and went to investigate the signal. Isaac, reluctantly, accepts the mission and heads out with Carver and Norton only to be ambushed by an elite group of the Unitologists called the Inner Circle, whose only goal is to complete the convergence effect with the idea that it will kick start the next step in human evolution. Being captured by the group’s leader, Jacob Arthur Danik, Isaac is shown what the group’s goals are. After explaining to Isaac, Danik shoots him but Isaac manages to escape with the help of Carver and Norton, who also escape, only to be pursued by the group but not for long because the colony’s inhabitants become Necromorphs and cause mayhem. Once the group reaches Norton’s ship they fly away to the galaxy that Ellie’s last known signal originated from and begin to look for her only to run into a minefield and get forced to evacuate the ship to and escape pod. After Isaac and Carver manage to safely slow the pod and dock it into a 200-year-old ship called the CMS Roanoke. Once inside Norton tells Isaac and Carver they need to restore power to the ship so the ship’s ventilation system will kick back on and restores air on the ship. Moving to a small cramped hallway you are greeted to what is left of the crew, 200 year old mummified Necromorphs. Making it through the Necromorphs and restoring power you move into an elevator and go to a room where you find Ellie and her small crew of researchers who are more than happy to see Isaac. The feeling of being reunited with Ellie is quickly destroyed when Norton runs to Ellie and they proceed to declare their love for each other and destroy Isaac’s heart. With new mechanics such as taking cover for gunfights, the ability to create new weapons, and cooperative play, Dead Space 3 deserves a 9.5 out of 10.

            In this mash up of all the Dead Space games I did not include any side stories that were added in any downloadable content such as Severed and Awakened.