With the fan reaction to the announcement of the Dead Space remake, but many missed the franchise its first time around. After all, someone who is 20 now was only 8 when Dead Space came out. So many gamers are wondering what the game is about. We’ve summarized the plot of Dead Space below, so those who are just getting into the franchise can get a snapshot of the story before the remake comes out.
What’s Dead Space’s story, and do I need to know about the plot before playing the remake?
The plot of Dead Space takes place in the year 2508 AD. Humanity’s numbers have grown to unsustainable numbers, and the Earth has been overmined. Those who weren’t killed by the ecological disaster that happened have turned to space for resource extraction. The invention that makes this possible is the planetcracker. A massive ship called the USG Ishimura was constructed that could literally crack planets open to extract valuable minerals on a colossal scale.
During its 35th planetcracking operation, communications were lost with the USG Ishimura. As a result, ship system specialist and engineer Issac Clarke is dispatched to investigate and make repairs to the Ishimura if necessary. He volunteered for the mission because his girlfriend, Nicole Brennan, is stationed aboard the Ishimura as a medical specialist.
Clarke travels to the Ishimura alongside Kendra Daniels, Zach Hammond, and another corporation employee. However, when the ship Clarke is in attempts to dock, a malfunction causes massive damage to it, killing one of the party. The ship manages to land but is rendered inoperable.
As the party enters the ship, they become separated as twisted beings called Necromorphs attack. Clarke discovers that members of a cult called the Church of Unitology found a relic called the Red Marker on the planet the Ishimura was assigned to crack. These cultists brought the marker into the colony on the planet and then eventually on board the shit where its strange powers caused paranoia and hallucinations throughout the crew. This led to them fighting each other, and upon their deaths, they were turned into Necromorphs.
The main goal when the game begins is to simply escape. However, there are no escape pods, and calling for help seems to be the only viable course of action. After reactivating and repairing certain systems, Clarke is able to call for help, and a military vessel, the USM Valor, answers the SOS. It seems like players will be able to make their escape, but the Valor picks up an escape pod with a Necromorph inside, which quickly begins killing the crew. The Valor ends up crashing into the Ishimura, causing a massive amount of damage to both vessels.
Clarke is eventually able to make his way through the Valor, back into the Ishimura, and takes a shuttle to the planet below. There he finds the Hive Mind controlling the Necromorphs. He manages to defeat, but Hammond dies, Daniels turns traitor and dies, and Clarke learns that Nicole committed suicide long before he boarded the Ishimura. The game has an open ending, with Clarke continuing to hallucinate aboard his escape shuttle.
