Here’s a full list of all the Dead Space games so far:

10 Interesting Facts About The Dead Space Series:

When you play Dead Space for the first time, and land on the silent, damaged USG Ishimura, the first thing you might notice is the total feeling of isolation as your team quickly dies in a gruesome way and you get isolated from the survivors. Let’s see how else Dead Space creates a real sense of fear and danger throughout the series.

1. Our protagonist

Isaac Clarke is the main playable character in all the games

Isaac Clarke’s name came from two of sci-fi’s most gifted and well-known writers, Isaac Asimov (I, Robot. Bicentennial Man) and Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey). Much of Isaac Clarke’s appeal comes from the fact he is not a typical ‘hero’ type. He’s not a soldier, he’s a mere engineer, who ended up on the wrong ship to repair. He uses a variety of futuristic engineering tools as weapons.

2. RIGs

A poster advertising RIGs

Resource Integration Gear, or RIG is the outfit Isaac and other NPCs wear in the Dead Space environment. The green light that runs down the spine (and changes from yellow, and then to red as it decreases) monitor the health of each individual. The more lit up it is, the healthier you are. There are different suits you can obtain, with different attributes and they can all be upgraded to give increased stats such as oxygen supply, resilience or strength of kinesis. Whatever you’re wearing, each RIG shows your health, stasis module power, a navigation system that draws a line to your next goal, and holographic projections of your inventory, map and notifications.

Not only are RIGs cool, futuristic suits but they also do away with the need for HUDs, making the whole screen environment a more realistic place.

3. Stasis and kinesis

Using stasis to slow down the advance of enemies

Throughout the games, you’ll come across the need to use stasis to slow things down, or kinesis to move heavy or out of reach objects.

A typical example is coming across a malfunctioning door that is opening and closing at a rapid speed, making it impossible to pass. With a simple blast of your stasis module, you can cause a time dilation and slow the door down considerably for a short period. You can also use stasis on most enemies to slow them down and make killing them so much easier.

Kinesis is used within the game to move heavy objects and adds a small puzzle element to the game series. You may need to move obstacles blocking your path, or place a fallen battery into its slot to generate power. They can also be used to impale enemies with sharp objects and also to pick up otherwise out of reach items.

4. Unitology

Unitology. A dangerous religion in Dead Space with the ‘black marker’ central to their belief

Unitology is a religion within the Dead Space universe and the main cause of conflict within the games. I can’t say too much without giving important parts of the story away, but the basis of their religion are large artifacts called markers, which we’ll come to soon. Publically, the church encourages a positive message of unity and social harmony. However, certain rituals and rites are very secretive and only a select few really know the church’s true purpose.

5. Markers

Markers play an important role in the sinister mood of Dead Space

Two types of marker are known to exist, black markers, of which not too much is known about their origin, and red markers which are artificial varieties of the black ones. Both markers do the same thing, and that is to kill all life within an area and then reanimate the dead cells and create necromorphs. They do this by sending electromagnetic messages to a species, causing hallucinations and creating dementia. They are then worshipped as holy artifacts, much like the Church of Unitology do in Dead Space.

6. Necromorphs

Situations like this are best avoided

Necromorphs are the reanimated bodies of the dead in the area. Brought back by the mysteries behind the markers, their one true goal is to make more of them, by destroying any living organisms they can find, so they can come back as more necromorphs – they’re space zombies basically, and Isaac’s biggest obstacle in all the games. They come in a number of varieties depending upon the tissue they are animated from, allowing for some pretty cool boss levels.

7. Head shots don’t count for much

Many people died to find this info out. Use it wisely

Unlike the regular Earth zombies you and I face every day, a shot to the brain will not instantly kill the cosmic undead quite so easily unfortunately. Instead, limb dismemberment is the way to go. Shoot off their legs, and they’ll slowly crawl to you grasping at you with their arms. Remove the arms and all they can do is run and bite. Three or four clean limb removals should do the job to destroy them. Some necromorphs can regenerate limbs, salamander style. I’ll let you work out how to destroy them.

8. Gruesome deaths

Here’s one of many ways Isaac can die

When playing Dead Space, you will die. A lot. Fortunately, there are so many horrendously awful ways that our poor protagonist can die, it’s almost enjoyable to watch…I said ‘almost.’

It seems our enemies enjoy dismemberment just as much as us.

9. There’s always PENG!

If only I knew what PENG was…

In all installments of the Dead Space Series is the Peng treasure. It appears as a statue of a woman and when found and picked up unlocks an achievement. The treasure can be sold at a store for credits.

There are a number of theories behind what ‘peng’ actually is. Based on the numerous posters and adverts surrounding the Ishimura and The Sprawl, many believe it to be some kind of adult service or contraception of some sort. Or perhaps it’s just named after one of Dead Space’s object artists, Wang Peng. Who knows, but whatever the reason, it’s worth finding just for the extra credits you can get by selling it.

10. Secret clues (**SPOILER ALERT**)

Isaac’s girlfriend, Nicole, worked on the Ishimura, prompting him to request to do the repair job that started the nightmare

The game is also full of nice little clues and easter eggs to satisfy the most observant of gamers. For example, and this is a small **SPOILER ALERT**, in the first Dead Space, all the levels, or chapters, have names. Take the first letter of each of those names and it spells, N.I.C.O.L.E. I.S. D.E.A.D. Nicole being Isaac’s girlfriend and medical officer on the USG Ishimura and is, as the clue tells us, dead. Furthermore, the chapters that represent the last letters of each word in NICOLE IS DEAD, ie. E, S and D, all feature bosses.

Dead Space 4?

The first Dead Space created a stir and got itself a bit of a cult following and reputation. Dead Space 2 was by far the most successful of the games and quickly spurred the release of Dead Space 3. However, the latest release did not do so well in sales and although not regarded as terrible, was generally regarded as lacking something the other two (main) games had. So, will there be a Dead Space 4? Well, Visceral Games certainly would like to make another one, although they’re busy with Hardline at the moment, but who knows if and when that will actually be. I, for one, hope it’s sooner rather than later. While we wait, check here for some other cool sci-fi games to play.