The Pros and Cons of Dead Space’s Death Animations

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Although Dead Space is now known for its intense sci-fi horror with brutal death animations, when it was released in 2008, no one knew how big the franchise would become. The first game told the story of Isaac Clarke, an engineer tasked with repairing the derelict U.S.G. Ishimura. Upon exploring the Ishimura, Isaac and company find that it is overrun with Necromorphs, reanimated corpses of the ship's crew that have been mutated by the mysterious Red Marker. Dead Space is played from an over-the-shoulder camera perspective and takes multiple gameplay inspirations from Capcom's 2004 horror hit, Resident Evil 4.

What set Dead Space apart from other Resident Evil 4 clones was its world and dedication to immersion. The developers went all in when they conceptualized Dead Space, creating a fictional future where mankind has bled Earth dry of resources, thus requiring it to scour other planets for sustenance. While the general world told the tale of power-hungry companies and religious Unitologists, Isaac's story was given just as much attention. Without a HUD to constantly check, players became deeply invested in every detail on screen, especially Isaac's highly violent deaths, although one wonders just how much these animated sequences add or subtract overall.

Dead Space Remake's Focus on Accessibility is Promising

Dead Space's death animations are the stuff of legend. For the number of hazards Isaac Clarke comes upon in the game, almost all of them have a unique death animation tied to them. This includes the numerous deaths at the hands of Necromorphs and environmental hazards such as running out of oxygen. No matter how big or small the gameplay element may be, chances are the developers at the now defunct Visceral Games