History Videogame / DeadSpace

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dead_Space_Cover_132.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Only The Dead Survive..."'']]

->''"Though I know not what you are, twinkle, twinkle little star..."''

''Dead Space'' is a video game released for the PC, Xbox 360 and [=PlayStation=] 3 in 2008. It is the first game in the ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' series.

The game takes place on the ''[[ClosedCircle Ishimura]]'', a spaceship of the Planet Cracker class, a series of vessels which find mineral-rich planets and lift whole chunks of them into space for mining. During an excavation on a faraway planet, the miners discover a strange artifact of apparently alien origin. The artifact, dubbed the Marker, was apparently causing problems amongst the colonists who were working on the surface of the planet. Eventually, it's decided to transport the Marker to the ''Ishimura''. It did not end well.

Luckily (or not), a [[DistressCall distress call]] successfully goes off, and a maintenance crew, led by Sergeant Zach Hammond, is sent to assist the ship. Along with him are two engineers, tasked with helping repair any damage done to the ''Ishimura'' that might have caused the distress call: systems engineer Kendra Daniels and [[TheEngineer mechanical/electronic engineer]] [[Creator/IsaacAsimov Isaac]] [[Creator/ArthurCClarke Clarke]] (yes, the name is a reference). Clarke also has a personal reason for undertaking the mission: his [[DistressedDamsel girlfriend]] Nicole Brennan is part of the ''Ishimura'''s crew, and he fears for her safety.

What Hammond's crew finds is a terrifying deathtrap. The crew of ''Ishimura'' has been annihilated by Necromorphs - creations of the Marker who [[TheVirus infect dead bodies to reproduce and evolve]] - and the entire ship is infested with reanimated corpses that refuse to stay down. The name of the game is now not rescue, but survival: Isaac and the rest of the rescue team must now [[TheGreatRepair find a way off the ship.]] Using his engineering skills and whatever [[ImprovisedWeapon hastily-weaponized power tools]] he can find, Isaac must help his fellow survivors escape this hellish situation... [[GoMadFromTheRevelation if he doesn't crack first.]]

Gameplay-wise, ''Dead Space'' [[FollowTheLeader shares a lot of similarities with]] ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. There is one button to aim and one button to fire; ammo, health, [[ApocalypticLog audio logs]], and money are found scattered about the ''Ishimura'', but they are in limited supply, so the player has to ration everything accordingly ([[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity though Isaac will almost always manage to find health on corpses when he really needs it]]); there is also a store where Isaac can buy ammo, new weapons, upgrades for his weapons, and upgrades for his suit, as well as store extra items cluttering up his inventory.

An interesting gameplay variation is that Necromorphs are very difficult to kill with head or body shots. Instead, Isaac has to cut several limbs off of each Necromorph in order to "kill" it. Since the Necromorphs come in many different shapes, each fight becomes an exercise in what might be called "creative marksmanship." Isaac also has a Stasis module which can slow enemies or machinery down to BulletTime speeds, and a {{Telekinesis}} device which can levitate objects to solve puzzles.

A prequel, ''VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction'', was released in 2009. A sequel, ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', was released in 2011. A series' finale, ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' was released in 2013.

In 2011, Iron Monkey Studios released a game for iOS and Android devices, also called ''Dead Space''. Since it has the same name, tropes for it are kept on this page at the bottom, although it's more a prequel to ''Dead Space 2'', showing the early stages of the Sprawl outbreak from the viewpoint of a Unitology operative sent to sabotage the station.

At EA Play Live 2021, a remake developed by Motive Studios (the same people behind ''VideoGame/StarWarsSquadrons'') was announced, set for an unknown date and to be released on the PC, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, and UsefulNotes/PlayStation5.

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[[folder:''Dead Space'' provides examples of:]]

* AbandonedHospital: Isaac must travel to the Medical Deck twice during the course of the game. There's a lot of body bags and corpses lying around, and you see early on there's some fishy stuff going on there. There are less bodies the second time around, although by that point you'll know this is kind of a bad sign.
* AbnormalAmmo: The Ripper can shoot circular sawblades.
* AbsentAliens: In the backstory, at least. Most of humankind believes this, seeing how they've spread into the galaxy and found absolutely jack squat. [[spoiler: [=EarthGov=]'s efforts to cover up the existence of Necromorphs didn't help.]]
* AIIsACrapshoot: Inverted. For the most part, the artificial intelligence of the ship is the only thing functioning properly and not attempting to deliberately kill you. Unfortunately, it has a tendency to lock doors at the most inconvenient of times - it's supposed to keep people safe but the Necromorphs are either already in there, or climb in through the vents.
** The single real human-built AI, named "CECL," only appears in the AlternateRealityGame "No Known Survivors" (though one of the recurring whispers you hear in the main Dead Space game is a recording of some of the things she says). CECL is a "Litigious Risk Computer" which can be consulted for survival/accident odds, as well as ''dating advice'' odds, and it is even capable of simulating conversations between two people to a remarkable degree. During No Known Survivors' intermission, CECL speaks with rough disdain of the human need to have closure and "happy endings," but it isn't really malevolent.
* AirVentPassageway: Both the U.S.G. ''Ishimura'' and the U.S.M. ''Valor'' are chock full of massive, easily accessible air vents/maintenance tunnels that give the necromorphs virtually free access to anywhere on the ship, bypassing security, lockdowns, and even quarantines with impunity.
* AllForNothing: Everything Isaac goes through [[spoiler:to find Nicole ends up meaning nothing when it turns out that she killed herself before he even arrived]].
* AlmightyJanitor: Isaac rips through hordes of mutated walking corpses, fends off an AsteroidThicket, destroys three giant [[EldritchAbomination things]] [[spoiler: (one of which is apparently the source of ''all'' the others)]]... And this guy isn't even a soldier, just an engineer!
* AloneWithThePsycho: Various things in the game show evidence of Doctor Mercer's madness.
* AlternateRealityGame: ''No Known Survivors'', which played like an exploration game a la ''Myst''. Sadly, it is no longer available to play, and footage and images of the game are rather tough to find. The website was purchased and no longer is affiliated with the game.
* AnArmAndALeg: ''Ferociously enforced''. Necromorphs don't die so easily if they lose their heads. You need to cut off the limbs to finish them off, and it's hinted by a message on the walls near the start of the game.
* AndIMustScream: Based on the way they scream, the Guardians are still alive despite everything their bodies have gone through. They even sigh when Isaac kills them.
* AnEconomyIsYou: The items available at the stores onboard ''Ishimura'' - futuristic power tools,[[note]]Albeit ones stated by WordOfGod to have been illegally modified into weaponry by the crew to fight off the Necromorphs[[/note]] ammunition for futuristic power tools, safety equipment suitable for using futuristic power tools, repair/upgrade supplies suitable for futuristic power tools, [[HealingPotion futuristic first aid supplies]] (which you would most likely need if you regularly use futuristic power tools) - are things you would expect to ''find'' on such a ship, but more in storage lockers than vending machines.
** [[FridgeLogic The player is left wondering why his compatriots don't try - among all the other things they hack - to hack the store system (or acknowledge they tried) to give him freebies.]]
* ArcWords: "Make us whole again."
* ArtifactOfDoom: The Marker. Bonus points for also being a BrownNote in physical form.
* ArtificialGravity: It's an actual gameplay feature; more so when it's not available. Some instances have the grav-plating break, causing gravity to reverse and become more powerful over the broken panel. Walking into it throws Isaac/necromorphs so fast that it gibs them. This also occurs on the ''Valor'' - you find a soldier pinned to the ceiling who's still alive and groaning in pain.
* ArtificialLimbs: Of a decidedly morally gray variety. You visit a body part cloning farm at one point.
* ArtificialBrilliance[=/=]ArtificialStupidity: ZigZagged. Due to some rather loose scripting, it's possible to make Necromorphs jump in and out of vents endlessly, force The Hunter to kill itself, and make Brutes totally ignore you, among other things. Many Necormorphs also seem to be tied to their room (unless scripted otherwise). On the Brilliance side, however, that same loose scripting means that necromorphs will use tactics like [[NotQuiteDead playing dead]] mid-battle, retreating out of sight until the player stops to reload, and remaining silent while sneaking up on Isaac. In a more subtle touch, the game [[OffTheRails occasionally breaks script]] for the benefit of players who get overly clever by throwing in bonus encounters in random places, delaying expected ones like vent-ambushes for a few seconds, exploiting {{Cat Scare}}s and distractions, and generally screwing with the player. While a player is busy toying with the Necromorph playing peekaboo in the air vents, it's entirely possible they are oblivious to the other one sneaking up behind them.
* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: ZigZagged with Isaac's use of a 'thermite bomb' to destroy a metal barricade. Thermite would only flow down the surface of the barricade and through the floor. But ''thermate'', a formula variation of thermite, is hotter and faster burning, and commonly used for exactly this purpose.
* TheAsteroidThicket: The chunks of rock that Isaac must deal with in one chapter come from the planet the ''Ishimura'' is orbiting, having been thrown up when they tore the first chunk of of the planet from the surface.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: To kill almost every enemy you encounter, you have to shoot off AnArmAndALeg. (Exceptions include Dividers and Swarmers.) Since every form of Necromorph has a different weak spot, most of which are discovered via TrialAndErrorGameplay, basically every enemy in the game also qualifies as a [[PuzzleBoss Puzzle Mook]].
* {{Backtracking}}: Apart from copious [[DoorToBefore doors to before]], three levels - the Flight Deck, the Medical Deck, and the Bridge - are used twice (though your objectives are in different parts of the level the second time around).
* BathroomStallGraffiti: As part of a regularly-occurring motif.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Several times. For instance, Isaac encounters a man who headbutts a wall until his skull is pulped. [[spoiler:Nicole kills herself via lethal injection prior to Isaac's arrival.]]
** There's also the log you can pick up of the man who ''shoots his own limbs off'' with a Plasma Cutter so that he couldn't hurt anyone after coming back as a Necromorph. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]
* {{BFG}}: The Contact Beam. To get an idea of how powerful this weapon is, the damage from most weapons range from 5 to 20. The damage from the contact beam without any upgrades is 100, and ''175'' when fully upgraded.
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:Kendra, Dr. Mercer, and the HiveMind.]]
* BiggerOnTheInside: Due to a SpecialEffectFailure, the version of the ''Ishimura'' shown in the introduction is vastly smaller than its own interior, to the point where it could comfortably fit inside itself several times over.
* BilingualBonus: The PA system occasionally plays public addresses in French. One of those translates to ''"Attention please, we would like to remind you that body searches may be performed at any moment. Body damage suffered in these searches is not covered by health insurance."'' Some of them are also in Spanish.
** The name of ''Ishimura'' itself means "Rock-Village" in Japanese.
** Among the graffiti phrases on the walls of the Med Lab, there is a Japanese phrase mixed in with everything else. Translated, it reads "The ''Ishimura'' is dead."
** Whenever Isaac gets near [[spoiler:the Marker]], strange chanting can be heard emanating from it. It's very difficult to make out, but fans have guessed that the chanting is "Nostra sanctus deus... Sumus hic mortem...", which, translated from Latin, reads "Our holy god... We are here in death..."
* BittersweetEnding: You live, but [[spoiler:all of your companions are dead, as well as everybody on the ''Ishimura'' and ''Valor''. You find out that your girlfriend killed herself long before you arrived, and the Marker's been sending you hallucinations of her, you may have been driven insane, you didn't successfully replace the Marker]]... and there's a sequel.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The ''Ishimura'', while designed as a mining ship and possessing the logical layout of one, has some weird design elements.
** The ship's tram system is not dual tracked, and the platforms are only on one side of the ship, meaning somebody who would need to go from the Bridge to the Crew Deck would have to take a tram that would then loop around the entirety of the ship, before circling back to the Crew Deck (which is technically one stop behind the Bridge), as trams going towards the bow would be in the way.
** The Medical Deck's Zero-G Therapy area is accessing by using Kinesis to pull a piece of medical equipment between two separate gaps, which makes no sense and only serves to impede foot traffic for personnel, especially if an operation or procedure is underway.
** No alternate method to access the different decks on foot appears to exist in the ship's design; the only way is via tram or via the tramway, which, if the tram is offline, essentially isolates decks from each other (and traversing via the tramway can also be dangerous, impractical, or impossible given no access points exist in every location to get from the tramway up to the deck itself).
* BlatantLies: One of Dr. Mercer's audio logs has him go on and on about how his patient (who most likely became the Hunter) is "resting comfortably", "trusts me with his life", etc. All the while, the terrified man is hysterically screaming for help in the background.
* BodyHorror: Oh ''golly'' yes. The things the necromorph life form does to humans are...[[{{Squick}} imaginative]].
** The developers actually viewed images of burn victims and car crash images for inspiration. ''That's'' how brutal it is. Think ''Film/TheThing1982'' on acid.
** Dismemberment is the entire main gimmick of the game, with body shots doing jack shit to enemies. You need to cut them to pieces to even stand a chance.
** Putting aside necromorphs, there's plenty of the stuff that happens to normal humans. A highlight is someone bashing their head against a wall, over and over again, while they have a gigantic cavity in their torso.
* BoringButPractical:
** The Plasma Cutter and the Line Gun are all the player needs to utterly dominate the game on any difficulty setting. The Plasma Cutter is the first weapon as well as the only free one, but both appear early on and can perform the job of any of the more AwesomeButImpractical weapons faster, more cheaply, and without encumbering Isaac. There's even an achievement for completing the game using only the Plasma Cutter. The Plasma Cutter's only failing is that it is impractical in killing Swarmers, a situation rare enough (assuming you aren't popping Pregnants each time they show up) that the ammo you waste doing it is easily earned back.
** The Pulse Rifle once it gets a few nodes put into it becomes a good go-to weapon especially due to it's ammo being so prevalent.
* BookEnds: The game begins and ends with Isaac listening to Nicole's last recording.
* BossRoom: If one constantly checks their map screen, they can almost flawlessly predict when a big encounter of some kind is about to occur.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: Normally you would find suit upgrades throughout the game, each one more expensive than the last. However, you can pay a few real-life dollars to have any number of max-level suits right away, giving you maximum defense and inventory space (and there's one suit that has even more defense on top of that). There are also more powerful versions of the standard weapons you can buy as well.
* BrokenBridge: Thank you, ''Ishimura'' Security System. Sealing off all the doors in an emergency always helps.
* CameraScrew: The camera is fine looking all around you, but it's hard to look straight up without using the aim feature with your gun. This becomes an issue in the zero-G parts.
* CardboardPrison: One of the logs unlocked [[EndgamePlus after beating the game]] describes the fall of the first colony in Aegis VII. The author was observing a pair of infected corpses turn into an Infector and a Leaper respectively inside a quarantine cell, when suddenly the Leaper jumped to the ceiling and smashed through an [[AirVentPassageway air vent]] allowing them both to escape.
* CatScare: The game loves to do this to you: you'll hear the ScareChord and only see a box falling from a shelf, it's only until several seconds later that a hideous alien baby jumps out of the dark at you. This is sometimes due to the game's line of sight detection thinking the monster is in view when it isn't, but just as often seems intentional, possibly making this a case of ThrowItIn.
* TheCavalry. [[spoiler:The USM ''Valor'' which shocks in at the introduction of Chapter 8. Of course, by the beginning of the next chapter, almost all of the ''Valor's'' crew has been brutally slaughtered. There is good reason to believe (due to text logs and the ''Valor's'' complement of nuclear missiles) that if the crew succeeded in their original objective, a CavalryBetrayal would have occurred for everyone but [[TheMole Kendra Daniels.]]]]
* ChainsawGood: The Ripper is frequently used as a gun that shoots sawblades, but the primary firing mode certainly qualifies. It's a maglev chainsaw for high-tech remote limb-lopping or for cutting live power lines in an emergency without the operator getting electrocuted.
* ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction: Mostly averted, in that the game does not pause when accessing the inventory. It's not a good idea to open it up when a Necromorph is trying to chew your face off.
* ChargedAttack: The Contact Beam's primary fire.
* CherryTapping: Isaac's Curb [[FinishingStomp Stomp]] of [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOM]].
* ChekhovsGun: Hammond traps a Slasher in a escape pod and latter sends it flying away from the ''Ishimura'' when he realizes the creature is still alive. [[spoiler:The escape pod is picked up by a nearby military ship, the ''Valor'', thinking it's a survivor from the Aegis VII colony. The crew gets slaughtered and the ship crashes into the ''Ishimura'' as a result]]. [[NoOntologicalInertia Because things that you shoot off into space disappear]]...[[SubvertedTrope right]]?.
* ClosedCircle: After they arrive on the ''Ishimura'', the USG ''Kellion'' blows up as Isaac attempts to load up a damage report - in preparation for leaving, in fact.
* ColonyDrop: Though not exactly a colony, [[spoiler:a massive portion of Aegis VII comes crashing down after Isaac [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally shuts down the only thing holding it in position]]]]. He then has to not only [[spoiler:race Kendra Daniels to the only still-functioning space ship on the planet]], but also defeat the HiveMind, start up the shuttle, and after all that, get far enough away before the [[spoiler:[[EarthShatteringKaboom Aegis VII Shattering Kaboom]]]].
* CombatTentacles: A bunch of Necromorphs have these - most notably the ones that grab you and drag you towards your doom.
* CosmicHorrorStory: When the game isn't freaking you out with body horror.
* CriticalExistenceFailure: Averted. Isaac doesn't die until that last sliver of blue is gone, but his heart rate increases, his breath becomes heavier, and he slumps over while moving if badly injured. Also, while having no lasting side-effects, Isaac starts panting and gasping heavily with increasing intensity as his air reserves run out.
** On the higher difficulty levels, the Necromorphs can dismember and kill Isaac even if the LifeMeter is halfway full.
** Guardians have a OneHitKill attack on all difficulty levels if you get too close to them. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard And it always works, even if you use Stasis to slow them down, which would logically render their]] OneHitKill attack harmless. It even works if Isaac melees them to death (Isaac is immune to certain forms of death during the melee animation, but his head will explode as soon as he stops).
* CorridorCubbyholeRun: Chapters 3 and 4. First, you have to run a circle through a now-active centrifuge to reach an elevator and leave the area, ducking into large niches in the walls when the arm goes past to avoid getting torn to shreds. In the next chapter, you have to run over the outside of the ''Ishimura'' and hide behind metal walls to avoid getting splattered by asteroid impacts. Made interesting as you are exposed to space in both cases, so if you take too long, you asphyxiate - Chapter 4 is especially tight - while Chapter 3 also has Necromorphs pop up in each cubby-hole.
** While in Chapter 4, you also have to run ''back'' after dealing with the asteroids, and since the hull is no longer being pounded, you're pursued by multiple Necromorphs. You could hang around and kill them, but in the circumstances it's less risky to just keep running and leave them on the outside of the ship.
* ContinuousDecompression: Averted. When an airlock opens, the air will rush out in a second or so.
* CutsceneIncompetence: Aside from the ''Valor'', there are several instances where a door won't open until after some poor schmuck gets killed - including the guy banging on the door when you get the plasma cutter (he gets killed by a Slasher), the scientist pinned to a wall and killed by a Lurker, [[spoiler:Hammond being ripped apart by a Brute, and Jacob Temple being stabbed to death by Dr. Mercer.]] Why can't you just break the windows in the latter two instances when you're carrying weapons made for cutting metal and pulverizing rock?
* CypherLanguage: You see strange text scrawled on the walls in this language. The decoding information is likewise scribbled on the walls, if a bit smeared.
* DangerousWindows: The ''Ishimura'' doesn't have many windows. But it does have chest high vents that act the same way as windows for incoming monsters.
* DarknessEqualsDeath: Sometimes you are forced to kill enemies in pitch blackness (Isaac's tools have mounted flashlights).
* DeadAllAlong: If you [[spoiler:take the first letter of each chapter name and put them together, they spell NICOLE IS DEAD. The "Nicole" you see throughout the game is just a hallucination created by the Marker to manipulate Isaac into putting it back on the Pedestal they took it from.]]
* DeadHandShot: The box art.
* DeadlyRotaryFan: The ventilation fans.
* DecontaminationChamber: Which takes exactly as long as it takes for Isaac to kill several Necromorphs. However, the ship's AI rightfully considers Necromorphs to be biohazards, so it isn't much of a stretch for the AI to wait until they have been dealt with. After all, each time a Necromorph enters the chamber, there's another body that needs to be decontaminated.
* DeadCharacterWalking: A glitch that sometimes causes Necromorphs to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhXarjJPBMg endlessly run around in circles]], making them invincible until you block their path.
** Enabling an invincibility cheat or mod in Dead Space will cause Isaac Clark to turn into a walking and shooting mutilated pair of hips if he takes damage past what his life bar says he should die from.
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Hammond. When you first fight a Brute, he warns you that the only way to harm it is to shoot it in the back. Much later in the game, a brute corners him, and he panics and fires right into the creature's front, doing nothing and getting himself torn apart. To be fair to poor Hammond, he was cornered in a confined space up against a vastly tougher version, already wounded and visibly limping.]]
* DeathOfAChild: The Necromorphs transform infants as well as adults, with similar results. One log implies that some children have been born to members of the crew, but the majority of the ''undead mutant space-babies'' apparently come from the growing tanks that are right next to the racks for storing fully organic replacement limbs. To make things worse, Isaac can also kill them with a melee attack, that has him kicking them into the next wall.
* DestructionEqualsOffSwitch: Or on switch, in the case of certain doors with exposed fuses.
* DevelopersForesight: The flamethrower will not work in the depressurized areas of the ship, due to lack of oxygen.
** However, its fuel, hydrazine, is hypergolic, meaning it will ignite when in contact with an oxidizer, and is typically used with a liquid oxidizer in a separate tank. EA corrected this error in later games, in which Isaac can use his Flamethrower- even in a vacuum.
* DiegeticInterface: ''Everything'' is a HardLight HolographicTerminal projected either by Isaac's RIG or the equipment he's working on. Your HUD is the indicators on your back (for health), and the ammo counter on your weapon. And you don't see the ammo counter unless you're aiming.
* [[DieHardOnAnX Die Hard On A Spaceship.]] [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies With zombies!]]
* DistressCall: Two: one from the ''Ishimura'' that gets you out to it in the first place, and another is made by you while you're on the ''Ishimura''.
* DivineChessboard: The Marker [[spoiler:is guiding various people through projections of dead loved ones to destroy the Hive Mind by putting it back on the pedestal. The HiveMind in turn guides the Necromorphs.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: The crew of the ''Ishimura'' isn't entirely dead when Isaac arrives. When you do find them, most of them will be in the process of committing suicide because they know that the Necromorphs turn human corpses into new Necromorphs. Some of them might be doing this to join them; others apparently found creative ways to kill themselves (like a guy who blasted off all his own limbs!) so they wouldn't add to the threat. Mostly, though, the survivors have all been DrivenToMadness, both by the horrible situation and the MindRape effect happening to everyone. Oh, [[spoiler: and Nicole did it before you and your crew even arrived, rendering your search for her AllForNothing.]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** The only game in the series where Stasis doesn't recharge on its own, and to feature portable oxygen bottles. Also the only one where you can't set your RIG to lead you to stores, benches, and {{Save Point}}s (''Extraction'' nonwithstanding, since it's [[RailShooter on rails; with vastly simplified gameplay]]).
** Infector Necromorphs don't have an enhanced version, and they generate enhanced Slashers (or Twitchers). The following installment would make normal Infectors create normal Slashers, and add an enhanced version of them, which creates the enhanced Slashers.
** In this game, the Marker suppresses Necromorphs and keeps them in a dormant state. In the later games it's revealed the Markers actively cause Necromorph outbreaks. WordOfGod says this was deliberately rectonned in later games. [[spoiler:It may be because the Red Marker is man made and it's implied the original scientists retooled it to suppress the Hive Mind.]]
* EarthShatteringKaboom: [[spoiler:What happens to Aegis VII.]]
* EliteMooks: Dark versions of the Necromorph types are tougher, faster, and deal more damage. They mostly show up in the later levels.
** The ''Valor'' soldiers with their Stasis unit merged in their Necromorph form; they're ''fast.''
* TheEndOrIsIt: [[spoiler:In the ending cut-scene, Isaac seems to be attacked by his dead girlfriend, who has been made into a basic Necromorph. It's all imagined by Isaac - he survived the encounter and reprises his role, plus actual spoken lines, in the sequel.]]
* EnergyWeapons: Or in this case, energy power tools and one weapon.
* EverybodysDeadDave: ''"Everyone!"'' as Kendra claims.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: The ''Ishimura'' is just as lethal as the Necromorphs in some cases.
* EvilIsVisceral: Purposely uses as many of the related tropes as possible. Even the creatures and bosses that are not man-shaped at all use organic features for maximum {{Squick}} factor. The game studio that develops the series is named Visceral Games too.
* ExcessiveSteamSyndrome: The USG ''[[GhostShip Ishimura]]'' is a mining ship, so the industrial sectors of it are noisy and clanky, with steam and other evidence of heavy processing machinery going on. There's also a rush of visually obstructing gasses when in a room undergoes a change in air pressure, such as an airlock opening.
* ExplodingBarrels: They're technically canisters, and presumably filled with Hydrazine fuel or fuel for the ship itself.
* EyeScream: It's no big spoiler that the captain of the ship is already dead, but it's a semi-spoiler when you learn he was [[spoiler:stabbed in the eye with a needle by Dr. Kyne in an attempt to calm him down.]] Becomes a RewatchBonus after the sequel.
* FasterThanLightTravel: Shockpoint drive. How does it work?
* FetchQuest: Pretty much any level will be about trying to fix some problem by finding some part elsewhere on the ship, with plenty of Necromorphs in between. The rare exceptions are usually on the subject of activating or deactivating a part of the ship.
* FinishingStomp: A good idea when you're not quite sure whether that Necromorph in front of you is dead yet. Also a good idea when you're not quite sure whether there's an Infector nearby who might make a new Necromorph out of that human corpse in front of you. And finally, a good idea if there's a crate you want opened in front of you. ''Not'' a good idea when it comes to certain enemies who happen to be explosive, but in 95% of all cases, stomping the crap out of everything will make your situation better - even if it's just by relieving stress.
* FiveSecondForeshadowing: ''"[[BossWarningSiren Warning,]] [[BossBattle 10 kiloton mass detected]] [[BossRoom in Food Storage]]."''
* {{Flatline}}: This sound is emitted by a RIG if its wearer (e.g. Isaac) dies. [[spoiler:When Hammond, and later Kendra, gets killed, Isaac can hear flat-lines]]. Also, if you listen closely in the beginning, you can hear flat-lines when the two {{Red Shirt}}s you brought with you are killed.
* FollowTheLeader: An excellent demonstration of Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad. ''Dead Space'' was very obviously inspired by early footage of ''VideoGame/DarkSector'', back when the latter game was set in space and featured a protagonist in a similar suit fighting space zombies; even the names are similar. The gameplay also shares many similarities to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', from the camera angles, to the inventory, to the aiming and shooting. Other obvious influences include ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', the ''{{Franchise/Alien}}'' franchise, ''Film/EventHorizon'', and ''Film/TheThing1982''.
* ForcedTutorial: USE RUN TO MOVE QUICKLY OR ELSE.
* ForebodingArchitecture: Is there a time where entirely artificial, metal-based architecture doesn't make one suspect a hideous murder is about to happen?
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** [[spoiler:[[FunWithAcronyms NICOLE IS DEAD]]]]:
*** In one of Nicole's video logs there's a lot of static, and her face briefly gets static and distortion over it that makes it look like [[spoiler:a skull]].
*** Hammond can listen in on Isaac through his [=RIG=], making a comment when he finds a video log from Nicole, assuring they'll find her. [[spoiler:But the few times when Nicole seems to contact Isaac directly, or even when she appears physically to him, neither Hammond or even Kendra say a word. In fact, when Nicole's first physical encounter is over with, Kendra remarks that her communication with Isaac was cut off.]]
*** Kendra begins telling Isaac that she's seeing her brother on video screens which is "impossible", heavily implying he died before the game. [[spoiler: The same as Nicole.]]
*** The first time [[spoiler: Nicole]] helps Isaac and he has to defend them from Necromorphs, they don't even seem to notice the things. [[spoiler: Because Nicole isn't really there.]]
*** Outside of her logs, she never talks normally when she addresses Isaac. [[spoiler:Everytime she's on screen with him, she repeats that Isaac needs to "make them whole" and talks poetically about retrieving the Marker. Nicole in her final video did speak dramatically of never expecting to die away from Isaac, but not in the [[OutOfCharacterAlert semi-religious tone]] she uses near the endgame.]]
*** [[spoiler:Meeting her in the flight deck control room in Chapter 11 has the nearby computer screens distort with Unitologist symbols.]]
*** [[spoiler: She begs Isaac to bring Kendra's ship back with a button press even though she's in the room beforehand and could easily press the button herself.]]
** Kendra being [[spoiler:an undercover [=EarthGov=] agent]]:
*** Upon first encountering the Necromorphs, Kendra's first reaction is to assume they're mutated crew members, whereas everyone else in the ''Dead Space'' franchise who first sees the Necromorphs generally assume they're some kind of alien species. [[spoiler:Even Hammond, who has baseline information about the Marker, doesn't know what they are on the first encounter, cluing the player in that Kendra knows more than she lets on.]]
*** Besides her constant complaining regarding the mission, Chapter 4 opens with Kendra arguing that Hammond knows something about the Marker and is hiding it from her and Isaac, with Hammond acting defensively about the subject. [[spoiler:He only has basic knowledge about it and assumes the Marker was of alien origin because that was the classified information divulged to the [=CEC=] at the time. Kendra knows this, accusing Hammond to cast suspicion on him and deflect it from herself.]]
*** Hammond makes an effort to console Isaac and assure him they'll find Nicole. Kendra never even bothers.
*** She's ecstatic when the USM ''Valor'' contacts the ''Ishimura'' after fighting the Slug boss. [[spoiler:Hammond later notes the ship's armed to the teeth and is somehow already in the same system as they are, as if they were waiting nearby.]]
*** Hammond's communication line with Isaac is constantly interrupted by something or someone aboard the ship, with [[MadScientist Dr. Mercer]] being the only obvious suspect. [[spoiler:Except Kendra also has clear contact with Isaac, and the signal jam affecting Hammond only stops when the ''Valor'' crashes into the ''Ishimura'', near the sector where Kendra is.]]
* FunWithAcronyms: The first letter of every chapter title. Together, they spell out "[[spoiler:NICOLE IS DEAD.]]"
** All (armor) suits in the franchise are called [=RIGs=], which stands for Resource Integration Gear.
* {{Futureshadowing}}: Staring a NewGamePlus, Isaac can look through the crew dossier for the USG ''Kellion'' as organized by Zach Hammond and his superiors. Isaac has a more than thorough entry, detailing everything about him from where he went to school to who his parents were, but Kendra just gets a stub with the guy who sent the message telling Hammond that she was recommended to him last minute and that he has almost nothing on her personally.
* GameBreakingBug:
** There's a couple, but a big one is in Chapter 5, where the FetchQuest-link can be broken ([[spoiler:Isaac can't activate the panel to turn the Chemical Mixture W/DNA into Poison]]), possibly by saving/reloading during the quest, preventing the player from continuing further. Reloading the game may fix this, but usually the only way is to completely start over with a new game.
** An issue that crops up with newer [=PCs=] is [=VSync=], which most players just shut off because it causes mouse lag. What it can also do is completely screw up the confrontation with the Hunter in the cryo-chamber, making it so Mercer never shows up and thus doesn't complete his scripted action, thereby never triggering the Hunter and locking the player in an empty room.
** Also, don't save after moving the Marker into the second to last shutter. (IE, don't put it in the shutter, then go and save at the nearby save point.) Even after you open the other Shutter, the Marker will refuse to move onto the tracks.
** PC users have an issue that makes the game {{Unwinnable}} within minutes of starting the game. What's supposed to happen is that a door is opened, and you witness a RedShirt being killed by an enemy. What tends to happen is that the someone is killed by ''nothing'', and the [[YouShallNotPass open door acts like a closed door]].
* GhostShip: The ''Ishimura''.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: Short summary: Item of immense religious significance found on a planet, item removed from planet, really, really, '''really''' bad stuff goes down afterwards.
* TheGreatRepair: Keeping the ''Ishimura'' afloat after what the Necromorphs have done is no small task.
* GridInventory: Because running the risk of an ambush every time you open your item menu isn't bad enough already.
* GrotesqueGallery: Every Necromorph, including the ones pinned to the wall by a mound of flesh that constantly gives birth to hideous little babies every few seconds and screams constantly.
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: The ''Valor'' is a military ship armed for war and advised it may be dealing with a deadly biological menace. So of ''course'' they take a random escape pod on board and take no precautions at all when opening it; what's the worst that could happen?
* {{Hammerspace}}: As futuristic as his weapons and items are, Isaac really shouldn't be able to carry so many weapons and medi-packs.
* HarderThanHard: Impossible difficulty, which has to be unlocked. It is hardly impossible, but squander upgrades, money, or ammo and you will die miserable death after miserable death in the later chapters. However, you won't get any new [[BraggingRightsReward overpowered items]] or hidden cutscenes if you finish this difficulty.
* HandCannon: Upgrade your Plasma Cutter enough and it can kill standard enemies in 2-4 well placed shots. The best part is that it doesn't have to be hampered by the slow rate of fire and low capacity of typical hand cannons depending on how you choose to upgrade it.
* HardLevelsEasyBosses: With one exception, the enemies in this game pose more threat to you than the bosses do, partly because the standard enemies are really into ambushes while the bosses telegraph their attacks and have very obvious weak points.
* HeadDesk: Isaac comes across a guy randomly doing this in a part of the USG ''Ishimura''. The guy is just standing in the hallway beating his head against a wall, with more blood coming out with every hit. Eventually, he hits his head against it hard enough that ''it kills him.'' And when his corpse is on the ground, you can see that there was ''nothing'' left inside him - all of his intestines had apparently been ripped out.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: Isaac Clarke by the end. And in fulfillment of this trope, [[spoiler:[[TheMole Kendra]] leaves Isaac for dead twice because he knows that the Marker was a military experiment]].
* HealingFactor: The Hunter Necromorph can regrow limbs, making it an ammo sink until you find a way to keep it from following you.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: You'll frequently hear about the exploits of Acting Chief Engineer Jacob Temple via audio logs found throughout the ship, detailing his journey to find and save his girlfriend while traveling through all the areas that Isaac ends up going through. [[spoiler: Unlike Isaac, Jacob actually manages to meet up with his girlfriend alive. Unfortunately, Dr. Mercer ambushes and kills them both.]]
* HideYourChildren: Averted - the Lurkers are actually mutated from clone embryos meant to be used for replacement limbs (which, in the expanded material, is apparently a regular enough safety hazard that they have an entire deck devoted to this).
* HiveMind: The Necromorphs are supposedly led by one, though it doesn't seem to do a whole lot.
* HolographicTerminal: There's no HUD at all, just a bunch of nifty holographic [=GUIs=] that manifest as actual objects in the game world. No pausing to check the inventory for you!
* HopeSpot: Near the end of the game, Isaac actually succeeds in [[spoiler:putting the Marker back on its pedestal and suppressing the Necromorphs and the Hive Mind]]. That lasts for just a few seconds before [[spoiler:Kendra removes it again and things get even worse]].
** Several smaller ones occur before, such as successfully sending a distress call to the ''Valor'' and meeting up with [[spoiler: Nicole]]. All are dashed by the end.
* IconicStarterEquipment: Isaac Clarke, the series protagonist, is shown wielding the Plasma Cutter in most promotional art.
* IdiotBall: Apparently, the entire crew of the ''Valor'' spontaneously forgot about their infinite-charge personal Stasis modules when [[spoiler:faced with a single bog-standard Necromorph]].
* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin: How Isaac gets his Kinesis module.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Only one of the eight weapons is an actual gun - the rest are mining/surveying equipment. WordOfGod states that the power tools were illegally modified to act more like weaponry when the ship came under attack. Every weapon (except the Pulse Gun) is designed to cut or bisect enemies: the crew knew about dismembering being effective, and adapted their tools (the only things they had) to deal with the situation.
* IncendiaryExponent: The flamethrower.
* InformedEquipment: Isaac's weaponry and equipment are kept in HammerSpace. Despite that, the inventory is an in-universe object, the things it represents are just sucked into Isaac's feet and deposited in a pocket dimension for when he needs them.
* InkSuitActor: The characters with names and faces are voiced by the same people in whose likeness they are made.
* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: The flimsy metal barricade in the Medical Bay, which for some reason requires an entire level centered on building a makeshift explosive device to shift, despite the player character's entire armament at that point supposedly consisting of industrial cutting tools.
** Oddly inverted in areas featuring zero gravity. Isaac ''should'' be able to accidentally walk off the unprotected edge.
** You also can't step off the edge of the floor only a few inches from the top of a ramp.
** You can't hop off the tram platform and go down the tracks, either.
** While Necromorphs can shatter glass (in scripted moments), you can't. Despite being able to stomp and hit hard enough to remove limbs, and the aforementioned cutting tools.
* IronicNurseryRhyme: You won't hear ''Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'' the same way you used to...
* JumpScare: [[TheMovie The Video Game]]! A particularly unexpected one happens at the very end [[spoiler: after the boss battle.]]
* JustifiedSavePoint: The save points are, in-universe, a way to synchronize a person's RIG with the main computer so it knows 1) where they are, 2) their physical status, and 3) what they have on them.
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Everyone dies except Isaac.]]
* KillItWithFire: You can buy the flamethrower during gameplay, but its usefulness against most Necromorphs is debatable.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Kendra steals the Marker from its pedestal. ''The only thing keeping all the horrible space creatures neutralized.'' She's smashed into paste by the massive Hive Mind less than five minutes later.]]
* LateToTheTragedy: By the time the ''Kellion'' makes it to the ''Ishimura'' to repair the subspace array, most of the crew is dead. At most, there are 20 survivors, and of these, all but 6 are too far gone (physically anyway... mentally, there's 5) to be saved by the time you see them [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction while 3 of them escape just as you arrive]]]]. The entire ship is overrun by the infection, and Necromorphs have free reign over it.
** And the ''Valor'' after that. Not a good day in the Aegis system.
* LaughingMad: One of the survivors that you come across can be found in the crew quarters, where you get the final nav card to repair the executive shuttle. She's in a room with a large amount of other dead crew members, laughing before blowing her head off.
* LimitedLoadout: Isaac can only equip 4 weapons at a time. The rest must be either kept within the safe (accessible from any of the ''Ishimura'''s store consoles) or sold to those stores to free up space. The game further encourages an even smaller loadout for two reasons. First off, the guns are upgraded separately. As such, if you carry the full allotment of four guns, you'll have four poorly upgraded guns. Likewise, ammo drops are based off of the equipped weapons, so if you have a weapon along for niche uses, it'll still take up 1/4th of the ammo pickups you find. For this reason, it's generally best to pick two weapons to use for the whole playthrough, plus the Contact Beam due to its ammo selling for a whopping $1,000 ''apiece'', making the gun pull double duty as an emergency {{BFG}} and a cash generator.
* LivingStructureMonster: Nest type enemy fused to a variety of walls/bulkheads throughout the game. They spawn nasty babies with missile shooting tails. They cannot be rerouted around and the babies will kill you if they manage to shoot you enough times.
* LuckBasedMission: Level 5 of the Shooting Gallery can be this. The targets pop up just fast enough that shooting a red target can accidentally blow away a blue one behind it in the same shot, thus ruining the score.
* LudicrousGibs: HOLY--
** Throwing a severed head will cause it to explode.
* MacGuffin: The Marker - [[spoiler:practically anything weird that happens can be credited to the Marker messing with you... The power of the Marker to repel Necromorphs is somewhat debatable though, as the Necromorphs seem as willing to attack you when you are standing next to it. Maybe it needs to be on its pedestal to work properly.]]
* MacGuffinDeliveryService: [[spoiler:Once Isaac loads the Marker onto the shuttle, Kendra reveals her status as TheMole, kills Doctor Kyne, and leaves Isaac to die on the ''Ishimura''. Isaac's not going to let her get away with that]].
* MadeOfPlasticine: Isaac can dismember uninfected human bodies by [[FinishingStomp stomping]] on them in the right spot. He's also torn apart in some kills [[spoiler:(like the gravity centrifuge)]] where he should die from trauma but still have his body intact.
* MadScientist: One slightly less mad one who wants your help and another much crazier one who wants to kill you.
* MagikarpPower: Almost all the weapons, especially the smaller ones. Your plasma cutter and pulse rifle, once fully upgraded, will tear through basically everything. The Line Gun is no slouch, either.
* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Smashed to pieces, slashed to pieces, being impaled ''then'' slashed to pieces, being body-jacked by a parasitic head, being eaten, and much more.
** You can see for yourself right [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIdkR85kpKs here]]; if you prefer to sleep tonight, [[http://bennyhillifier.com/?id=aIdkR85kpKs here's a Benny Hill version.]]
* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:''Temple'' and ''Cross'' care for each other, and both are murdered by Mercer, the hyper''religious'' whack-job.]]
* MeatMoss: Growing all over the ship. Made about ten times more disgusting by it being self-replicating rotting flesh implicitly constructed from ordinary dust (which is made of dead skin).
* MilitariesAreUseless: A single necromorph is enough to take out the entire crew of the USM ''Valor''.
* MoneySpider: For some reason, many of the Necromorphs are carrying either ammunition, health, or their paychecks. This gets a little weird when you find it includes Lurkers.
** Stasis modules can be melded into flesh, and so can items. That still doesn't explain why lurkers have items, though.
* MookChivalry: Averted, as Isaac must learn to fight off several (very) different types of enemies at the same time. Isaac is invincible to attacks from other enemies when he's trying to pull one off of his face, though.
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Whoever gave a doctorate to Dr. Mercer is crazier than he is. And Kyne's school isn't much better, considering what he's done.
* MonsterCloset: The necromorphs pop out of vents, floor tiles, the ceiling; outside of a few rare circumstances you never run across them in the open. After a while you can pick out exactly what parts of the wall the Necromorphs will pop out of.
* MundaneUtility: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. The weapons that Isaac uses are actually mining or repair tools. The plasma cutter, line gun and ripper are used for cutting through rock and other barriers, the force gun is essentially a jackhammer, etc. etc. All of them have in-game justifications for the ''Ishimura's'' task of planet-cracking. The only true weapon that you get is the pulse rifle, and it's a lot less effective than your other weapons unless you know how to use it properly.
** Don't forget Isaac's suit. At its strongest, it's slightly less effective than full-on combat armor, because it was made for engineers (like Isaac) trained to go in and solve problems under extreme conditions. As an engineer trained to handle emergencies on a spaceship, Isaac had to be prepared for anything that could go wrong on a spaceship, and a lot can go wrong in a spaceship.
* NewGamePlus: Beating the game once unlocks the hardest difficulty mode, a shit-ton of credits, ten power nodes, and the [[PoweredArmor Military Suit]], the best non-DLC armor you can get.
* NoHeroDiscount: Vending machines aren't known for their kindness, after all. Nope, no one hacks the system to give you freebies. Nope, you can't break into the machine and help yourself.
* NonCombatantImmunity: Although you meet enemies before being armed, they can't actually kill you.
* NoOSHACompliance: Even before the ZombieApocalypse, the ''Ishimura'' isn't exactly the safest place in the universe. For example, it has nozzles designed to spray acid across a hallway at a set of storage rooms at regular intervals.
* NotQuiteDead: Occasionally, Necromorphs that you have only damaged will play dead and ambush you when you try to walk past. [[spoiler:The Hunter Necromorph refuses to die, growing back its limbs when you cut them off and even coming back after you cryogenically freeze him. Eventually, you have to incinerate him with a shuttle's engine fire to finish him off for good.]]
** Any human corpse you see can come back to life if there's an Infector Necromorph in the area. The best idea is to stomp every corpse and take at least two limbs off. The rule of thumb is that if you weren't the one who killed it, it's not dead.
* NotUsingTheZWord: The Necromorphs. Ironically, the game makers basically summed them up as "Space Zombies."
* OhCrap: Kendra's reaction [[spoiler:to the HiveMind. Seconds before it smashes her into paste.]]
* OnceMoreWithClarity: [[spoiler: The video log from Nicole as seen at the beginning of the game seems like a plea for help. When the clip is shown at the end of the game in full, it reveals her true fate]].
* OneBulletClips: Taken a step further with each type of ammo being limited to a set clip size in your inventory (100 rounds per slot for Pulse Rounds, for example), which often doesn't match the clip size of the gun you're using it with. The Plasma Cutter can never hold as many rounds as one of its clips does, while Pulse Rifle clips only cover the bare minimum capacity of the rifle. A fully-upgraded rifle carries slightly less than two clips.
* OneLastJob: [[spoiler: Being the Captain of the ''Ishimura'', a ship about to be decommissioned, Mathius chose to become a part of the Church of Unitology's plan to secretly retrieve the Red Marker. He dies of needle to the brain.]]
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The Necromorphs. They're basically space-zombies but apparently their 'brains' are in their legs (or arms or tentacles). Going for the body or the head - which will be your first instinct - is an exercise in dying very quickly.
* OxygenMeter: Used when you enter a vacuum or toxic environments. The game is pretty forgiving in this respect: you get a minute of air minimum, and there's infinite oxygen refill stations in areas where you'll certainly exceed that minimum. Consequently, this renders the fairly numerous air canister pickups useful only for sale.
* ParentalAbandonment: After unlocking the game's background logs, you are able to review the [[http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Background_Request Background Request]] Hammond submitted for Isaac and Kendra. It is suggested in Isaac's file that he is estranged from his vested-Unitologist mother Octavia and has been unable to locate or contact his father Poul despite his efforts due to an executive order record classification.
* PathOfGreatestResistance: The Guide Lines subvert this somewhat, but there are a few times where your best navigation maneuver is to seek the path that tries to kill you.
* PeopleJars:
** The Medical Bay has cloned babies [[WalkingTransplant that are grown to replace the crew's limbs in case of major injuries]]. Naturally, they are kept in creepy looking green tanks. And the moment you see them, you know they're infected too. Then you start running into the Lurkers. Considering the number of Necro-babies you'll run into around the ship are easily as high as the number of jars, most likely all of the cloned babies were infected.
** [[spoiler:Doctor Mercer's office contains various heads in jars]] and [[spoiler:a room in the Medical Bay contains the Hunter and another victim in large jars]].
* PerpetualMotionMonster: Necromorphs don't need to eat, sleep or breathe and are essentially immortal. The Hunter even more so; not only does it share those attributes, it can regrow limbs endlessly.
* PersonalSpaceInvader: Every Necromorph tries to grab Isaac and gnaw his face off, but the Lurkers are especially prone to this, and the several giant tentacles Isaac must face grab him and drag him down the hallway.
* PlayingWithSyringes: It becomes clear as you progress through the game that several questionable activities seemed to have been endorsed by TheGovernment.
* PosthumousCharacter: Most of the ''Ishimura's'' crew are dead by the time the ''Kellion'' arrives, including most of the audio log characters. [[spoiler: Such as Nicole.]] Doctor Mercer reveals himself to still be alive though and spends more than one chapter trying to murder Isaac. [[spoiler: Doctor Kyne also turns out to have made it this far.]]
* PoweredArmor: Subverted somewhat. Isaac's suit is basically a fabric spacesuit when the game begins, and the various suit 'levels' add bar-like plates to the exterior of it, making it roughly akin to futuristic splint mail as the game progresses. Played straight with the Military Suit, which resembles a cross between [[StarWars Stormtrooper armor]] and [[Franchise/{{Halo}} MJOLNIR armor]].
* PressXToDie: In the zero gravity segments, there are a few surfaces that Isaac can’t jump to, but oftentimes, there is nothing stopping him from aiming upwards and flying off the ''Ishimura''’s orbit. It is impossible to do this accidentally.
* PressXToNotDie: If a creature grabs hold of you, just mash the right button and you'll pry them off, and oftentimes unleash a can of whupass whilst doing so (such as kicking the lurkers clear across the room). A few instances, such as the Hive Mind's grab and the tentacles dragging you to your doom, require you to aim, rather than just mash.
* PsychicLink: The Hive Mind apparently has one of these with the other Necromorphs, though in practice it doesn't really affect the proceedings and the Necromorphs seem to largely do their own thing.
** It might be more intelligent than it looks. The moment Isaac begins moving the Red Marker, Necromorphs everywhere increase in numbers and try to stop him every step of the way.
** And the Marker is really pulling a MindScrew on Kyne [[spoiler:and Isaac]].
*** Also, right at the start of the second mission, Isaac runs into a dying, blinded woman cradling and talking to "[=McCoy=]" (at that point, [=McCoy=] was a rotting, dismembered torso). She tells Isaac that [=McCoy=] said he'd show up, and hands him a kinesis module. [[spoiler:This is likely the Marker tricking her into giving Isaac a needed tool so he could do his part in returning it to the planet]].
* PsychoStrings: The entire soundtrack.
* PunchPackingPistol: The Plasma Cutter is extremely effective, and if upgraded remains so for the entire game.
* RaisingTheSteaks: Some fish get attacked by the Necromorphs.
* RandomlyDrops: Sort of subverted. Item drops are randomized, but ammunition dropped tends to only be from weapons Isaac is carrying. All ammunition drops that don't fit this are fixed and will be available from the same location in every single playthrough of the game.
** There also seems to be something of a pattern in how often medkits are dropped (especially when Isaac's health is very low) and where stasis-recharge packs are more likely to recharge (in the areas where this ability is required more often).
* RearWindowWitness: The game just loves to taunt Isaac by forcing him to watch murders he can't do anything about from windows he somehow can't break.
* RecycledInSpace: The game is ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' [[AC:IN SPACE]]! Whether or not this is awesome is entirely up to the player. (Apart from gameplay, it's effectively an updated version of ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', but that was already in space.)
** Not to mention that, as [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]] noted, the story is more or less ''Film/EventHorizon'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.
** Another Let's Player made an informed comparison to Run Like Hell: Hunt or Be Hunted.
* RedHerring: You lose contact with Hammond several times throughout the game with weird shit popping up during the interim, and Kendra thinks he knows more than he's letting on. [[spoiler:He doesn't, she's TheMole and keeps cutting off his communications. She's most likely accusing ''him'' of being a spy to avert any suspicion towards herself. "The lady doth protest too much" indeed.]]
* RedshirtArmy: Oh ''Dead Space'' army, you fail '''so hard'''. Maybe you should send the troops into mining engineering classes.
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: ZigZagged. Shooting a Necromorph's head will kill it... if you've blown off at least one of its other limbs (or two, depending on what you're shooting). Shooting one in the head from the get-go, however, will only make it go berserk. However, after the head is removed, if you throw it or shoot it, it pops like a melon filled with firecrackers.
* {{Retirony}}: The ''Ishimura'' was to be decommissioned the following year of the events of the game, but for the unlucky crew, especially Captain [[EyeScream "One Eye"]] Mathius, they all went insane and killed each other or themselves before being turned into Necromoprhs.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Isaac finally takes off his helmet in the ending cut-scene.]]
** It can also be seen at the very beginning if you know what you are doing.
** Finding out [[spoiler:NICOLE IS DEAD]], as [[spoiler:spelled out by the first letter of each chapter name.]]
** That [[spoiler:[[TheMole Kendra betrays you]] and leaves you for dead]] or that [[spoiler:Isaac has been experiencing hallucinations of his dead girlfriend induced by the Marker and arguably propagated by the HiveMind.]]
* RewardingVandalism: Isaac loves his stamping on crates. [[MemeticMutation And so do the fans.]]
** Those crates just happen to bear a passing resemblance to the original Xbox console. Interpret that as you will.
* RewatchBonus: Upon arriving at the ''Ishimura'', Kendra begins casting doubt at Hammond's decisions, and it only continues from there, with her accusing him of knowing more than he's letting on at every possible opportunity. On your first playthrough, this could be chopped up to her being a civilian freaking out or becoming irrationally paranoid. [[spoiler: Going through the game a second time will make you realise that since she's TheMole, she is likely just trying to make Hammond look guilty in order to gain Isaac's trust, with her constant arguing at Hammond's every word becoming much more obvious.]]
* RoomFullOfCrazy: In addition to the usual mounds of corpses, some rooms have writing scribbled all over the walls. Not all of it is in English, and it's possible that decoding the writings in the Unitologist alphabet would prove scarier than anything else in the game.
** And did we mention that the writing is usually in ''blood''?
* RuleOfCool: Some of the game's developers have specifically stated that they did not want Isaac to look like a SpaceMarine. Be that as it may, what's the best suit in the entire game, in terms of both protection and aesthetics? The Military Suit. [[IdiotBall Not that it did the ''Valor'' any good...]]
** The primary reason why you would find a remotely operated circular saw blade weapon. It even sounds like a real circular saw. If there's a more ''satisfying'' way to dismember necromorphs, we haven't found it yet.
* ScareChord: The game features a dynamic music system implemented so that no music, or very little, plays when there's nothing around, but when Isaac sees, hears, or feels something that seriously raises his stress levels, some scary violin chords kick in.
** Listening to the soundtrack on its own has moments of this, since those chords are built into almost every track.
** Then there's that incident with the tomatoes...
* ScreamerTrailer
* SealedEvilInACan: Doctor Mercer introduces himself and his insanity by releasing he Hunter from the tank right behind you.
** Oh, and for the Aegis VII miners? Moving the Marker off its pedestal was a bad idea.
* SecondHourSuperpower: The Kinesis Module. This is probably one of the most useful tools at your disposal, along with your plasma cutter. While many of the objects you can throw at enemies are relatively weak, there are a number of objects (including enemy body parts) that do massive damage, and aren't too uncommon in the environment. It's possible to play through almost every fight using only the Kinesis Module, effectively allowing you to have a weapon with unlimited ammo.
* ShootingGallery
* ShoutOut: [[Creator/IsaacAsimov Isaac]] [[Creator/ArthurCClarke Clarke's]] [[{{Tuckerization}} name]].
** At one point, you have to salvage a "Singularity Core" from the USM ''Valor''. Said core looks an awful lot like a [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture flux capacitor]]...
*** The first loading screen, which is a graph describing the ''Kellion's'' Shockpoint jump, also states that the "Flux Capacitor" is a component of the FTL engine system. Other components include The [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Improbability Drive]] and [[Franchise/StarTrek Warp Field Generator]].
** On the Medical Deck, a woman addresses a corpse as [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries McCoy]].
** Mercer also possesses a medical manual in his office for '[[Franchise/StarTrek Galaxy Class]]' starships. There's also a "Storage Room 47".
** Having to mix up poison and use it on the hydroponics deck? Guess [[VideoGame/SystemShock the system has been shocked]].
** A visual shout-out to ''Film/{{Alien}}''; when encountering danger for the first time, you run down a dark hallway full of flashing yellow lights, almost identical to Ripley's retreat from the Nostromo.
** The promotional comic [[http://deadspace.ea.com/#flash/mediaid=beat2swfbiggame-20100610014929325 The Big Game]] is one to the ComicBook/ChickTracts.
** In the medical section of the ''Ishimura'', at one point you can hear over the loudspeaker, "[[Film/TheThreeStooges Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard.]]"
** WordOfGod says that the Divider enemy and its howl were inspired by ''Film/TheThing1982''.
* ShownTheirWork: The ''Dead Space'' wiki talks about the hydrazine fuel of the flamethrower and its use for melting ice on comets for mining. Such a fuel is used in space travel already, in part because it's a monopropellant and requires no oxidizer; ice is plentiful on comets. In general, it's all very well thought through, except that in the game, the flamethrower doesn't work in a vacuum. [[ZigZaggingTrope Hmm.]]
** Ever wonder why flies would populate something that's floating around in space? The ''Ishimura'' is designed to be self-sufficient. It has hydroponic gardens, probably recycling centers and whatnot. As such, flies would be completely necessary for breaking down organic waste and many of the gardening processes.
** The [=GamePro=] article, "The Science of Dead Space".
* SidetrackBonus: There are many rooms and even entire areas that you do not need to pass through to proceed, but many may contain supplies. [[ParanoiaFuel Or monsters.]] And many times, both. This is recycled throughout the series.
* SniperPistol: The Plasma Cutter is basically a fancy handgun, but it's extremely long ranged and stable.
* SoNearYetSoFar: There's a unique example that isn't plot sensitive, but is still a game-spanning objective. The game is littered with enigmatic advertisements for something called Peng and an award in the AchievementSystem exists for finding it. It happens to be a tiny golden statue of a woman sitting in a trench in the very first area of the game but Isaac won't be able to get ahold of it until returning there near the end of the game, using the Kinesis Module he didn't have earlier. It has no purpose but is sellable for a large sum, and picking it up does net you the aforementioned achievement.
* SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness: Averted, more or less. The first weapon you get, the Plasma Cutter, is good enough to be your weapon of choice to the end of the game. There's an achievement for only using the cutter for a playthrough, and it's actually fairly easy to get, the only downside being an inability to shoot multiple enemies at once.
* SoundtrackDissonance: One of the trailers for the games is set to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" while flashes of gore and horror flicker across the screen. It also plays faintly in one of the later levels of the game.
* SpaceIsNoisy: Averted. The game will amplify the sounds coming from inside Isaac's helmet, muffle the sounds coming from direct contact with his weapons or the ground, and mute most sounds while in a vacuum (you can still hear close enemies though, because the sound is being realistically transmitted through the floor). It's actually quite immersive and adds to the gameplay since he can't hear Necromorphs creeping up on him.
** SpaceIsCold is also averted, for that matter, though it's less obvious.
* SpaceIsSlowMotion: Perhaps unintentional, but nearly everything done in zero gravity environments is slower than in the artificial gravity counterparts.
** At least the slower walking is justified as magnetic boots would require you to always keep one foot on the ground at any time, making walking quickly and running very difficult.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', in ''every way'' except for gameplay, which is more closely modeled after ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4.''
* SpottingTheThread: Quite a few: first of all, it is a relatively simple jump in imagination to complete the message that the chapter titles are spelling out.
** Second: You know that Doctor Kyne is hallucinating and is seeing his dead wife, and after hearing Mercer talk about it in a log, you can figure out that [[spoiler:the Marker can ''only'' create visions of the dead, and so Nicole is dead as well]].
** Third: While aboard the USM ''Valor'' in mission 9, you get a video transmission from Nicole. [[spoiler:For a split second, her face distorts into a skull.]]
** Fourth: When you are in close proximity to [[spoiler:Nicole]] in the Flight Control Room, getting close to the monitors [[spoiler: causes them to display Marker text overlaying a CEC logo.]] It's the first clue that [[spoiler: something is wrong with ''Isaac''.]]
* SpringLoadedCorpse: Necromorphs ''adore'' playing dead, and since the ship is overflowing with corpses, this can make for ''many'' a JumpScare. Resulting in your throat getting torn out.
** Made even worse by the fact that many creatures love to play dead ''in the middle of a fight'', and will happily stalk you while your back is turned. Nothing quite as pleasant as turning around and seeing the creature you supposedly just killed escape into a nearby vent.
** This turns into a bit of unintentional hilarity when players have wised up to this trick. The best of them simply know to (a) watch for the item drop when you kill a necromorph (since items tend to be shiny and holographically highlighted), (b) automatically blow any "predeceased" necromorph you see laying around away by shooting its legs out with a plasma gun or line gun (this works since only one "predeceased" necromorph ''on the whole ship'' actually '''is''' dead and not playing dead, though it can still be overlooked if a play-dead necromorph is hiding in a pile of human corpses), and (c) preemptively dismember all the corpses in areas they know an Infector will be about. The rest of us simply dismember everything and some of us rationalize it as Isaac Clarke being ProperlyParanoid. Or we like the psychological morale boost to hear Isaac's cave-man roar and the wet squelch sound of corpses popping under the Mighty Boot.
* StockScream: Isaac releases a few of these at times, particularly during the battle with the Hive Mind if you fail to free yourself from the tentacles.
* SubspaceAnsible: Implied via Nicole's message getting out at all.
** Note that the distress signal Isaac sends out being answered immediately is part of the story ([[spoiler:the military ship was nearby all along]]).
* SuicidalOverconfidence: [[spoiler:Kendra sees fit to steal the Marker after Isaac returns it, even though it is the only thing holding the Necromorph hoard at bay and she is barely armed (a single pistol, while Isaac is practically an armory). Needless to say, her death comes swiftly.]]
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: The two {{Red Shirt}}s Isaac brought with him in the scene where Isaac has to override security in the Flight Lounge.
* SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity: Played straight, but often inverted in a manner similar to AfterBossRecovery.
** If you come across a save spot all by itself - no bench or store - it's a good reason to sweat in this game.
* SympathyForTheHero: Mercer will repeatedly tell you that he admires your determination and perseverance, including saying that you almost make him think the human race had a future after all.
* TakeYourTime: No matter how urgent the task, nothing will actually happen until you reach the place it's supposed to occur at. Even when the ship is getting pummeled by asteroids or the oxygen levels are rapidly falling, or [[spoiler:that big chunk of planet crust is dropping through the sky down onto where you are fighting the end boss.]] The Necromorphs are good enough to leave you alone while you spend all the time you want practicing at the shooting range or playing Z-Ball.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: An Infector is polite enough to just stand there and let Mercer go through his entire speech before eating him.
** But going to the store is ''not'', oddly enough. If you go into a room and run to the store console you may find yourself with a rather unpleasant surprise behind you.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: InUniverse. [=RIG=]s have a vastly expanded Waypoint function in 2 and 3, able to point out shops, save stations, and upgrade benches. Stasis also regenerates by itself, presumably by incorporating movement-powered generators. They also have integrated maneuvering thrusters.
* TechPoints: Power Nodes are usually found as a reward for completing objectives (not directly, but conveniently in the same room as that key you've been looking for, etc.) They are used for upgrading weapons, your space suit, and occasionally opening optional doors with lots of pickups behind them.
* {{Telekinesis}}: via AppliedPhlebotinum. It basically gives you ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'''s Gravity Gun, up to and including the use of nearby objects as improvised projectiles. It also provides a very useful workaround for the scarcity of ammo: once you've shot the arms off one Necromorph, you can use those arms to stake the next two you come across! Also, Necromorphs playing possum aren't affected by telekinesis, but dead ones are. It takes the trial and error out of the equation.
* TeleportingKeycardSquad: Often played straight, though it is {{handwave}}d by the creatures hiding in vents. The mad doctor Mercer supposedly has hacked the controls for a lot of the areas, but there's a few times where he exits into areas from which there is no escape, and how he avoids being dismembered by the monsters he worships is a complete mystery.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Pretty much every death scene for poor Isaac. A good example would be the Hunter death scene: the creature stabs both its blades through Isaac, then lifts him up above it. It then stabs him two more times, cuts off both his legs, cuts off his left arm, ''looks into his eyes as he bleeds out'', then decapitates him and cuts his torso in half. ''Yeesh''.
** If one feels like watching this particularly violent death, this troper took a video of it, which one can see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1FcsZNiYdE here]]
** If you fail to kill the Hive Mind when dangling, your death is almost thirty seconds of it chomping at Isaac, removing individual limbs with a mouth with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily while he screams in agony. It's worth losing just to see it, because [[spoiler:Kendra's]] death looks pretty tame in comparison.
* TheRadioDiesFirst: Kendra hangs a lampshade on it while approaching the USG ''Ishimura'', and it continues to happen to individuals communicating with Isaac throughout the game as needed.
-->'''Kendra Daniels''': ''[[LampshadeHanging Never heard of a total communications blackout on one of these things.]]''
* ThirdPersonShooter: The core gameplay mechanic of this game.
* TitleDrop: The name of the twelfth and final chapter of the game is "Dead Space". Additionally, the backstory log [[http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/The_Red_Marker "The Red Marker"]] indicates the Marker creates a "dead space" around it that makes the necrotic recombination effect dormant, though this doesn't occur during gameplay. It is implied that this dead space is just a measly few meters.
* TookAShortcut: You really do have to wonder how some of the characters manage to get around the ship without being killed, considering they're running around a ship infested with undead killing machines and Isaac appears to be the only person who bought a helmet for his spacesuit. Hammond and Kendra are somewhat justified, given that the former seems to have military training and the latter spends most of her time sealed in a secure control room [[spoiler:and also turns out to be a Spec Ops agent]]. But you really have to wonder how the unarmed, rather doughy-looking Dr. Kyne, as well as the unarmed and completely batshit insane Dr. Mercer, managed to survive for so long when everyone else got killed.
** Simple, [[spoiler:The Marker is safely leading Kyne around the ship]] and considering [[spoiler:how intelligent the Hive Mind is]], all of Mercer's help means leaving him alive is more useful than transforming him into a Necromorph.
* TractorBeam: It's called "kinesis," thank you very much. Also, the gravity tethers.
* {{Tuckerization}}: See ShoutOut above.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: The ''Valor's'' armory is full of weaponry Isaac can't take, and he has to buy all his own gear save the Plasma Cutter; no other weapons appear in the game as pickups, even though they're supposed to be industrial tools used in the standard operations of the ship he's on. You can't even take the rifle off a guy who was just killed two feet in front of you. That said, he finds a metric assload of ammunition free for the taking.
* UnstableEquilibrium: If you don't waste ammo, avoid taking hits, and sell everything you pick up short of ammo and a few medkits, you can upgrade your equipment early on and have a much easier time with the rest of the game. By contrast, if you're trigger happy and let yourself take hits, you'll spend more money on ammo and medkits and less on upgrades, which will only get worse as the game starts throwing elite Necromorphs at you.
* VariableMix: The music rises and falls depending on how you move through the level, but it also remains silent unless the ''player'' sees a monster, whether or not the monster is actually in the room with you. If one hits you from behind or jumps into view, you get a very appropriate musical sting that adds to the surprise.
* VendorTrash: The superconductors. Lampshaded by their descriptions.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Admittedly, the only creatures you interact with are undead aliens, but Isaac can maim and mangle them just as badly as they can brutalize him. Cutting limbs off, punting babies like footballs, ripping heads off in choke holds, tearing tentacles out... and this is actually ''encouraged'' by the game; it's more ammo-efficient to dismember your opponents. This even applies to human corpses. Any intact corpse is Infector bait, so the savvy player will maim them all with gratuitous boot-stomping.
* VideoPhone: Isaac has an ultra hi-tech video phone with a projected holographic screen as part of the RIG suit's [[CommLinks Comm Link]].
* ViewerFriendlyInterface: Nearly every panel you can interact with is in huge font with simple words and large symbols. Also, you basically never have to search for functions; the exact thing you are looking for will pop up if you approach the respective terminal.
* TheVirus: The Necromorphs, the race of baddies who make up the ZombieApocalypse. Unique in that they can't actually infect living people - they have to be dead first. Precisely how the virus itself is transmitted is [[PlotHole never particularly clear]], since the only vector seen, the Infector, can only create one specific type.
** Although [[spoiler:the Hunter was created by injecting the infection directly through the forehead of a living victim.]]
** [[AllThereInTheManual The motion comic]] goes into more detail on this, showing a corpse infected by contact with a bacterial colony transforming into an Infector and proceeding to reanimate other nearby dead.
** Not to mention the book, in which a scientist [[spoiler:injects himself with suspicious alien tissue, becoming an Infector soon after.]]
* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Kendra and Hammond, for most of the game.
* WasOnceAMan: Pretty much all of the things Isaac graphically dismantles used to be members of the ''Ishimura's'' crew, excluding the HiveMind, and possibly the Leviathan and Slug.
** It's implied (admittedly more AllThereInTheManual) that the HiveMind is physically composed from the reshaped corpses of, A: the majority of the colonists, B: the original poor bastards who became Necromorph chow when they first reverse-engineered the damn DNA codes, or C: both of the aforementioned.
* WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture
* WeaponizedExhaust: [[spoiler:Used to kill the Hunter.]]
* WeaponOfChoice: Not exactly canonical, but given that the Plasma Cutter is perhaps the most useful weapon in the game (see BoringButPractical), as well as the first weapon you get, and the only weapon you get for free, it's not surprising that Isaac is usually portrayed in promotional material as using it.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Red Marker manipulates people by creating illusions of someone that the victim cares about, [[spoiler:such as Nicole]], but in the end, all it wants is to be placed back on its pedestal so that it can stop the Necromorph outbreak, and every illusion keeps urging the victim to help accomplish that.
* WhereItAllBegan: Before the last chapter, you find yourself back on the hangar deck, where you arrived.
* YourHeadAsplode: The Scientist in Chapter 2.
** Also, the cackling mad woman who commits suicide as you enter the room [[spoiler:in the Unitology 'coven']]. Too bad you can't pick up her pistol, since [[spoiler:this is just moments prior to the Hunter's second appearance]] (though all things considered, [[VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction a pistol would probably be useless]]).
** A Necromorph also does this to Isaac if you don't fight it off in time.
* ZombieGait: Averted for the most part. Most Necromorphs can keep running pace with Isaac, the exceptions being the ones whose bulk or frailty wouldn't logically allow them to match his speed. Special mention has to go to the Twitchers, former soldiers whose stasis units have been repurposed to make them inhumanely quick, allowing them to cross a room in seconds.
* ZombiePukeAttack: Female Slashers and legless Brutes, although it's more akin to an organic grenade.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Dead Space: Mobile'' provides examples of:]]
* TheBadGuyWins: '''And how.''' See DownerEnding.
* {{BFG}}: The Heavy Pulse Rifle has [[BottomlessMagazines unlimited ammo]], [[MoreDakka fully automatic]] and costs 200,000 credits. You can either get it after at least five playthroughs, or [[BribingYourWayToVictory you can do a microtransaction]].
* BigBadFriend: Tyler guides Vandal through much of the game and provides some needed company for the beleaguered engineer as the Necromorphs begin to appear. But it's all a ploy for Tyler to trick Vandal into overriding the lockdown protocols, so the Necromorphs can pour into the Sprawl... [[TheBadGuyWins and it works]].
** [[http://shirik.deviantart.com/art/Dead-Space-Corer-Model-316609580 The Corer]]. Tyler describes it as having the power of the fist of God. It can cut through ''65% of heavy elements''.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: The fake battery-life indicator flashing red is there to screw with players' minds.]]
* BribingYourWayToVictory: The iTunes Store has several DLC packs with suits and credits that can give you a leg up on the early parts of the game. You certainly don't need them in standard gameplay unless you want to totally break the game, but if you attempt the HarderThanHard Nightmare Mode, it may come in handy.
* CorruptChurch: You play as a newly-converted Unitologist engineer recruited to (unknowingly) unleash Necromorphs into the Sprawl.
* DownerEnding: After defeating the final boss, [[spoiler: Vandal is seriously wounded and tries to get help but no one answers. The game ends with Vandal's helmet lying on the ground, with a trail of blood starting from where she was lying down. Meanwhile, [[TheBadGuyWins Tyler reports to his superiors that his mission has succeeded,]] setting the table for ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2.'']]
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: All this time, Tyler Radikov was setting up Vandal.]] And boy, does Vandal get pissed off by this betrayal.
* ForegoneConclusion: If you've played ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', you know this game is not going to have a happy ending.
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: In VideoGame/DeadSpace2, Isaac discovers a recording next to Vandal's eviscerated corpse; the aforementioned conditions in which the log is found, combined with the fact Norton notes that that was her final log, indicate she died in the end.]]
* {{Interquel}}: This game takes place between ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' and ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2''.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Tyler Radikov]] gets away with [[spoiler:manipulating Vandal/Karrie Norton into allowing the Necromorphs to spread throughout the Sprawl]].
* ManipulativeBastard: Tyler spends much of the game developing a friendly relationship with Vandal and providing some levity in a tense-fueled situation... but that's exactly what he wanted, and he proceeds to trick the engineer into allowing the Necromorphs to spread throughout the Sprawl, effectively setting up the events of the second game.
* MindScrew: Vandal's hallucinations get very creative and mind-boggling. At one moment, you think you've transformed into a Slasher Necromorph, only to find out it's one of the protagonist's hallucinations.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: This is used to jumpstart the game's events. After sabotaging the powerboxes used to control the infection, Vandal is pressed by Director Tiedemann to repair the emergency quarantine seal.
* SchmuckBait: [[spoiler: That battery life indicator that flashes red while fighting a Brute? It's just there to play with your head, nothing to worry about.]]
* UnwittingPawn: Vandal, ''twice''. The first is when Vandal disables the power grid, unleashing the Necromorphs. The second is more of a slow-burn, as Tyler spends much of the game regaining Vandal's trust, only to trick her into jamming the doors open, so the Necromorphs can infect the Sprawl.
[[/folder]]

----

''Though I know not what you are,''

''Twinkle, twinkle, little star...''

* AbsentAliens: In the backstory, at least. Most of humankind believes this, seeing how they've spread into the galaxy and found absolutely jack squat. [[spoiler: EarthGov's efforts to cover up the existence of Necromorphs didn't help.]]

* NoOSHACompliance: Even before the ZombieApocalypse, the ''Ishimura'' isn't exactly the safest place in the universe. For example, it has nozzles designed to spray acid across a hallway at a set of storage rooms at regular intervals.

At EA Play Live 2021, a remake was announced, set for an unknown date and to be released on the PC, Xbox Series X|S, and the Playstation 5.

[[folder: ''Dead Space'' provides examples of:]]

[[folder: ''Dead Space: Mobile'' provides examples of:]]

* LimitedLoadout: Isaac can only equip 4 weapons at a time. The rest must be either kept within the safe (accessible from any of the ''Ishimura'''s store consoles) or sold to those stores to free up space. The game further encourages an even smaller loadout for two reasons. First off, the guns are upgraded separately. As such, if you carry the full allotment of four guns, you'll have four poorly upgraded guns. Likewise, ammo drops are based off of the equipped weapons, so if you have a weapon along for niche uses, it'll still take up 1/4th of the ammo pickups you find. For this reason, it's generally best to pick two weapons to use for the whole playthrough, plus the Contact Beam due to its ammo selling for a whopping $1,000 ''apiece'', making the gun pull double duty as an emergency {{BGF}} and a cash generator.