History Videogame / DeadSpace

* 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.

* 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 either a civilian freaking out or being suspicious of Hammond. [[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.]]

* 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.

[[ClosedCircle 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.

* InfantImmortality: Averted. 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.

* FollowTheLeader: An excellent demonstration of Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad. ''Dead Space'' was very obviously inspired by early footage of ''Dark Sector'', 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''.

** The ''Magazine/GamePro'' article, "The Science of Dead Space".

* ManipilativeBastard: 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.

* ExcessiveSteamSyndrome: The [[GhostShip USG 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.

*** 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.]]

* {{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.

* 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.

** 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.

* 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.

* MilitariesAreUseless: A single necromorph is enough to take out the entire crew of the USM Valor.

* 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.

** 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]]...

** 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.]]"

* 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.

** Several smaller onces occur before, such as sucessfully sending a distress call to the Valor and meeting up with [[spoiler: Nicole]]. All are dashed by the end.

** 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 aformentioned cutting tools.

* JustifiedSavePoint: The save points are, in-universe, a way to synchrinize 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.

* 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 intergrated manouvering thrusters.

* UnusableEnemyEquipment: The ''Valor's'' armoury 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.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Admittedly, the only creatures you interact with are undead aliens, but Isaac can maim and mangle them just as badly as they can brutalise 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.

** The developers actually viewed images of burn victims and car crash images for inspiration. ''That's'' how brutal it is. Think Film/TheThing on acid.

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* AlternateRealityGame: ''No Known Survivors'', which played like an exploration game a la ''VideoGame/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.

* AlternateRealityGame: [[http://www.noknownsurvivors.com/ No Known Survivors]].

* 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.

* CutsceneIncompetence: Aside from the ''Valor'', there are several instances where a door won't open until after some poor schmuck gets killed - ncluding 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?

* 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'' is a hotter and faster burning variant of the formula commonly used for exactly this purpose.

* 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]]).

** ''"[[BossWarningSiren Warning,]][[BossBattle 10 kiloton mass detected]] [[BossRoom in Food Storage]]."''
** 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.
** In one of Nicole's videos there's a lot of static, and her face looks much more like a skull for a moment.
** Isaac can look through Daniels' crew dossier and his own. Isaac has a more than thorough entry, detailing everything about him from where he went to school to who his parents were, but Daniels 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.
* FunWithAcronyms: The first letter of every chapter title. Together, they spell out [[spoiler:NICOLE IS DEAD.]]

** 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 node put into it becomes a good go-to weapon especially due to it's ammo being so prevalent.

* Bizarrchitecture: The ''Ishimura'', while designed as a mining ship and possessing the logical layout of one, has some weird design elements.