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Games Like Dead Space: Sci-Fi Survival Horror

Dead Space puts an engineer on a dead mining ship with a plasma cutter, scarce ammunition and a crew turned into monsters that only stop when you take them apart. These games share its mix of science fiction and survival horror, from the series' own sequels to stations, prisons and planets of their own.

The games

  1. Dead Space 2 key art: Isaac Clarke's helmet with its glowing green visor lines in darkness SurvivalDead Space 2The sequel: a new Necromorph outbreak on a city-sized station above Saturn, faster and with Isaac's mind giving way.
  2. Isaac Clarke in his engineering suit fires a blue plasma beam at a lunging, flayed Necromorph in a blood-spattered corridor SurvivalDead Space (2008)The 2008 original the remake rebuilt: the Ishimura, the Necromorphs and cutting off limbs with mining tools.
  3. The Callisto Protocol key art: Jacob Lee in a prison block surrounded by mutated inmates SurvivalThe Callisto ProtocolFrom a studio led by Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield: brutal close combat, scarce ammo and mutated inmates on a moon of Jupiter.
  4. Alien: Isolation key art: Amanda Ripley's face inside a space helmet lit green against black SurvivalAlien: IsolationOne alien you cannot kill hunts you through a space station built to look like the 1979 film.
  5. Extreme close-up of Elster's shadowed face with glowing red eyes against a deep red background, drawn in a pixel anime style PsychologicalSIGNALISSurvival horror in a collapsing off-world facility with a six-slot inventory and very few bullets.
  6. Prey key art: Morgan Yu in a red suit and glowing helmet stands beneath a huge black, smoke-like alien shape that holds the Moon and the Talos I station SurvivalPreyA space station overrun by shapeshifting aliens that can hide as any object, survived with scavenged and crafted tools.
  7. System Shock key art: SHODAN's glowing green face made of circuit lines on a black background Action horrorSystem ShockThe remade 1994 original: a station taken over by its rogue computer, its crew turned into cyborgs and mutants.
  8. Dead Space 3 key art: Isaac Clarke's battered helmet, its visor glowing blue, against a snowy planet Co-opDead Space 3The third game, on an ice planet, with weapon crafting and online co-op.
  9. Cronos: The New Dawn art: the Traveler in a dented diving-style helmet with a shoulder lamp, a dark tower under a red sky behind SurvivalCronos: The New DawnHeavy, careful third-person fights in an armoured suit against creatures that merge with the fallen.
  10. DOOM 3 key art: an armoured marine fighting a huge horned demon lit by orange fire Action horrorDOOM 3Dark, half-lit corridors of a Mars research base, possessed staff and demons stepping out of the shadows.
  11. Aliens vs. Predator key art: a Xenomorph and a Predator face each other in green light Action horrorAliens vs. PredatorIts Marine campaign is a dark first-person fight against Xenomorphs on a colony world.
  12. SOMA key art: a battered diving-suit robot with glowing lights beside a woman's face pressed to a wet glass window PsychologicalSOMAA failing research station at the bottom of the sea, with no weapons and horror that turns inward.
  13. The Thing: Remastered key art: soldiers in snow parkas charge forward under a huge snarling, misshapen dog-like creature in red and blue light Sci-fi horrorThe Thing: RemasteredA squad in frozen Antarctic stations, never sure which teammate is the shape-shifting alien.
  14. Alien: Rogue Incursion key art: Zula Hendricks with a rifle surrounded by Xenomorphs, a huge alien head looming above them against a starfield SurvivalAlien: Rogue IncursionMade first for VR: a pulse rifle and motion tracker against an infested research facility.
  15. Endoparasitic key art: the grey silhouette of a man with no legs dragging himself across a tiled floor, leaving a trail of red blood SurvivalEndoparasiticA wounded researcher drags himself one-armed through an asteroid lab of mutated monsters, reloading one bullet at a time.
  16. ROUTINE key art: a cosmonaut in a pale spacesuit holding the boxy C.A.T. device, framed by white flowers and a dark robot silhouette in front of a large full moon SurvivalROUTINEA silent lunar base built to an 80s vision of the future, where hostile machines hunt you and you mostly run and hide.
  17. Species: Unknown key art: a mercenary in a sci-fi suit and helmet in a blue-lit ship corridor, with a dark creature's red eyes glowing beside them Co-opSpecies: UnknownCo-op for up to four mercenaries on an abandoned spaceship, tracking an intelligent monster with a motion tracker.
  18. Scorn screenshot: a vast bone-like biomechanical palace with pipes and spires rising out of purple fog SurvivalScornWordless body horror in a biomechanical world of flesh and machines.
  19. Iron Lung art: the grainy red surface of an ocean of blood PsychologicalIron LungA short horror in a one-man submarine at the bottom of a blood ocean, navigating by instruments alone.
  20. System Shock 2 remaster key art: the metallic face of the AI SHODAN with glowing green eyes and wires spreading out like hair SurvivalSystem Shock 2: 25th Anniversary RemasterWake alone on a starship whose crew have become something else: one of the games Dead Space grew from.
  21. A marine's helmet display in orange over a dark spaceship corridor, the motion tracker warning of movement 9.8 metres away Co-opSpace Beast Terror FrightMarines, a motion tracker and beasts in the dark corridors of derelict spacecraft, for one to four players.
  22. Directive 8020 key art: an astronaut with a bloodied face inside a cracked helmet, beside a red-lit wrecked corridor Co-opDirective 8020A crashed colony ship and an alien that copies its prey, in a story of choices where any of the crew can die.
  23. Duskers art: a drone's light falls on the dark, ribbed hull of a derelict ship marked A1 SurvivalDuskersPilot drones through dark derelict spaceships by command line, never sure what waits behind the next door.
  24. Mouthwashing art: a single bloodshot eye inside a red outline shaped like a dripping mouthwash drop, on black PsychologicalMouthwashingFive crew of a wrecked space freighter waiting for a rescue that will not come, falling apart in isolation.
  25. Moons of Madness key art: an astronaut in a blue and white suit falls through dark mist toward huge red-ridged tentacles PsychologicalMoons of MadnessAlone on a failing Mars outpost, with visions and tentacled things from beyond the stars.

If you finished the remake and want to see where it came from, the 2008 original, Dead Space (2008), is still sold and plays the same story aboard the Ishimura with its first design. For more of the same, play Dead Space 2. Isaac Clarke wakes on the Sprawl, a city-sized station above Saturn, as a new Necromorph outbreak tears through it; it is faster and more action-led, with a mind giving way to visions. Dead Space 3 moves to the ice planet Tau Volantis, adds weapon crafting from scavenged parts and online co-op, and is the most action-heavy of the three.

The Callisto Protocol is the spiritual successor, led by Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield: an inmate fights his way out of a prison on a moon of Jupiter as an outbreak mutates its people, with brutal close-quarters combat, scarce ammunition and a gravity weapon. Cronos: The New Dawn has the same heavy, careful fights and creatures that grow stronger by absorbing the fallen, in an armoured suit in a ravaged future.

For more fear and less shooting, Alien: Isolation is essential. One alien that cannot be killed hunts you through a space station built to look like the 1979 film, and you hide, sneak and improvise. Alien: Rogue Incursion goes the other way, made first for VR with a pulse rifle and motion tracker against an infested facility. The Thing: Remastered sends a squad into frozen Antarctic stations where any teammate could be the shape-shifting alien. ROUTINE is slower and quieter: a lunar base with an 80s idea of the future, no waypoints and machines that treat you as the enemy, so you run and hide more than you fight. System Shock, Nightdive's remake of the 1994 original, is one of the games this whole style grew from: a space station taken over by its rogue computer, SHODAN, its crew turned into cyborgs and mutants. System Shock 2, in its 25th anniversary remaster, is the other root: you wake alone on a starship whose crew have become something else. Aliens vs. Predator's Marine campaign is a dark fight with too little light against Xenomorphs that come from every side. Prey is the immersive-sim cousin: a space station overrun by shapeshifting aliens that can disguise themselves as any object, survived with scavenged weapons, crafted tools and alien powers. Endoparasitic is the strangest: a top-down game in which you drag yourself one-armed through an asteroid lab, loading your gun one bullet at a time against mutated monsters. Species: Unknown puts up to four mercenaries on an abandoned spaceship with a motion tracker, working out which of several monsters is hunting them. Space Beast Terror Fright is the arcade version for one to four marines, on one screen or online: dark, maze-like spacecraft, a motion tracker pinging what you cannot see and doors you seal to keep from being surrounded. Directive 8020, from Supermassive Games, crash-lands a colony ship on a distant planet where an alien that imitates its prey hunts the crew, and your choices decide who gets home.

If what you love is the atmosphere of a dead place in space or under the sea, Signalis is survival horror in a collapsing off-world facility with a six-slot inventory and very few bullets, SOMA is a failing research station on the sea floor where you cannot fight at all, and Iron Lung locks you in a one-man submarine at the bottom of a blood ocean. Duskers sends you into derelict spaceships without ever leaving your own: you pilot drones through their dark corridors by typed commands, scavenging to survive while a motion sensor tells you something is aboard but not what. Scorn, finally, is all body horror: a wordless, biomechanical world of flesh and machines.

Three more take the station somewhere else. DOOM 3 is the 2004 shooter that went dark: a Mars research base overrun by demons, fought through half-lit corridors where possessed staff wait. Moons of Madness leaves you alone on a failing Mars outpost, where a strange mist and tentacled visions arrive without guns to answer them. Mouthwashing has no monsters to fight at all: five crew on a wrecked space freighter wait for a rescue that will not come, and the horror is what they do to each other.

If you only try one, play The Callisto Protocol for the closest feel of combat, or Alien: Isolation for one hunter you can never kill.

Questions

What is the closest game to Dead Space?

Dead Space 2 and 3 first, or the 2008 original if you played the remake; outside the series, The Callisto Protocol, made by a studio led by Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield, is the closest in combat and setting.

Is there a Dead Space game I can play with a friend?

Dead Space 3 has online co-op for two players. Outside the series, Species: Unknown is a co-op spaceship horror game for up to four players.

What are good space horror games without combat?

SOMA has no weapons at all, Alien: Isolation is mostly about hiding from an alien you cannot kill, and ROUTINE gives you one tool, used as a weapon only as a last resort, on a silent lunar base.

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