Survival horror Sci-fi and space horror Zombie Body horror

Dead Space (2008)

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The original 2008 Dead Space: an engineer, a dead ship and the things its crew became.

Platforms: PC, Xbox
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (92% of 29,363 reviews); Metacritic 89 on Xbox 360, 88 on PS3 and 86 on PC; 4.4 of 5 on GOG (280 ratings)
Length: about 11 hours
Players: 1
Made by: EA Redwood Shores
Released: 2008

No. 9 of the alien horror games · No. 12 of the mutant horror games · No. 7 of the spaceship horror games

What frightens Engineer Isaac Clarke is cut off aboard the mining ship USG Ishimura after its crew has been slaughtered and turned into Necromorphs. Headshots barely slow them; you must cut off their limbs with mining tools in dark, blood-smeared corridors, airless rooms and zero-gravity sections where an attack can come from any direction.
Content: gore, dismemberment, intense violence, strong language, jumpscares.

Dead Space (2008) is the original sci-fi survival horror game from EA Redwood Shores. Engineer Isaac Clarke joins a repair mission to the mining ship USG Ishimura and finds its crew slaughtered and remade into Necromorphs. You fight them with improvised mining tools, cutting off limbs rather than aiming for heads, with nowhere on the ship that feels safe.

About Dead Space (2008)

Dead Space is the 2008 game that started the series, made by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts. It first came out in October 2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows; the PC version came to Steam in January 2009, and it is also sold on GOG. On Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S it is sold as Dead Space (2008) and is part of EA Play. A deep-space mining ship goes silent after digging up a strange artifact on a distant planet. Isaac Clarke, an engineer, arrives with a small repair crew and finds the USG Ishimura full of the bodies of its crew, and the things they have turned into.

It is played over the shoulder. Isaac's tools are his weapons: the Plasma Cutter fires horizontal or vertical blasts, the Disc Ripper sends out a remote-controlled sawblade, and the Line Gun sweeps a corridor. The Necromorphs are the main idea: shooting them in the head does little, so you aim for the limbs one at a time. They crawl out of vents or rise from bodies lying around the ship, and some sprout new limbs when wounded. Isaac can stomp and punch, pull objects towards him with Kinesis and slow enemies or machinery with Stasis.

There is no menu screen to hide in. Isaac's health is the glowing bar on the back of his suit, ammunition shows on the raised weapon, and the map, inventory and stores appear as holograms in the world while the game keeps running. Parts of the ship are in zero gravity, where Isaac jumps from wall to ceiling and so do some enemies, and in vacuum his air runs down until he finds a tank.

The horror is in the ship itself as much as the monsters: dark corridors, blood across the walls, vents that might open, and the bodies of a crew that met a bad end. Ammunition, health and Nodes for upgrades are limited enough that each fight matters. Finishing the game unlocks New Game+ and a harder difficulty.

The site also lists Motive's 2023 remake, Dead Space, which retells the same story with modern graphics, and the sequels Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3. This is the original version, for players who want to see where the series began.

How to play Dead Space (2008)

Follow the repair tasks Isaac is given from one part of the Ishimura to the next; the navigation line shows the way to the next objective.
Aim at the Necromorphs' arms and legs rather than their heads; cutting off limbs is what brings them down.
Stomp crates and fallen enemies for ammunition, health packs and credits, and spend credits at the ship's stores.
Use Nodes at workbenches to raise your weapons' damage, ammo and reload speed and to strengthen Isaac's suit.
Use Stasis to slow a fast enemy or a broken machine, and Kinesis to pull objects or ammunition towards you.
In vacuum, watch Isaac's air and find the next tank; in zero gravity, jump from surface to surface.

Screenshots

Isaac Clarke in his engineering suit fires a blue plasma beam at a lunging, flayed Necromorph in a blood-spattered corridor

Isaac fires a blue stream at a Necromorph that bursts into flames in a dark corridor of the Ishimura

Isaac stands on a metal walkway beside a large round door as two Necromorphs float towards him in zero gravity

Isaac walks on a wall in a zero-gravity chamber, aiming his cutter down at a torn creature on the floor

Isaac stamps on a fallen Necromorph in a green-lit corridor, blood spraying across the floor

Isaac aims a large cutting tool at a Necromorph on a grated walkway, with severed limbs flying

Isaac looks down from a ledge over a deep shaft of girders and walkways inside the ship

Tips

Rotate the Plasma Cutter's blast to vertical or horizontal to match the limbs you are aiming at.
Try each tool's alternate fire mode; some suit groups and some suit single enemies.
Do not stand still to reload or open the inventory in the open, since the game does not pause for either.
A body lying on the floor may not stay down: stomp it or cut it apart before you walk past.
Spend Nodes on one or two weapons rather than spreading them thin.

Questions

What is the difference between Dead Space (2008) and Dead Space (2023)?

This is the original game by EA Redwood Shores. The 2023 Dead Space is Motive's remake of the same story with modern graphics. Both are on the site.

How long is Dead Space (2008)?

About 11 hours for the main story, by HowLongToBeat's figure shown on GOG; about 13 hours with side content and around 20 hours to do everything.

Is Dead Space (2008) on Xbox and PlayStation?

The Xbox store sells Dead Space (2008) for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and it is included with EA Play. It first came out on PlayStation 3 too, but we found no current PlayStation Store page for it. On PC it is on Steam and GOG.

Is Dead Space (2008) scary?

It is built to frighten: dark corridors on a ship full of mutilated bodies, monsters that burst from vents and fights where you must cut off limbs under pressure. It is also very gory and is rated M by the ESRB and 18 by PEGI.

Is Dead Space (2008) a zombie game?

Its enemies are the ship's dead crew, reanimated as Necromorphs, so it fits that idea, though they are alien-infected monsters rather than classic zombies.