The 10 Scariest Moments In The Dead Space Series
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VOICE OVER: Aaron Brown
WRITTEN BY: Aaron Brown
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at the most pants wetting moments in the Dead Space series. For this list, we'll be looking at the times we all screamed out loud and had to take a break from playing one of the most terrifying series in gaming. Our countdown includes the Regenertor Chase from "Dead Space" (2008), the Church of Unitology from "Dead Space 2" (2011), McNeill's amputation from "Dead Space Extraction" (2009), and more!
Script written by Aaron Brown
What’s worse than a necromorph? A creature that can systematically reanimate corpses and horrifically disfigure them into whatever grotesque abomination they desire? How about one that simply won't die? The Regenerators make appearances in both Dead Space 1 and 2, but we’ll be focusing on their first appearance since by Dead Space 2, Isaac has a better idea of what to expect from these unkillable, already dead nightmares. By this point in the game, the player has the necromorphs figured out: cut off the limbs and the body will die. The moment when this thing’s limbs grow back is when Isaac is left with no choice but to run and attempt an escape through unbearably slow opening doors, the sounds of the Regenerator bellowing behind you. Ending up trapped in a room with an unkillable necromorph waiting for a door to unlock is the height of tension for the series.
Dead Space Extraction is an entry in the series a lot of fans have overlooked even despite its canonical importance. Most likely due to the necessity of motion controls, the game never reached the same heights as the other titles in the beloved series. Set up as a prequel to the original Dead Space, the game chronicles the events leading up to the spread of the necromorphs onboard and the few survivors' attempts to escape. Near the end of the game, the player character Mcneill needs to shut down the anti-asteroid canons to allow their shuttle to escape, but after being besieged by an enormous necromorph, Mcneill is led to believe the fight is over, only for one of the tentacles to pin their arm to the outer hull of the ship. Left with no other option, Mcneill must excruciatingly amputate his own arm or risk running out of oxygen.
Dead Space 3 is an entry that is undeniably lighter on scares than the previous entries, but this opening level shows the developers at least remembered what made the series an industry icon in horror to begin with. Players unexpectedly don’t take up Isaac’s suit at the start of the series’ third entry, instead following Tim as he searches for the wreckage of a downed ship in the middle of a blizzard. Poor Tim is given woefully little information about why he’s searching for this ship and by the time he finds it, the necromorphs are already after him. The sequence mixes the best of the tight corridors of the first game and the larger action moments of the second and all culminates in Tim finding out too late that this is one mission he never should have accepted.
Despite the foreboding atmosphere of the series as a whole, the Church of Unitology still manages to be one of the most unsettling. A religious cult dedicated to the worship of the markers and the Brethren Moons, as well as Isaac’s neverending hallucinations, this is the last place Isaac wants to be. With entry to the many rooms littered with propaganda for their cause, the tension only builds with every door that opens. And given the Church’s fascination with the necromorphs, of course the place is infested with them, many of them cloaked in the garments of its devout followers. With messages scrawled on the walls, floors and ceilings and the absolute labyrinthian nature of the church’s design, every new passageway just feels like a new level to this unending hell.
Every turn down a new hallway or corridor comes with an unmeasurable sense of dread. The feeling of not knowing what is lurking in the shadows is what the Dead Space series does best and even despite the player being ready for anything, this is still one of the biggest shocks of the whole series. What makes this attack particularly effective is that there is no build up, no sounds beforehand, Isaac simply opens a door and is immediately snatched by an enormous tentacle and dragged down the hallway. It’s a relatively short sequence and the player has only seconds to react before Isaac is dragged into the hole in the wall and whatever is waiting on the other side.
What is it about schools that make them such great recurring themes in atmospheric horror? Given the veracity of the necromorph infection, not even the children are safe. The setup when Isaac enters is undeniably unsettling. The room just feels too bright, too colorful, and when you first catch a glimpse of the crawlers, you know it’s not going to get any better from here. These infants crawl at you at an alarming pace, all while crying out like a baby screaming for its mother. And then the pack comes for Isaac. The reanimated bodies of the older children now viciously hunt Isaac in large groups attempting to overwhelm him with their speed and numbers. In the end, all Isaac can do is get out of there as quickly as possible and repress the disturbing memories of this place just like every gamer who had to lead him through it.
After the events of the first Dead Space, it’s no wonder Isaac ended up in a psychiatric facility. Still haunted by visions of the markers and Nicole, Isaac spends the opening moments of the game locked in a straight jacket. After a botched rescue attempt, Isaac is once again on the run from the necromorphs but at even more of a disadvantage this time. With his arms still locked in the straight jacket, Isaac’s only defense is to dodge the numerous necromorphs and kick off the ones that get too close. This opening level manages to top the near death experience of the first game’s opening level in just sheer outright panic alone. By the time Isaac manages to get hold of his trusty plasma cutter, the facility is already overrun, and there is still an uncomfortable amount of time and necromorphs between you and your new rig to make you whole again.
From the moment you first encounter the Ishimura, the entire ship just feels wrong. As if literally crashing through the front gate wasn’t a bad enough omen, the complete lack of crew and the blood covered walls are just all big red flags to get the hell out of there. After being sent to get the security terminals back online, Isaac is given a front row seat to what exactly brought the Ishimura to its current state. With the security team immediately dispatched, Isaac and the remaining members of the “rescue” team are left with no choice but to leg it as quickly as they can, all the while with creatures straight out of their worst nightmares quite literally crawling out of the walls. Isaac narrowly makes it to the elevator before he’s sliced to ribbons, and that’s only the start of this downward spiral into the bowels of the Ishimura.
A hero will do whatever is necessary for the greater good and whatever it takes to save others. Even still, this feels a bit extreme. After discovering his memories of the marker had been harvested to create a new one, and one that has begun calling out to the necromorphs it created for the convergence, Isaac needs to access those parts of his brain that had been suppressed and give him the answers he needs to stop the marker. Constantly haunted and egged on by the hallucination of Nicole, Isaac climbs into the Noontech Diagnostic Machine and must endure being fully conscious as a needle is injected into his cornea. Should Isaac be unable to control his heart rate and stress level, the consequences are less than ideal and something many gamers who failed this stress test are unlikely to ever forget.
Oftentimes, the absence of terror is scarier than the terror itself. Isaac’s return to the Ishimura is undeniably one of the most stress inducing levels in all of Dead Space 2. And that’s saying something. Plagued by flashbacks of his last visit aboard and the discovery of audio logs detailing the nightmares other crew members endured only adds to the tension. The near constant groans of the ship and the plastic sheeting covering the walls give this place that once housed so many ungodly nightmares an almost sterile feeling. This tension becomes so unbearable in fact that by the time something finally does attack you, the gamer almost breathes a sigh of relief knowing all of their fears of what might or might not be lurking around the next corner were actually there all along and in some ways, that’s strangely comforting and yet altogether still ultimately pant wetting terrifying.
Regenerator Chase
“Dead Space” (2008)What’s worse than a necromorph? A creature that can systematically reanimate corpses and horrifically disfigure them into whatever grotesque abomination they desire? How about one that simply won't die? The Regenerators make appearances in both Dead Space 1 and 2, but we’ll be focusing on their first appearance since by Dead Space 2, Isaac has a better idea of what to expect from these unkillable, already dead nightmares. By this point in the game, the player has the necromorphs figured out: cut off the limbs and the body will die. The moment when this thing’s limbs grow back is when Isaac is left with no choice but to run and attempt an escape through unbearably slow opening doors, the sounds of the Regenerator bellowing behind you. Ending up trapped in a room with an unkillable necromorph waiting for a door to unlock is the height of tension for the series.
Handy Work
“Dead Space Extraction” (2009)Dead Space Extraction is an entry in the series a lot of fans have overlooked even despite its canonical importance. Most likely due to the necessity of motion controls, the game never reached the same heights as the other titles in the beloved series. Set up as a prequel to the original Dead Space, the game chronicles the events leading up to the spread of the necromorphs onboard and the few survivors' attempts to escape. Near the end of the game, the player character Mcneill needs to shut down the anti-asteroid canons to allow their shuttle to escape, but after being besieged by an enormous necromorph, Mcneill is led to believe the fight is over, only for one of the tentacles to pin their arm to the outer hull of the ship. Left with no other option, Mcneill must excruciatingly amputate his own arm or risk running out of oxygen.
Waystation
“Dead Space 3” (2013)Dead Space 3 is an entry that is undeniably lighter on scares than the previous entries, but this opening level shows the developers at least remembered what made the series an industry icon in horror to begin with. Players unexpectedly don’t take up Isaac’s suit at the start of the series’ third entry, instead following Tim as he searches for the wreckage of a downed ship in the middle of a blizzard. Poor Tim is given woefully little information about why he’s searching for this ship and by the time he finds it, the necromorphs are already after him. The sequence mixes the best of the tight corridors of the first game and the larger action moments of the second and all culminates in Tim finding out too late that this is one mission he never should have accepted.
The Church of Unitology
“Dead Space 2” (2011)Despite the foreboding atmosphere of the series as a whole, the Church of Unitology still manages to be one of the most unsettling. A religious cult dedicated to the worship of the markers and the Brethren Moons, as well as Isaac’s neverending hallucinations, this is the last place Isaac wants to be. With entry to the many rooms littered with propaganda for their cause, the tension only builds with every door that opens. And given the Church’s fascination with the necromorphs, of course the place is infested with them, many of them cloaked in the garments of its devout followers. With messages scrawled on the walls, floors and ceilings and the absolute labyrinthian nature of the church’s design, every new passageway just feels like a new level to this unending hell.
Snatched
“Dead Space” (2008)Every turn down a new hallway or corridor comes with an unmeasurable sense of dread. The feeling of not knowing what is lurking in the shadows is what the Dead Space series does best and even despite the player being ready for anything, this is still one of the biggest shocks of the whole series. What makes this attack particularly effective is that there is no build up, no sounds beforehand, Isaac simply opens a door and is immediately snatched by an enormous tentacle and dragged down the hallway. It’s a relatively short sequence and the player has only seconds to react before Isaac is dragged into the hole in the wall and whatever is waiting on the other side.
Elementary
“Dead Space 2” (2011)What is it about schools that make them such great recurring themes in atmospheric horror? Given the veracity of the necromorph infection, not even the children are safe. The setup when Isaac enters is undeniably unsettling. The room just feels too bright, too colorful, and when you first catch a glimpse of the crawlers, you know it’s not going to get any better from here. These infants crawl at you at an alarming pace, all while crying out like a baby screaming for its mother. And then the pack comes for Isaac. The reanimated bodies of the older children now viciously hunt Isaac in large groups attempting to overwhelm him with their speed and numbers. In the end, all Isaac can do is get out of there as quickly as possible and repress the disturbing memories of this place just like every gamer who had to lead him through it.
Titan Memorial
“Dead Space 2” (2011)After the events of the first Dead Space, it’s no wonder Isaac ended up in a psychiatric facility. Still haunted by visions of the markers and Nicole, Isaac spends the opening moments of the game locked in a straight jacket. After a botched rescue attempt, Isaac is once again on the run from the necromorphs but at even more of a disadvantage this time. With his arms still locked in the straight jacket, Isaac’s only defense is to dodge the numerous necromorphs and kick off the ones that get too close. This opening level manages to top the near death experience of the first game’s opening level in just sheer outright panic alone. By the time Isaac manages to get hold of his trusty plasma cutter, the facility is already overrun, and there is still an uncomfortable amount of time and necromorphs between you and your new rig to make you whole again.
First Encounter
“Dead Space” (2008)From the moment you first encounter the Ishimura, the entire ship just feels wrong. As if literally crashing through the front gate wasn’t a bad enough omen, the complete lack of crew and the blood covered walls are just all big red flags to get the hell out of there. After being sent to get the security terminals back online, Isaac is given a front row seat to what exactly brought the Ishimura to its current state. With the security team immediately dispatched, Isaac and the remaining members of the “rescue” team are left with no choice but to leg it as quickly as they can, all the while with creatures straight out of their worst nightmares quite literally crawling out of the walls. Isaac narrowly makes it to the elevator before he’s sliced to ribbons, and that’s only the start of this downward spiral into the bowels of the Ishimura.
Eye Surgery
“Dead Space 2” (2011)A hero will do whatever is necessary for the greater good and whatever it takes to save others. Even still, this feels a bit extreme. After discovering his memories of the marker had been harvested to create a new one, and one that has begun calling out to the necromorphs it created for the convergence, Isaac needs to access those parts of his brain that had been suppressed and give him the answers he needs to stop the marker. Constantly haunted and egged on by the hallucination of Nicole, Isaac climbs into the Noontech Diagnostic Machine and must endure being fully conscious as a needle is injected into his cornea. Should Isaac be unable to control his heart rate and stress level, the consequences are less than ideal and something many gamers who failed this stress test are unlikely to ever forget.
Return to the Ishimura
“Dead Space 2” (2011)Oftentimes, the absence of terror is scarier than the terror itself. Isaac’s return to the Ishimura is undeniably one of the most stress inducing levels in all of Dead Space 2. And that’s saying something. Plagued by flashbacks of his last visit aboard and the discovery of audio logs detailing the nightmares other crew members endured only adds to the tension. The near constant groans of the ship and the plastic sheeting covering the walls give this place that once housed so many ungodly nightmares an almost sterile feeling. This tension becomes so unbearable in fact that by the time something finally does attack you, the gamer almost breathes a sigh of relief knowing all of their fears of what might or might not be lurking around the next corner were actually there all along and in some ways, that’s strangely comforting and yet altogether still ultimately pant wetting terrifying.
