The survival horror genre has come a long way from the original Doom and Resident Evil days, with the action frequently moving into space, Hell (Hellgate London, Painkiller) and even under the sea (BioShock). Usually the cause of the problem is infection, a disastrous scientific experiment (e.g. Half Life 2, F.E.A.R.) or alien contamination and the challenge for new designers is to keep the elements that fans of the genre like while still being able to inject some innovations to whet their jaded appetites.

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Dead Space is just such an answer to their prayers. The opening sequence is strongly reminiscent of the Alien and Event Horizon movies, with a rescue mission approaching the seemingly lifeless starship USG Ishimura following a distress signal. You play space engineer Isaac Clarke who's come to repair the communications network and find his girlfriend, who left a separate cryptic message about trouble on board.