Dead Space

Talk about depictions of the future in science fiction and other sources
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MythOfProgress
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Dead Space

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another space-oriented science fiction game, except this time as opposed to being a military shooter like Mass Effect, it's a survival horror with a more definitive protagonist(silent in the first game however)- taking the role of Issac Clarke(the name being a combination of science fiction writer names' Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke), who is an engineer that comes to experience the answers to the fermi paradox question- encountering a set of organisms referred to as necromorphs(academically referred to as bio-recombination when it comes to the process of how they're turned).

basically they're another version of the zombie epidemic trope but with a twist-their limbs are more vulnerable than their torso. to explain more precisely, the necromorphs come about as a result of object(s) referred to as the Marker(s) which is a mysterious double-helixed shaped obelisk that can broadcast a highly concentrated electromagnetic signal that alters any dead tissue on the cellular level- converting it into necromorph tissue and eventually re-animating it for the purpose of infecting other organisms.

the marker(s) can effect the brainwaves of individuals, having different effects on individuals in terms of how intelligent/mentally strong(or in some cases compatible their DNA is) they are- those with lower intellect have a tendency to experience dementia, hallucinations, homicidal/suicidal tendencies that'll be carried out for the purposes of creating corpses. those with higher intelligence-like issac have a tendency to experience more elaborate hallucinations- oftentimes having instructions for creating more markers as a way of spreading themselves out.

isaac becomes trapped on a ship called the USG Ishimura(which is Japanese for Stone Village and the first of the planet-cracker ships that humanity has invented, it's also named after a fictional astrophysicist Hideki Ishimura who discovered faster-than-light travel, coming up with the shockpoint drive sometime before the 25th century ) in an attempt to find his lover, Nicole Brennan. the game is set in the early 26th century(2508 for the first game, 2511 for the events of the second game, 2514 for the events of the third).

besides fallout and a brief snippet of the topic in deus ex human revolution in a collectible, the game has peak oil/peak resources as a concept that is essentially behind the lore/plot of the series- humanity has been able to spread throughout space- but have suffered tremendous resource shortages and almost became near-extinct- they've relied on a process referred to as "planet-cracking", essentially going to barren planets and harvesting resources by mining them. it's revealed or at least hinted at in the second entry of the game, other alien civilizations struggled with energy crises as well- leading them to try to study the marker(s) in attempt at accessing their massive energy reserves-but almost always inevitably falling prey to its machinations in re-creating it, constantly starting outbreaks for the aliens that came before.

planet-cracking is a lengthy process typically spanning three to five years, with the first year spent prospecting and setting up a colony; oftentimes being set up as a light outlay for an infrastructure so as to minimize losses. the next eighteen months involve tectonic excavation, gravity tether maintenance and related planet-side activities. planet cracker ships arrive between the 2.5 and 3 year mark, depending on the progress rate of the excavation. once the ship is in orbit, preparation for tectonic chunk extraction begins. this takes approximately one week.

the removal of an excavated chunk from the planet into a stabilized geosynchronous orbit usually takes about a day. during this process, billions of tons of debris break off from the underside of the chunk, creating an instant asteroid ring around the planet. while the floating debris is extremely dangerous, planet cracker ships have an Asteroid Defense System (ADS) to keep the ship and crew safe from harm. the process is repeated until the entire planetary body has been broken up and processed. smaller bodies, such as asteroids, are drawn into the mining bays and processed directly, using direct processing beams to reduce waste.

on the other hand, in this universe planet cracking has its own set of critics too not unlike environmental circles of today- being claimed that planet cracking operations can be destructive by way of altering a planet's gravity and geology, possibly making it uninhabitable in the process and sufficiently mining a planetary body; which could affect the gravity of the space around it- potentially disrupting an entire solar system.

the gameplay is a bit of a contrast to mass effect, as one of the developers suggested- saying that the user interface is supposed to be minimalistic as opposed to being cluttered, with issac's health being featured on his RIG engineering suit(Resource Integretion Gear, a health management system), with it being a survival horror- the mechanics to be expected are limited ammo/weapons, resource management, solving puzzles and figuring out ways of defeating unique enemies.

the lore is somewhat extensive, there's a couple of comic books, novels, animated movies that detail the history of what's happened on the ship and the background information regarding unitologists and the marker(dead space's version of Evangelical Christians/Scientologists). the game turns into a cosmic horror around the last few minutes of the third entry as it begins to dawn on the protagonists that necromorphs have an ultimate evolutionary stage- having a Convergence Event which leads to them becoming an entire moon; capable of consuming all organic life in solar systems.

unfortunately, because this was the last entry of the video game series- they ultimately appear to win as they reach Earth in an attempt to turn it into another moon. on the other hand, a remake was released a couple of months back- so there's a possible chance we get to see another attempt at rebooting the third entry but with a better story as the poor sales caused its premature death.
R.I.P Ziba.
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