TheDead Spacefranchise is undoubtedly an iconic one, with the IP contending with the best experiences that the survival horror genre has to offer ever since its inception in 2008. With three well-received mainline titles and a recent remake being released of the first game, the franchise has a wide breadth of content that makes up its memorable identity.
It is clear that theDead Spacefranchise has lots of individual game mechanics and recurring motifs that have historically made the games as successful as they are, but there is one relatively unsung aspect of the franchise’s gameplay that truly compounds the tense horror that the IP conveys. While other survival horror games provide players with some respite within certain areas, one of the greatest boons forDead Space’s tension is that even save rooms are not free of threats and combat.
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Safe Spaces In Survival Horror Games
Starting right at the very beginning of the now massively popular genre ofsurvival horror video games, it has been commonplace for a title to offer safe spaces within the game for players to catch their breath and take a break from the overwhelming tension that the genre can foster. Fittingly, these spaces are often the rooms and areas that appear throughout a survival horror title in which the player can save their progress, with these rooms being characterized as a space for reflection that break up the horror, danger, and combat of the world outside of them.
Survival horror giants such as theResident Evilfranchisehave some of the most iconic safe spaces in the typewriter rooms that the games feature to save progress, and theDead Spaceseries has memorable recurring save points of its own. These “Save Stations” offer the same level of practical use as the save rooms that are seen throughout the genre, but stand out in one very important and unique way.
The game world ofDead Spaceinstallments is typified by its cruel brutality, with horrificallygruesome player deaths being a core motif of theDead Spaceremake. Like any good survival horror title, the franchise does well to convey its enemies as a commendable and overwhelming force that renders the player character as a vulnerable, hopeless figure that is fighting against the odds.
The Save Stations inDead Spacecrucially deny the player the safety that aforementioned save rooms in other survival horror games provide, with there being a chance that a safe room could be teeming with enemies. Given the initial relief that comes with encountering a Save Station, the random reduction of some of these rooms into intense enemy encounters is a fittingly cruel trick that occurs throughout theDead Spacefranchise, and it is one that truly makes the games stand out against their peers.
To compound the effectiveness of this, players are usually weak and low on resources when encountering a Save Station, only further adding to the gut-wrenching realization that a safe space has been overrun. Of course, these Save Stations can be reclaimed once the inhabiting enemies are defeated, yet the constant gamble and risk that the player takes by entering what should otherwise be a welcome refuge does wonders for the tension and atmosphere of the titles. In line with the hopelessdread thatDead Spacethrives upon, the franchise’s Save Stations ensure that there is no room for relief from the horror.
Dead Spaceis available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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