Dead Space 3

Dead Space 3
Developer(s):	Visceral Games
Publisher(s):	Electronic Arts
Release date(s):	February 5, 2013 (United States) February 8, 2013 (Europe)
Genre(s):	Third-person shooter
Mode(s):	Single-player Drop In-Drop Out Online Co-Op[1][2]
Rating(s):	M (Mature 17+) [Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language]
[Source]

Dead Space 3 is an action-thriller third-person shootervideo game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC and  is the sequel to Dead Space 2. It was development by Visceral Games and was published by Electronic Arts on February 5, 2013 in the United States and February 8, 2013 in Europe.^[3]Primarily set on the frozen planet of Tau Volantis, the game follows protagonists Isaac Clarke and John Carver as they attempt to end the Necromorph threat.

Contents

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Plot

Backstory and Setting

Dead Space 3 is set in 2514. After the events of Dead Space, EarthGov captured Isaac Clarke and harvested his mind for Marker blueprints in order to revive the Marker program, in which Markers are used to provide resources and power for the Human race. The Marker built by a delirious Isaac onTitan Station somehow "activated", resulting in another outbreak of Necromorphs. Isaac then escaped with mining engineer Ellie Langford after he destroyed the Marker, resulting in Titan Station's destruction.

Isaac and Ellie continued to hide from EarthGov and resided on the New Horizons Lunar Colony, a city found on Earth's moon. In that time, Ellie's lost eye was replaced and the two developed a romantic relationship. However, due to the events Isaac had witnessed and Ellie's ambition to stop the Markers, the two broke it off. Ellie left to figure out ways to stop the Markers while Isaac stayed in hiding and quickly regretted breaking it off with Ellie.

Three years after the Titan Station incident, a radical Unitologist group known as the "Inner Circle"^{[citation needed]}has begun a reign of violent riots and have been destroying the Marker Test Labs on all major colonies to spread the Necromorph infection. Apparently, these attacks have been so thorough and so devastating that EarthGov has effectively been destroyed. Recently, the group attacked the Marker Test Lab on the planet Uxor. During the planet's infestation, Sgt. John Carver's wife and son were murdered by Jacob Arthur Danik, the founder and leader of the Inner Circle. Carver's family were then transformed into Necromorphs, and he was forced to destroy them to survive. However, he was rescued from certain death by Captain Robert Norton and Ellie Langford. After escaping the planet, the group was followed by the Inner Circle. After Ellie traced the Marker signals to a distant planet, Ellie headed for the planet, Tau Volantis, with Austin Buckell and Jennifer Santos. Before leaving, Ellie asked Norton to find Isaac back at New Horizons. Norton and Carver then left to find Clarke, with the Inner Circle following them.

Characters

• Isaac Clarke - The main character and protagonist of the game. Isaac has been a survivor of both the Aegis VII and the Titan Station Incident. After destroying the Site 12 Marker, Isaac escaped with resident Ellie Langford. Within the three years after the incident, they developed a romantic relationship but separated due to Isaac's refusal to help Ellie in combating the Markers. Ellie left to pursue a solution to the Marker crisis while Isaac remained on the New Horizons Lunar Colony, only to be called back by Cpt. Norton and Sgt. Carver who retrieve him to rescue Ellie. Isaac then is brought to Tau Volantis to rescue Ellie and discover the true meaning behind the Markers.
• John Carver - Sergeant John Carver is the secondary main character and protagonist to Isaac Clarke. Carver was recruited by Captain Norton when his home planet Uxor was infested by Necromorphs after Jacob Danik released the Marker there. Carver lost his wife Damara and son Dylan in the incident and joins Ellie's Marker team along with Norton to stop the Markers once and for all. When Ellie traces the Marker signal back to Tau Volantis, he and Norton are sent to recruit Isaac for the mission. During the events of the game, he is responsible for protecting the group, namely Isaac. While reaching closer to the Markers, Carver begins to have hallucinations of his son and wife that are both are part of his guilt and the Markers. Like Isaac's ordeals with the hallucinations of Nicole Brennan, he must overcome them and realize that it was not his fault, and whatever he is seeing is not there.
• Ellie Langford - Ellie was one of the survivors of the Titan Station incident and rescued Isaac before the station was destroyed. Her eye was replaced after its removal by Nolan Stross, but she still had her ambition to stop the Markers that have now spread to every major colony. Ellie leaves due to Isaac's refusal, leaving her on her own to stop the Markers. While on the planet Uxor, she develops a relationship with Captain Robert Norton. The two, along with Sgt. John Carver, witness the Necromorph infestation of the planet. Ellie eventually traces the source of the Marker's signal and power to Tau Volantis, which she believes is the Marker home world, and sends Norton to recruit Isaac for the mission. During the events of the game, Ellie attempts to stop the tension between Norton and Isaac involving their relationship with her and while trying to stop the Markers.
• Jacob Arthur Danik - Danik is the primary antagonist of the game. He is the leader of the Inner Circle, a radical group of the Church of Unitology. He, along with his followers, believe that EarthGov has committed heresy by replicating the Markers and using them for their own ends. His form of protest is rioting and releasing the Marker signals to commence a Necromorph outbreak among the colonies in which the Markers are placed. Danik and his men follow Norton's group back from the planet Uxor and to the New Horizons Lunar Colony. Danik discovers that Norton is after Isaac Clarke. The Inner Circle now views Clarke as a heretic for 'killing' the Aegis VII and Titan Station Markers and now want him dead. Danik will follow Isaac and the group throughout the game's events, and send his armed men out to kill him. His primary motivation, aside from killing Clarke, is to liberate the Markers and commence Convergence.
• Robert Norton - Captain Robert Norton is the commander of EarthGov's USM Eudora. Norton was present on the planet Uxor when the infestation occurred. There, he recruited Carver and developed a strong, romantic relationship for Ellie. He agrees to join her team in an attempt to stop the Markers. When tracing the signal of the Markers back to Tau Volantis, Ellie left for the planet. Before going dark and sending an S.O.S., Ellie requires Isaac on the mission because of his abilities involving the Markers and to translate a script her team found. Norton recruits Isaac and brings him to Tau Volantis. His ambitions during the events in the game are personal and do not involve the Markers. Also, he develops a disliking for Isaac because of his own jealousy over Isaac and Elle's past, leading Norton to believe that all of Isaac's actions are for Ellie.
• Jennifer Santos - Jennifer Santos is an engineer like Isaac but focuses more on the logistics of the Marker signals. Santos assisted Ellie in tracking the Marker signal to Tau Volantis and joined Ellie's Marker Ops team. Santos travelled with Ellie and their friend, Austin Buckell, from Keyhole Station to Tau Volantis before losing contact with Norton. Santos' role on Tau Volantis is helping decode cryptic messages, triangulating Marker signals, and finding a solution to end the Marker epidemic.
• Austin Buckell - Austin Buckell is a military veteran and part of Ellie's Marker Ops team, having extensive knowledge on the Markers and the Sovereign Colonies. He, along with his friend, Jennifer Santos, were at Keyhole Station during the Uxor infestation when they met Ellie and joined her Marker Ops team. Austin along with Ellie and Santos, Buckell travelled to Tau Volantis where they eventually lost contact. Buckell's role is to provide information regarding the functions of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces who created the abandoned settlement on Tau Volantis, as well as the Markers.

Plot Summary

Dead Space 3 first begins with a Prologue set in June 18, 2314 on the frozen planet of Tau Volantis. A research expedition of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces is destroyed following the events of a Necromorph infestation. Towards the end, soldiers Tim Caufman and Sam Ackerman are sent by researcher Dr. Earl Serrano to find a powerful device known as the Codex from the wreckage of a downed ship. After retrieving the Codex, Ackerman is killed by an avalanche and Caufman runs into one of the expedition's leaders: General Mahad. Mahad briefly questions Caufman before abruptly shooting him in the head. Mahad then deletes the information on the Codex, and turns the gun on himself.

The story continues two hundred years later, in 2514, on the New Horizons Lunar Colony. For the past three years Isaac Clarke has been living in hiding from EarthGov following the events of the Titan Station infestation. After previously receiving a message from his partner Ellie about her "moving on", Isaac is suddenly confronted by Captain Robert Norton and Sergeant John Carver. Norton says that Ellie needs Isaac's help for another mission involving the Markers. The colony suddenly comes under attack by the powerful Inner Circle of the Church of Unitology. The three men are separated, and Isaac is ambushed by soldiers under the command of Jacob Danik, the leader of the Inner Circle. Danik destroys the containment measures surrounding a Marker Test Lab in the center of the colony, and simultaneously orders similar sabotages of labs in other major settlements, widely unleashing the Marker signal and beginning a fatal wave of Necromorph infestation against human civilization. The chaos that follows allows Isaac to escape and board the USM Eudora via the Lunar Train System.

After boarding the USM Eudora, Isaac along with Norton, Carver, Rosen and Locke travel via shock space to reach Ellie's last point of contact located in the Tau Volantis system. Emerging into orbit around the planet, the crew find themselves surrounded by mines and the ship quickly sustains critical damage. They manage to escape via an emergency pod and dock with the derelict CMS Roanoke from which Ellie's S.O.S. signal is being detected. Isaac uses his engineering skills and combat experience to fight off Necromorphs and restore power and functionality to the ship. He eventually reunites with Ellie but discovers she has developed a relationship with Norton. Isaac then meets the researchers Santos and Buckell who are part of Ellie's Marker Ops team. Ellie reports that the Captain of the Roanoke wrote Marker inscriptions on the wall of her room that may provide further leads. After investigating, Isaac deciphers the writing and reveals that the Captain discovered a Machine that can control the Markers and was obsessed with the command to "turn it off." Ellie concludes that Tau Volantis is the Marker home world. Norton speaks out urgently in favor of escaping to safety, but Isaac, Ellie and the Marker Ops team continue the mission. A spare shuttle is found aboard the CMS Terra Nova that can descend to the planet's surface.

Norton claims that Isaac is siding with Ellie because he still has feelings for her and is trying to take her back from him by supporting her. He implores Isaac to abandon the mission for the sake of Ellie's safety, pointing out that there is little hope of success and a significant chance they'll be killed, but Isaac contends that everyone will die if they give up. Norton continues complaining and voicing doubts about the mission as well as frequently insulting and disrespecting Isaac. After the spare shuttle is secured, the team boards and proceeds to land on Tau Volantis.

During the landing sequence the ship is knocked off course and crashes, killing Locke and Rosen and separating Isaac from the rest of the group. Isaac reawakens on the frozen planet suffering from severe hypothermia, but warms himself from piles of burning debris. Desperately searching through the wreckage of the ship, Isaac is greatly relieved to find a video recorded by Ellie and the other survivors. Isaac proceeds to follow a trail of flares left by Ellie into a building where he finds Buckell collapsed on the floor and they speak briefly. Buckell succumbs to his injuries as Isaac finds a RIG designed to withstand freezing temperatures. After fighting through waves of Necromorphs, Isaac catches up to Ellie and the team. Santos has successfully discovered a signal coming from a warehouse at the other end of the complex. While attempting to reach the warehouse, they are discovered and attacked by Danik and his soldiers. The team is separated, but manages to escape from the Unitologists and regroup in the warehouse.

In the warehouse is a giant frozen Necromorph, known as the Nexus, which contains signals within its body that can be tracked back to the Marker. While attempting to thaw it and triangulate the signal Isaac and Carver are ambushed and captured by Danik's soldiers. Danik reveals that it was Norton who led them to Tau Volantis. Norton attempts to save Ellie and the group by reminding Danik of their agreement, condemning only Isaac who is seen as a "Marker-killer." However, Danik says that he will execute all of them and bring about the salvation and rebirth of mankind as promised by Unitology. He is about to shoot Norton when they are attacked by the now awakened Nexus. In the ensuing confusion, Isaac quickly tackles Danik to save Norton's life.

Isaac and Carver defeat the Nexus, but Norton becomes hostile and begins blaming Isaac for all of the mission's deaths and misfortunes. Norton fires at Isaac, at which point Isaac fires back in self-defense, hitting Norton in the head. Isaac tries to explain what happened to Ellie, and the group is demoralized as there are now only four of them remaining. Santos uncovers information about a device the researchers referred to as the Codex and a guide known as Rosetta in a lab on top of a nearby mountain. The group climbs the mountain, but a creature called the Snow Beast attacks when Santos is on the elevator lift. Carver is forced to sever the main cable, disconnecting it and sacrificing Santos to prevent the entire cliffside from collapsing. Isaac destroys the Snow Beast by pulling it apart with engine-powered harpoons and reunites with Ellie and Carver at the lab. Isaac apologizes to Ellie for everything that has happened and the two appear to rekindle their relationship. As they explore the lab, they discover Rosetta, who is revealed to be an alien being that has been dissected into separate sections. Rosetta possesses information in her brain about the Codex, the Markers, and Convergence.

All of the pieces of Rosetta are combined, and Isaac suddenly has a vision: Rosetta was one of an ancientextraterrestrial civilization which uncovered a Marker. This eventually led to a cataclysmic Necromorph infestation. After securing control over sufficient biomass, the Convergence Event began. The event involves a massive transfer of organic matter, necromorph mass, and other materials into orbit along with the Marker to create a Necromorph Moon, which is revealed to be the same moon orbiting Tau Volantis. These moons broadcast the Necromorph Marker signal across the stars, leading civilizations to replicate and experiment on the seemingly lifeless yet (as a result of receiving and relaying the interstellar signal) highly energized Markers. As the signal encounters and affects more and more necrotic matter, this eventually leads to rampant infestation, Convergence, and new moons. Despite the imminent collapse of their civilization and extinction of their species, the aliens used the last of their resources to construct an unimaginably powerful city-sized machine which managed to quickly freeze the largely ocean world of Tau Volantis, halting the Convergence Event.

Isaac unknowingly reveals much of this in front of Danik who then steals the Codex. However Isaac catches the Unitologists off guard and Danik flees. The room fills with lethal gas in which Ellie becomes trapped and separated from Isaac. Seeing no way out, Ellie tearfully tells Isaac to close the doors so he and Carver can escape.

Enraged by the loss of Ellie, Isaac and Carver relentlessly pursue Danik, decimating the remaining Unitologist soldiers along the way. They recover the Codex from Danik and then descend to the buried alien city where they discover how to use the Machine. At the Machine's core, Danik waits with Ellie, who found a way to escape the gas but had been captured by Unitologist reinforcements. Danik threatens to kill Ellie unless he is given the Codex. Carver, believing in redemption, suddenly grabs the Codex from Isaac and throws it to Danik, who lets go of Ellie to catch it. Danik immediately uses it to turn off the Machine, resuming the Convergence Event. The incomplete Necromorph Moon, free of the Machine's control, descends towards Tau Volantis, instantly stripping away the surface layers of the planet under which the city and the Machine are buried. The ancient alien necropolis: a tomb, warning, and protective seal created by the aliens against the Necromophs, begins to disintegrate as it ascends to be consumed.

While enraptured by his own success Danik is unceremoniously impaled and killed by a random piece of falling debris. Realizing that there is no way to stop such an overwhelming force and escape safely, Isaac kisses Ellie goodbye, and she escapes on a shuttle. Isaac and Carver then work together to fight their way through the crumbling flying city to the Codex. Being pulled up into the planet-sized organism, they manage to reactivate the Machine and set it to reject Convergence, which stops the Event and causes the moon to crash into Tau Volantis along with the remains of the alien city.

Ellie grieves for Isaac, but takes solace in realizing her ship's instruments no longer detect the Marker signal. The Necromorph Moon is now falling apart as it descends into and merges with the planet in a horrific cataclysm. Ellie sets a course for Earth and leaves the orbit of Tau Volantis.

After the end credits, Isaac's voice is heard calling out for Ellie followed by the sound of Isaac's breathing apparatus.

Spoilers end here.