Spoilers for Dead Space aheadDead Spacetells the story of Isaac Clarke and the crew of the USG Kellion as they attempt tosurvive a Necromorph outbreak on the USG Ishimura. While the narrative isn’t unique by any stretch of the imagination, there are enough twists and surprises to keep players on their toes. This turns the botched repair mission into an adventure filled with betrayal, revelations, and lots of scares.
Those who played the originalDead Spaceshould know that taking each chapter’s first letter and combining them in sequential order reveals the story’s biggest secret: that Nicole Brennan - the Ishimura’s Senior Medical Officer and Isaac’s girlfriend - is dead. But the 2023 remake hints at this late-game reveal much sooner than the 2008 original. From voice echoes to visual cues, the news of Nicole’s death prior to the main story may not come as much of a shock to new players.
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Players first come into contact with “Nicole” inChapter 5: Lethal Devotion. After seeing a distress call originating from the Medical Deck, Isaac rushes to Nicole’s supposed location to rescue her. However, Isaac discovers that the call was a trap set up by Unitologist scientist Challus Mercer to lure in survivors for experimentation. After turning off the distress call, Isaac sees another projection of Nicole, who addresses Isaac by name and asks him to “make us whole again.” While most players would brush this off as crazy banter or a glitched projection, exploring the rest of the Medical Deck reveals another person who says the exact same thing.
Brant Harris was a miner on Aegis 7 who was momentarily put under Nicole’s care after his insomnia and hallucinations caused him to accidentally murder one of the nurses who was treating him. He was then transferred to Challus Mercer, who began experimenting on him to access information from the Red Marker stored inside his brain. Mercer’s conversations with the miner and experiments eventually culminated inHarris' conversion to Unitologyand subsequent transformation into a unique Necromorph breed: The Hunter.
Hearing Harris say the words “make us whole again” in one of the projections found on the Medical Deck should put players on the right track regarding Nicole’s death. Nicole Brennan strongly opposed Unitology, and did everything she could to deprogram people who fell in with its cult-like ideology. Hearing her speak the same words as Brant Harris is a big clue that she is a hallucination brought about by Isaac’sexposure to the Red Marker.
After the events with Mercer on the Medical Deck,“Nicole” starts periodically calling Isaacover the course of his mission to repair the Ishimura. She routinely asks about where Isaac is, and how important it is that she reunite with him. Eventually Isaac meets her on the Mining Deck, and while they are physically separated from each other by a chasm, Nicole manages to aid Isaac by opening the door that leads to an S.O.S. beacon that he and CEC Computer Specialist Kendra Daniels are looking for. Nicole then promises to meet up with Isaac later before going through another door and disappearing.
Upon losing contact, Isaac brings up his girlfriend’s presence toKendra, who immediately becomes skepticalof Isaac because she watched the video call that Nicole sent to Isaac right killing herself amid the initial Necromorph outbreak. The doubt in her voice is subtle, but players can hear it every time Isaac brings up the topic of Nicole to Kendra. Not only that, the same inflections in Kendra’s voice can be heard whenever she hears Terrence Kyne talk about his dead wife, Amelia.
The Marker’s Telltale Red Glow
As Isaac spends more time near the Red Marker, his interactions with “Nicole” become more frequent. He recallshis final video calls with Nicole before setting offon the repair mission, and the Ishimura’s screens in his vicinity turn red and get filled with the Marker’s strange markings. Isaac can also be found holding his head in response to his growing dementia.
Isaac eventually succumbs to the Marker’s calls in Chapter 11: Alternate Solutions. After Kendra escapes with the executive shuttle, “Nicole” can be found by Isaac’s side almost all the time. However, it turns out this illusion has only been possible because Elizabeth Cross -a horticulturist based in the Ishimura’s Hydroponics Deck- is also under the Red Marker’s influence and serves as a physical stand-in for Isaac’s dead girlfriend (with her seeing Isaac as Jacob, a lover who dies on the Ishimura). Isaac experiences blackouts while traveling to Aegis 7 with Cross.
This all leads to the final revelation at the Red Marker’s pedestal. After holding Elizabeth Cross at gunpoint and forcing Isaac to watch the rest of Nicole’s last video call, Isaac momentarily snaps out of the Red Marker’s trance and sees “Nicole” for who she really is.Isaac defeats the Hive Mind and escapes Aegis 7using the executive shuttle, but just as all seems safe for Isaac, the hallucination of Nicole reappears looking dead and bloody.
Both the normal ending and the new secret ending that can be acquired fromDead Space’s New Game+ mode set up the events ofDead Space 2. “Nicole,” now a manifestation of Isaac’s survivor’s guilt and unwillingness to let his ex-girlfriend go,constantly haunts Isaac aboard Titan Stationwhile he tries to destroy yet another Marker. Though Isaac knows that his girlfriend is dead this time around, that doesn’t make it any easier on him.
Dead Spaceis available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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