Summary
Debuting back in 2008 with the firstDead Space, Isaac Clarke quickly became one of the most iconic horror gaming characters of all time, and he didn’t even speak a word. Thanks largely in part to the character’s unique exoskeleton design, along with realistic character animations, Isaac Clarke became the new standard for modern horror gaming protagonists, being both iconic and grounded in equal measure. Though Isaac Clarke’s prominence in the gaming space faltered a little in the last decade or so,last year’sDead Spaceremakehas brought him back into the spotlight.
Given a new face and voice to match, theDead Spaceremake’s Isaac Clarkemanages to be just as iconic as the original version of the character, albeit in some pretty different ways. With Isaac Clarke now fully back in the mainstream consciousness, there’s never been a better moment to have a look back on all the times Isaac has appeared in other video games, which were surprisingly frequent in the early 2010s.
Isaac Clarke Has Appeared as a Skin in a Bunch of Games
WhenDead Spacefirst released in 2008, Isaac Clarke became a breakout video game star, and that was evidenced by the sheer number of cameos he made in other video games just a few years later. Some of Isaac Clarke’s first cameo appearances were in the sports titlesNBA Jam,Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, and the belovedSkate 3. While these games put Isaac in some hilariously uncharacteristic situations, the cameos were actually later revealed by aDead Spacelevel designer to simply be due to the games all sharing the same engine, allowing Isaac’s character model to be imported directly with no effort.
The 2010 gameDante’s Infernoalso featured an Isaac Clarke skin. Available as part of its EU-exclusive Death Edition, this Isaac Clarke cameo came about becauseDante’s Infernowasdeveloped by Visceral Games, the originalDead Spacestudio. In 2011, BioWare’sDragon Age 2jumped on the Isaac Clarke cameo bandwagon, bringing aDead Space 2-inspired suit of armor to the game as an exclusive reward for those who bought a retail copy ofDragon Age 2. One of the stranger Isaac Clarke cameos of this time came in the PSP version of the long-forgotten titleArmy of Two: The 40th Day, with Isaac’s mask also appearing in the sequel,The Devil’s Cartel.
Isaac Clarke has made several cameos intheLittleBigPlanetfranchiseas well, appearing as an in-game skin inLittleBigPlanet2,3, andLittleBigPlanet Karting. In 2013, a skin based on Isaac Clarke’s appearance inDead Space 3came toMinecraft. By far two of the most bizarre Isaac Clarke crossovers come from the family-friendly gamesMySims AgentsandMySims SkyHeroes,where a cute chibi version of Isaac Clarke is a playable character. The most recent Isaac Clarke cameo took place last year, when the character was available as a crossover skin inFortnite.
Isaac Clarke has also made several appearances via Easter eggs in games likeBattlefield Hardline,Duke Nukem Forever, andThe Simpsons Game.
While the vast majority of Isaac Clarke’s appearances in other video games have been as some form of in-game skin that simply retextures the game’s usual characters,PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royaleis a different beast entirely. Originally available as the last DLC for the game,PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale’s Isaac Clarkegets a full spot on the roster, complete with his own unique set of attacks and abilities, voicelines, and additional costumes based on his three mainline video game appearances.
