10 Most Effective Jump Scares In Sci-Fi Video Games

10. Dead Space - One Last Scare

Starting off with one of gaming's most famous scares, the final scene of Dead Space still shocks even when you know it's coming.

One of the great joys in the remake of EA's seminal space game was seeing what had changed and what had been kept the same. While the core limb-lopping gameplay was kept gratifyingly untouched - bar some reworked weapons and shinier zombie viscera - the story received some welcome updates.

Side characters Elizabeth Cross and Jacob Temple were given more agency, the villainous Dr. Mercer was given even more time to twirl his moustache in the player's face, and a late-game bad guy was given a much-needed personality rewrite from "cartoonishly evil" to "remorsefully pragmatic".

Having said all that, one of the biggest story beats was kept mercifully unaltered - the final jump scare. Much like Carrie's hand rising from the grave, protagonist Isaac Clarke being ambushed by his dead lover seconds before the credits roll is an iconic image in horror media. Developers Motive Studios were clearly aware of this fact, and kept the scene pretty much as-is from the original.

Nicole's last-second lunge at Isaac is one of horror gaming's most celebrated moments, and it gladdens our wizened heart to know the Dead Space remake introduced it to a whole new generation of gamers.