And why?

I keep tossing up between 1 and 2 - 1 is the better horror game; the presentation of 2 was better. I think ultimately I'd have to go with 1 - I mean, I ended up playing through it three times. Actually, I think last time this topic came up, I settled for 2, oh well.

I have to go with Dead Space 1 because I enjoyed it the most. The story was intriguing and the gameplay superb. It also was the scariest one. I liked that it had the something new factor and they tried something interesting with the narrative.

The first game because it was the most survival-horror-ish and I'm the kind of person who cannot play those kinds of games normally. I had to force myself through it, and I'm glad I did because it's one of my favorite games of all time. The single ship, stranded, confined nature of the game and it being the initial discovery of the story behind the creatures definitely helped. Also, it made the best use of that one invincible enemy which was easily the most memorable and scary thing the series has ever produced (Dead Space 2 had a cheesy moment where they just threw two of those at you at once for a time, and then I think 3 had... surprise, 3 at once).

Dead Space 2 is still a great game for all the improvements they made to the more archaic design decisions from the first game, and Dead Space 3 - while being easily the most inferior of the trio - was still a lot of fun to play because the weapon customization system was a lot of fun to work with. It's a very similar arc to the Mass Effect series, except I do personally prescribe to the idea that Mass Effect 2 was the better game even while acknowledging the unfortunate things lost in translating the game to less RPG and more action.

I haven't played the 3rd game but personally my favorite is Extraction on the Wii. Even though the story and characters are straightforward I, for whatever reason, found that game more emotionally compelling than the mainline entries in the series. I'll never forget the moment where you have to hack your own arm off with the pick axe you'd been using throughout the game, great stuff. But if I had to pick one of the main games I'd go with 2. I felt like it was a great mix between an action title and a survival horror game, similar to RE4.

@lentfilms: For something that could have just been a simple cash grab, Extraction was actually really well done and captured the Dead Space vibe really well.

I think 2 is my favorite, I toss it back and forth between 1 and 2, it is kind of like Alien vs Aliens for me, the first is a bit tighter and subdued but the presentation in two is hoooolllyy shiiiiiiiit.
Also two added those shrieking assholes that like to hide behind boxes and charge at you and those scare the crap out of me. Nothing unsettles me more then a bunch of silence and nothingness broken but just the loudest shrillest monster cries.
I go into full 'get my back against the nearest wall' panic mode when those assholes are around.
I also really like to take things slowly in horror games and there are one or two moments in DS2 where it is like "Take things slowly? FUCKYOUwe are going to drop your ass into the middle of a boss fight without any preparation, have fun jerk!"
So I basically have to give it to 2 for keeping my heart rate on edge constantly, not that 1 was a slouch in that regard, just 2 did it more for me, plus some of those space transitions and zero g improvements were fantastic.

Also I'm going to throw my hat into the "I thought Dead Space 3 was a good game" ring. It pulled some dirty tricks that I'm sure some high up asshole at EA had something to do with, but I don't think it was gutted or trash like a lot of people think/thought about it. It was good, just not as good as it could have been.

Can scrap Dead Space 3 off from the list right away, since I still haven't played it for more than maybe two hours, even though I got it for free. In fact, it might even be the first game that I didn't even pre-order, despite really liking the previous entries in the series. Playing the demo first kinda helped, I guess.

First Dead Space I got as a christmas present and it was pretty goddamned good pick to play during those dark evenings and nights. The fact that I also hadn't had a console by that point had kept my view on 3rd person shooters pretty fresh, thus it didn't just feel like Resident Evil 4 in space (not to say that would be a bad thing, but anyway). Unfortunately that one section where you shoot meteors to bits with your turret crushed my spirit completely and after numerous retries, I just put the game aside. It wasn't 'till few months before the release of Dead Space 2, that I was inspired to give the first one a new chance...and thanks to a tip or two I read, I managed to get past it and finished the game in a timely manner before the sequel hit!

Now Dead Space 2...boy, what a game that was! One of my favourite games on PS3 and one of the best third-person shooters in general that I've ever played. It also has one of my favourite QLs on the site.

I love Dead Space. But Dead Space 2 is a blisteringly good action game and has the scariest moment in the entire series. Also that eye-surgery bit.

The first game is the best except for the turret sequence that is way harder than it should be.

I loved the first half of 2 but the late game was just a slog.

3 isn't real.

I thought 2 had the better action and that suit looked mighty slick - but I enjoyed the environment of 1 a lot more. You really felt like you were in the bowels of this huge ship and even though Isaac was a space-mechanic I still loved seeing all the crazy machinery they dreamed up. The only area I really disliked was the hydroponics bay. Dead Space 2 is a better game in almost every way but I didn't quite like the sprawl as much. After the gritty, oldschool sci-fi ship design of the Ishimura, the space-mall aesthetics of the Sprawl felt really mundane.

Let me be another voice in the crowd of Dead Space fans to say that Dead Space 3 wasn't awful - it was perfectly adequate and had some amazing moments on it's own but in the end felt a little too familiar.

The second game had more variety but the first game had better atmosphere. And 3 was a joke.

I also thought Extraction was pretty good and Ignition was laughably bad.

You played with a controller, right?

Yeah I played it on 360.

These games were all about the environments, and the first one handled that best of the bunch. Nothing beats the USG Ishimura

That sequence almost had the opposite issue when using a mouse.

I think it's hard the first time around but once you get the hang of it you can do really well. Initially I barely scraped by but later I came back and got the achievement and everything.

I've played the first Dead Space at least 5 times.

So good.

And people say linear games have no replay value. Phft. I value it every time I replay it =P

Like was said, though, fuck that turret sequence. That was unnecessary. It reminded me of the mini games in the Space Quest series. Only difference is those allowed you to skip them if you wanted to.

As @zolroyce says, this is a very similar discussion to whether Alien or Aliens is better. In both examples, the first does the horror better, the second does action much better. Overall, I'm going to go for Dead Space 2, because of the expanded variety of locations and the introduction of the Stalkers. Wouldn't blame anyone for choosing the first one though. Dead Space 3? Well, let's just not talk about that one shall we.

All this talk about 1 and 2 just makes me feel sad about 3. I stayed away from it b/c of all the negativity and got around to play it a couple months ago and man just fuck that game.The game looks fantastic(played on pc), the combat is still good and the weapon system is different but in my opinion good but holy shit everything else just takes a fucking nose dive when it comes to quality. I hope they get the chance to make a new one but at this point I don't even know what that is, as long as its not DS3 it should be fine.

Anyway to get back on topic I picked the second one b/c everything about it is just improved over the first one. It took everything about what was great about the first game and made it even better somehow. Movement and shooting are better, it looks amazing with its use of color and variety to the locations. The whole Isaac Clark can now talk thing was fine and not the disaster that it could have been, same with the story. Hell I even liked the multiplayer, it would get a tad one sided but that's how most multiplayer goes these days. Last but not least the eye thing, that sequence still bothers me and I'v seen some pretty gruesome shit thanks to the internet yet everytime I think about or see that part I wince and squeam ugh just something about it that makes me uncomfortable. So yea Dead Space 2 all the way.

2 is the best overall out of the 3, has great action and scares. 1 is a "scarier" game for at least the first hour or so and 3 is just shit.

2 is so damn good that it's just depressing that it was followed by 3.

For me its the second game because it has a variety of choices.

I'm surprised even dead space 2 has as much votes as it does.

The fact that Dead Space 3 has votes at all is terrifying to me.