Dead Space fans had a rough go of it. Before this remake of the original Dead Space came out, it had been 10 years since the last Dead Space game, and 12 since the last good one. Even The Callisto Protocol, which promised to be a spiritual successor to the original Dead Space games, fell flat and failed to live up to the immense expectations that came with comparing your game to one of the greatest horror games of all time. With that being said, remaking Dead Space is no easy task. With the original Dead Space ageing rather gracefully and the remake given to an unproven, smaller studio in EA Motive, I did not have super high expectations for this remake.
So did EA Motive deliver on the immense expectation of remaking an all-time classic? Or is the original Dead Space still the definitive way to play? Lets find out.
Overview
It does occur to me that this Dead Space is going to be going for an audience that has, unfortunately, never played a Dead Space game before. So, a short overview is in order of the setting and base story before we get into spoilers. You play as Isaac Clarke, an Engineer assigned to go fix the USG Ishimura. The Ishimura is an enormous ship meant for “planet-cracking”, the act of rending a planet’s surface from its crust and mining the raw materials from it. But, this isn’t the only reason. Isaac’s girlfriend, Nicole, is also on the ship and hasn’t been answering her space phone, so Isaac volunteers to be sent in and help fix the ship after a distress signal is picked up. Soon, Isaac finds out that he is about to have possibly the worst day on the job of all time.
Dead Space Performance: As Consistent as your Trusty Plasma Cutter
As I’ve said before, 2008’s Dead Space has aged rather gracefully over the years, and even the visuals look pretty good nowadays. However, it is no exaggeration to say that EA Motive’s recreation of the USG Ishimura is absolutely stunning. Every single little detail, both old and new, has been painstakingly hand-crafted to fit the dingy and disgusting environment. The Ishimura of Dead Space always reminded me of the Nostromo‘s interior from 1979’s Alien, and the influence is clear both in the original and here in the remake.
One of my favorite new features comes in the way the game loads in. Upon starting the game, it actually forgoes a traditional main menu screen, and instead goes right into gameplay, skipping any load times at all. I played on a PlayStation 5, and performance across the board was stellar, only dropping below 60 frames a few times during my playthrough. Additionally, I also played it for a bit on a PC sporting a 3070ti and an i7 10700k. I would routinely hover around 80-90 frames, leading me to believe that performance on all platforms is great.
Dead Space Gameplay: Dismemberment and Distress in Space.
The USG Ishimura is a big place filled with a lot of big problems. Those problems are the disgusting and horrid Necromorphs: Your chosen enemy and the reason for all the issues aboard the Ishimura. While they may look similar to normal zombies, they are far from it. Every cell in this thing wants you dead; cutting the head just tends to piss them off more than not. This leads into the main “gimmick” of Dead Space’s combat: CUT OFF THEIR LIMBS. Forget every shooter instinct you have. Going for the arms and legs is the only way to stop these monstrosities from making you just another corpse aboard the Ishimura, and its just as fun and scary as it was in 2008.
Your arsenal for Isaac’s new day job as a professional dismemberer is perfectly suited for the job. Instead of using normal weapons, Isaac’s arms are almost entirely made up of repurposed mining tools. Items such as the trusty plasma cutter, the powerful line gun, and the crazy contact beam all gracefully transition into their new roles as killing machines. You’re gonna need to learn how to use them as well. Dead Space’s necromorphs will tear you apart on harder difficulties, and the limited ammo economy means you’ll need to learn to place your shots or be left with no ammo when you desperately need some.
Gameplay Changes
The Dead Space Remake changes quite a lot in remixing the old classic, including but not limited to…
- A full, interconnected Ishimura, completely cutting out almost all loading screens
- Extra explorable rooms and combat encounters
- The “Flesh Peeling” system, allowing you to see how much damage you’ve done to a Necromorph as the skin peels away.
- Improved/more puzzles while fixing the ship. Isaac is an engineer after all
- Changes to some weapon alt-fires, including changing the Pulse Rifle’s weird death spin into a standard grenade launcher, a la Dead Space 2
The biggest change, however comes in the remixing of the zero-g levels. When exposed to vacuum in the original, Isaac was clamped down on a surface the entire time, having to do this awkward Superman jump to get from place to place. However, in the Remake, this is changed to be more like Dead Space 2. Giving Isaac full control in zero-g was absolutely the right call. As a bonus, it completely cuts out the awful turret section from the original and opens up some more exploration opportunities.
Oh yeah, Dead Space is also a horror game, isn’t it? Well, fear not (or maybe start fearing?), fans of spooks and scares will not be found wanting aboard the Ishimura. Dead Space consistently serves up both nail biting tension and bombastic payoffs within the Ishimura. The disgusting designs and constant gore only serve to accentuate the scares. Oh yeah, as a side note, Isaac’s death animations are absolutely brutal. You learn quickly to not let this guy die, lest you’re subjected to the most gruesome death animations ever conceived. I love it.
Dead Space Remake: Light Spoilers ahead!
Now its time for the story. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum. However, if you’re sensitive to this type of thing, you’ve been warned.
The first clue that this story would be more than the original Dead Space came in the first cutscene. Isaac opened his moth to talk and pretty much smacked me in the face with his voice. In 2008, Isaac was a completely silent protagonist, only getting a full voice in the sequel. Now, they’ve revamped the story to allow him to have a more involved role in the plot. This is a change reflected throughout all of the story: Its a bit more involved overall. In the original, about 80% of the “story” was going around the ship fixing stuff while being pursued by Necromorphs and the Cult of Unitology, the ones responsible for the disaster. However, in the Dead Space Remake, almost every character has at least a bit more to do and say.
This is a change for the better in my opinion. The remake also introduces important concepts much earlier in the story. An example of this is the introduction of Unitology and Isaac’s hatred of them. In the original, Isaac’s beef with Unitology is only revealed in an optional text log. In the Remake, its a minor plot point. I also really like this change. It paces out reveals about both the story and the world more naturally so they’re not just happening in the last 5 missions.
Dead Space Remake: Conclusion
I absolutely adore the Dead Space remake. Its an incredible comeback for one of my favorite games of all time. Cutting away the dated parts and injecting some new life into what was already a classic was exactly what was needed for Dead Space to step back into the limelight. It looks, performs and plays great, and the improvements to the story make me hopeful that we can get more of this universe at some point. I whole-heartedly recommend it to any fan of sci-fi or horror. You can pick it up on the Xbox Series X, the PlayStation 5, or on Steam.
