I know that you always have to kick away a bit of remake fatigue when an elaborate new edition of a classic or – as in this case – not-so-secret insider tips is presented. There’s a bit of fear, of whatever kind. That a talented team is blocked when they could also do something cool new, for example. That the medium goes to the dogs creatively, also from time to time. And above all, that in all likelihood you’re already paying full price for a title that you already know in its basic features.
And yet one thing is clear: somehow we want it too. Today we often want to see and experience bulky, ugly (sorry!) or simply difficult to access favorites shine in new splendor. We want accessibility, not just platform wise – being able to plug in and play is sooo important! – but also with regard to modern gaming habits and our spoiled sense of aesthetics. So we have to go through this. And although I don’t know if I need to see Dead Space 2 and especially 3 spruced up as much as the first part, I think the rework of the first game in the series was quite worthwhile.
So what did EA Motive do? Well, Dead Space remains the same bloody action-packed survival horror, of course, but a lot has been done under the hood for once. The setting, the “Planet Buster” starship Ishimura, has seen quite a bit of remodeling in many places, mostly because the ship is now a complete, contiguous space. While you’ll still mostly use the monorail to travel between stations, there are other connections between areas, some new rooms, and new puzzles here and there that organically blend into the familiar gameplay. Overall, it just seems more intimately connected and the Ishimura as a setting gains even more coherence.
This is also due to the fact that you can return to earlier areas for a few smaller side missions for the first time, at the end of which new prototypes for your work tools and other rewards beckon. New story snippets are often presented here as well, although I believe that these passages may have previously been found as a text log. But don’t nail me down to it. It is quite possible that one or the other had to be rewritten by Motive. At least everything fits together very well, nothing seems choked up or superfluous. At the same time, connoisseurs will find themselves roughly, but not completely, and can thus be surprised a little by the game. Beautiful!
I liked that some of the few sidelines – I discovered three or four secondary quest lines and was pretty thorough, I think – certainly tickled my curiosity enough about some character fates that I took (back) paths that might later become unnecessary had. I noticed several times that the story was just sending me into an area where I could also solve the next step of a side quest. It’s really cleverly structured and gives the player a bit of decision-making power that the original didn’t have without looking overloaded. All in all, I have to say: yes, the Ishimura looks even more like a real place thanks to the new structure, which is also due to the phenomenal sound design. Often one has the feeling that the ship itself is a slurping, shuffling, panting and stomach growling organism, from whose belly one is gradually fighting one’s way out.
Also new or different are some of the puzzles. It’s done so well, though, that as someone who hasn’t had any contact with Dead Space for quite some time, I only noticed it when someone else pointed it out to me. It was all the more remarkable that I immediately recognized the big moments – the arrival, the first time without gravity, the Leviathan, etc. – and they were able to take off my magnetic boots again in their new look.
And how the simple but nicely logically structured puzzles always revolve around setting plants in motion or averting technical disasters, which is a far cry from the quaint Resident Evil emblem puzzle games. Not that they’re always bad, that’s where they belong, but there are enough games where the puzzles feel tedious, stilted, or stretched, get in the way of the actual game, or don’t follow from the world or the premise of the game. In Dead Space, on the other hand, with a negligible exception in the hydroponic farm in the seventh or eighth chapter of twelve, everything you’re told seems like a valid reason to move forward through this nightmare.
Other than that, Motive had to do little aside from excellent playability. Isaac’s movement, which allows for quick changes of direction and hardly slows down when aiming the plasma cutter, always felt fantastic, and as a shooter with a horror tinge, Dead Space continues to perform just fine. Targeting opponents’ limbs instead of aiming for the head or midsection like in any other action game is still a fresh, different approach 15 years on, and each weapon comes with rich, satisfying hit feedback.
The search for upgrades and the individual upgrading of weapons with secondary functions is still motivating and gives enough options in combat, which alternates effortlessly between focused destruction and clever crowd management, so that you never get bored. In terms of flow and playability, Dead Space still sets exciting standards today, which is a reminder that it was way ahead of its time.
At the same time, I wouldn’t say that applies to all aspects of this game. When it comes to horror, Dead Space has always left a lot of untapped potential in its scenario. It’s a master at working towards a good scare, throwing in feints, and then still having the player regularly wince. But it’s also the kind of ungainly scare that’s so effective because it’s suddenly roared in your face. The result is more frequent (but later less and less) panic, often in disgust, but you might feel fear for the first three chapters. After that, it’s more ghost train than anything else.
Unfortunately, the body horror aspect in particular comes up short. Enemies are clearly sorted into legible types instead of chaotically changing, and the old trick with the supposedly dead enemy lying in the corner is always quickly debunked with Isaac’s gravity gun blend. I know the fiction of the Necromorph menace isn’t quite there, but unrecognized infections and startling mutations in humans, or their corpses lying around, would have been a means of keeping the paranoia and fear of the unknown at a constant level. In short: A little more The Thing would do Dead Space good. But maybe it’s better for my nerves that way.
Some of the doodles on the walls are also very dusty. As if with a gaping stomach wound you still feel like dabbing a message on the walls with your own blood. A soldier groaning, holding his severed power armor leg in his hands, looks unintentionally funny today rather than frightening. Games can do that better today. So it’s not really great horror art. Nevertheless, Dead Space keeps the level of tension high and brings many nice, heart-pounding moments to the screen.
Technically, I had a few minor to medium problems on the PC: Dead Space looks excellent with its cool light and shadow games and densely layered atmosphere effects, if you disregard the fact that the character faces rendered in real time are not first class. But the fact that a game in 1440p, with DLSS (quality) and throttled to 60fps often still uses my RTX 3080 to 99 percent, happens rather rarely. There were occasional stutters in the game where the game stopped for half a second every two seconds (usually after changing rooms).
At times the frame rate would suddenly drop towards 30fps and then stay there for a while and once the game had loaded very muddy textures which was strange as there is no setting for textures in the menu. Holographic elements are also sometimes displayed in pixelated form. In addition, at the climax of the story at a certain boss appearance, the picture and sound were suddenly delayed for moments, which of course was unfortunate. And last but not least, there was also once the classic of an unfired trigger, as an elevator. which was supposed to work only did its job once I had run back to an earlier area. All in all a bit out of round, even if it didn’t spoil the fun too much.
Fancy horror shooting again? Then get yourself Dead Space Remake on Steam for 59.99 eurosin the PlayStation Store for 79.99 euros or in Xbox Store for 79.99 euros.
Dead Space Remake Test – Conclusion:
Minus the technical problems, the failures of Dead Space are all 15 years old and a known quantity for every friend of the games. EA Motive itself has done a great job, which shouldn’t be discredited by downplaying it as a solid craft. There’s a lot of artistry involved in expanding and subtly remodeling the original so that it still looks seamless in the end. And Dead Space is doing that more than ever in this remake. At a time when such a remake, much like Isaac’s original commission on the Ishimura, has long been routine, that tact and artistry is not to be underestimated.
Dead Space Remake – Rating: 8/10
Dead Space Remake Pros and Cons
Per:
- Meaningfully expanded and enriched remake
- Still dazzling, motivating playability
- Pretty ugly to look at
- Fantastic sound design
- Some bloodcurdling scarers…
Cons:
- … which eventually wear out
- Scary factor falls short of its potential
- Technically out of round
Developer: EA Motives – Publishers: EA – Platforms: PC (tested), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X – release: 01/27/2023 – Genre: survival horror Price (RRP): 59.99 euros (Steam) 79.99 euros (PS5/Xbox Series)
