Whether you played the original Dead Space or not, you’ll want to play the remake.
For the uninitiated, the original Dead Space was a sci-fi survival horror game set in the 26th century. Players take on the role of engineer Isaac Clarke, a member of a small crew sent to the USG Ishimura, a giant mining ship, to carry out repairs. But in true horror fashion, the Ishimura has become something of a ghost ship. Only a few crew members survived thanks to the Necromorphs, the zombie/alien monsters responsible for a bloody massacre on the ship.
What makes this Dead Space remake so special is how it stays true to the original classic but somehow manages to completely reinvent the experience at the same time.
Dead Space Remake has an edge over other similar remakes such as Resident Evil 2 and 3. The original game was released in 2008 – its controls didn’t have enough time to date badly. The same goes for visuals. The original Dead Space looked fantastic in 2008 and still looks great in 2022. Still, it’s hard to deny the progress made in this new remake. It’s a fantastically made video game.
Visually, the remake is stunning. The lighting effects are some of the best found in any video game. Dark rooms are unnerving and spooky in contrast to other areas bathed in bright light, creating a more welcoming environment, which made me let my guard down at the right time.
As great as Dead Space is, there are a few minor issues that I encountered. In rooms where there is smoke or mist, Necromorphs are a little too hard to see. The same can be said for areas in total darkness where the only source of light is that which is emitted when aiming a weapon.
The remake looks like the original – in a good way. Several times while playing, I paused to search for YouTube clips of the original 2008 game and compared the two directly. I didn’t even notice the “new” content in the remake because, in my mind, that content was already there. It was perfectly integrated. I assumed I just forgot about it since it’s been over a decade since I played the original.
Dead Space is even more phenomenal when recording sound. Sound pours through the speakers with distant cries of pain echoing through the ship’s metal corridors.
This time we have a voice actor for Isaac. In the original, Isaac was a silent protagonist who didn’t utter a word, just grunts and squeals. Now he has a voice, but developer Motive Studio did the right thing by giving him limited dialogue. In the original, other characters delivered exposition without any input from Isaac. This time around, his dialogue creates a more natural conversation between the characters while conveying the same points as the original.
Dead Space also made other changes to the original, but as with Isaac’s voice acting, it doesn’t distract and seems to have been there forever. When exploring the Ishimura, sometimes Isaac encounters a zero-gravity area. It can move effortlessly in all directions, which is a big difference from the original. Necromorphs will also spawn in these areas, causing some interesting weightless fights where you blast them while upside down.
The boss monsters also changed in the remake, but again, I didn’t notice until I went back and watched the original.
Necromorphs are more detailed and gross than ever.
EA
Dead Space also developed the storyline for the franchise. The original plot of Dead Space unfolded quite slowly with the explanation of what was behind the Necromorphs coming much later in the game. This time around there are earlier mentions of what is really hiding behind the horror taking over the ship.
New side missions help with this narrative expansion. These quests require more exploration of the Ishimura while adding more plot detail. And like everything else found in the remake, these additions were seamless.
If there’s one word to sum up the Dead Space remake, it’s seamless. Virtually every decision made in this game was made to make players like me feel like these new additions were already in the original. It’s remarkably difficult to do, but Motive pulled it off, making Dead Space something fans of the original and newcomers alike will appreciate.
Dead Space releases Friday on PC for $60 and on Xbox Series and PS5 for $70.
