Dead Space Remake Review
“Horrifying in all the right ways.” Written by: Hunter (ReaperHunter23)
Dead Space stands out in my memory as the defining horror game of the PS3/360 generation. So imagine my excitement when a from the ground up remake of the first Dead Space was announced back in the summer of 2021. Obviously, I was intrigued. I loved the original game and horror remakes have been treating me pretty well in these past few years. The only bit of trepidation I had was if it was going to get the attention and care it deserves. Let’s take a look to see how this remake serves as a reintroduction to the series.
Image Credit: EAMotive
The gameplay of Dead Space excels at building tension. Surviving the cavalcade of Necromorphs will require you to make full use of everything at Isaac’s disposal. The tool’s at your disposal include various, makeshift firearms such as the Plasma Cutter, the stasis and Telekinesis modules, and for particularly desperate moments, the melee stomp and punch attacks.
One of the first things I noticed was how much easier it was to use the melee attacks in quick succession. There was one instance early on in the game that I managed to kill a lone necromorph by spamming the stomp attack for the most of that encounter. Another change comes in the form of the way the weapons and upgrades are given to you. You no longer need to purchase the weapons from the store, rather you just pick them up where you would have found the schematic. These weapons can be upgraded at a work bench by using power nodes. One adjustment in this game is that there are no blank nodes, every slot on the weapon’s upgrade tree has a boost. Another change is that you can buy certain pieces at the store to give your weapon of choice more slots to upgrade.
Despite all of these helpful additions to Isaac’s arsenal, Dead Space manages to strike the perfect balance between danger and your capability to deal with a situation. I did manage to survive most encounters, but usually I would be barely limping away from most combat situations and using every med pack that I came across for the next few minutes.
Dead Space has some of the best level design I’ve ever experienced in a horror game. This is certainly helped along by the fact that the Ishimura is completely interconnected now thus making it feel even more like a believable location than it already did. And while you may be given the objective tracker to guide your path on the R3 button the game rewards you for exploring as much as possible, usually by dropping you some ammo, power nodes, or even an audio log to listen for those of us who were invested in the lore.
There are two major adjustments in this game as far as the exploration is concerned. The first is a pretty simple one, locked side rooms no longer require you to spend a power node to open them, instead you open these rooms by upgrading your security clearance throughout the game, and then making your way back to the door in question when you have the necessary clearance.
The second adjustment is the system that the developers referred to as the Intensity Director, essentially it is a system in place that would generate all of the possible scenarios that weren’t written into stone and curate them so that there could always be something happening without each of the consecutive events becoming exhausting to the player. Examples I encountered of this system at work happened most often when I was back tracking. Rooms that had previously been empty had a necromorph waiting for me on the other side of the door. Or there was another scenario where I died and had to make my way through the same stretch of the ship again. The first time around a necromorph burst through a vent and accosted me on my way to my destination and then the second time around when I was ready for it, rather than being attacked by a necromorph, the vent cover burst off and nothing came out of it. Touches like this go a long way in keeping the player from getting too comfortable when exploring previously visited areas.
Another way that this remake entices the player to explore off the beaten path is sprinkling in a couple of new side objectives. These objectives include finding the RIGs of various high ranking crew members to create a master security clearance card, as well as two other side objectives that have you following a trail left behind by Nicole during the initial catastrophe that the Ishimura went through. These side objectives give interesting new insight into the story as well as a more tangible reward in the form of equipment upgrades or maximum security clearance.
Image Credit: EAMotive
Dead Space has one of the more engaging stories and worlds in the horror genre. It starts off simple enough. Isaac Clarke and the rest of the Kellion crew are embarking on a mission to repair the USG Ishimura. Isaac’s girlfriend, Nicole Brenan is working aboard the Ishimura so seeing her again should be nice. As it turns out, Ishimura’s problems consist of substantially more than just a broken Communications array. Before long Isaac and the crew learn that over half of the ship is damaged and are attacked by the Necromorphs, the undead alien creatures that have started populating the ship.
From there the crux of Isaac’s journey becomes fixing the various damages done to the Ishimura and trying to find Nicole while making it to safety. Along the way you are bound to uncover a lot of what happened during the initial catastrophe on the Ishimura, as well as the Colony on Aegis 7, the planet that the ship was mining on. The game does a good job at balancing the intrigue of the lore events with still having something of substance to do in the present story. Oftentimes in games that do this I’ll play a game where the logs on the background events feel more substantial than the actual plot that plays out before your eyes, or vice versa where I’ll read the logs and never commit any of it to memory. Dead Space does a great job at not falling into either side of that trap.
This remake tweaks the characterization of the main cast. Most notably, Isaac has a speaking role now and it is pretty in line with what you could imagine him being like if you’ve played Dead Space 2 and already hear him talk. Kendra and Hammond also received some adjustments, the most notable being that their bickering back and forth is toned down. They both talk to Isaac like he’s an equal rather than just a tool to help them survive, and both receive a couple of solid humanizing moments.
I’d say that the two biggest beneficiaries of this new characterization are Nicole Brenan and Dr. Challus Mercer. Mercer comes off as way more sinister in his encounters as opposed to the kooky cult zealot he came off as previously. And the side mission that follows Nicole’s journey during the Ishimura’s downfall goes a long way in making her stand out as more than just being Isaac’s girlfriend.
Image Credit: EAMotive
The way that Dead Space presents itself is impeccable. To this day it has one of my favorite HUDs in a game. Everything you need to know is presented right there on the screen diegetically with a minimal use of icons and other excess screen clutter. Another great thing Dead Space does is making its setting feel believable. The Ishimura is a mining ship, so most of the rooms with these seemingly heinous death traps, actually serve a purpose when operating under normal circumstances. And there is a plethora of in-universe signs and posters that not only tell you how to get around, but serve as a reminder that people lived on this ship well before the events of the game.
This level of commitment to the world extends to the weapons Isaac uses. The only thing he wields that is actually meant to shoot things is the pulse rifle. Everything else is some form of mining or mechanic’s tool.
One of the best visual upgrades in this game comes in the form of the damage to the necromorphs. Now when you are shooting at them their flesh will peel off layer by layer as they take more damage. This is pretty helpful in combat as you can more easily manage which enemies are about to go down and you can plan accordingly.
The sound design in this game is also excellent. Ambient sounds such as the scuttling of the necromorphs in the vents of the ship and the eerie whispers that Isaac will hear are subtle ways to keep you on edge even in the game’s more lonely moments. The music and audio cues do a great job at building the tension.
There was one instance where I entered a hallway and the music started building up because there was a Necromorph around the corner. However this necromorph seemingly wasn’t privy to my existence yet, and just departed through one of the vents. If this had happened without the music cue, I may have not even noticed the necromorph coming and going at all, but in this instance the sound caused me to be more alert.
Image Credit: EAMotive
Summary
The Dead Space remake is a must play for horror fans. It excels both as a stand alone game and a remake of an already existing title. As a long time fan I felt like all of the additions and adjustments made in this version were changes that made sense. In fact there was a spot near the midpoint of the game that was a massive gameplay improvement over the original version as well as a couple of others throughout the game.. And for first time players I believe the polished moment to moment gameplay that already held up pretty well in the first place mixes nicely with the tense atmosphere and classic survival horror level design sensibilities to make this the best version of Isaac Clarke’s journey through the USG Ishimura.