Developer: Motive
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Released: January 27, 2023
Completed: February 5, 2023
Rated: M for Mature
The original Dead Space was a nice surprise, but after two sequels, a couple of spinoffs, and even an animated movie, Electronic Arts - ever the villains of the industry - seemed to mothball the franchise. Despite critical acclaim, apparently the sales just weren't there. As the series went on, it leaned more into action and less on survival horror, culminating in Dead Space 3. While DS3 isn't, in itself, a bad game, it felt more like a generic third person shooter wearing a Dead Space skin suit (or like a necromorph that had reanimated the corpse of the superior predecessors). It seemed Dead Space was, well, dead.
Then, for whatever reason, EA decided it was time for a remake and I am here for it.
While I am not among those who consider the original game a masterpiece, it was nevertheless a solid survival horror game. I didn't find it particularly frightening because it became obvious after the first two encounters that the game had a predictable formula. You complete objectives, then all the monster closets open up and the beasties come for you. What made it interesting and kept it from feeling repetitive were the fun weapons you had at your disposal, and the core mechanic that required you to cut off enemy limbs rather than go for headshots. I enjoyed the original Dead Space quite a bit (and my original review is still published on this very blog), but it was outclassed by its immediate sequel in every way.
The remake is, by and large, incredibly faithful to the original. That means it has all the strengths such as the incredible atmosphere, outstanding sound design, stunning graphics, and fun combat, but also the weakness of predictability. There are a few minor changes made to the mechanics, particularly a few of the weapons that were all but useless in the original game have been overhauled to make them viable, and there are occasionally branching paths, but this is essentially the same Dead Space - just a whole hell of a lot prettier.
Like most modern games, Dead Space allows you to select a performance mode, which runs at 60 frames per second at the expense of some of the graphical bells and whistles, or the 30 FPS quality mode. While I'm not one of those people who thinks 30 FPS is "literally unplayable" (because I understand the definition of the word "literally"), the difference between the two modes is so negligible you might as well just go for performance mode. No matter which you choose, this is a damn fine looking game. Everything is so detailed you can even read the tiny serial number on the back of Isaac's helmet.
A lot of the changes are focused on the presentation. Protagonist Isaac Clarke has been given a new face, though this is one area where I prefer the look of the original game, and is now fully voiced by the same actor from the original trilogy. This helps the narrative, which has also been adjusted somewhat to make things a bit more clear, but also provides more backstory for Isaac that I loved. It also seems like they may have recorded dialogue more than once, depending on Isaac's current health status. As before, your health is displayed ingeniously on the back of your space suit (instead of an intrusive HUD overlay), but several times during my playthrough I noticed Isaac audibly grimacing in pain while at low health and speaking to his radio buddy.
The other major presentation change is the addition of visible damage to your enemies. While the necromorph creatures have essentially the same designs, with their bony limbs protruding and flailing, shooting them will now tear off pieces of flesh. It's a terrific effect, especially when using the newly revamped force gun, that not only looks cool, but conveys important information to the player.
Speaking of weapons, Isaac's arsenal is mostly the same, but this time around I found every single weapon useful. Even in the sequels, I never touched weapons like the flamethrower, but I found it extremely helpful when battling the little skittering enemies or launching the alt-fire napalm bomb at enemies on the walls. The pulse rifle also dishes out way more damage now, and the force gun went from being utterly useless to one of my favorite weapons for clearing large groups of enemies. With the help of nodes hidden around the world (or purchasable from the shops), you can still upgrade each weapon's damage output, ammo capacity, reload time, and unlock some special bonuses.
Being so faithful to the original game does mean that some of the original wow factor may be diluted for returning players. There are a lot of setpieces in the game that, while still fun, were more like nostalgic memories than "holy shit" moments for me. One thing the original game did very well, however, was change up the gameplay just enough from minute to minute to keep it from feeling like a stale bunch of similar looking corridors. There are zero-g moments, including boss battles, moments where you're racing against a dwindling oxygen supply, and moments where you're grabbed by a giant tentacle and need to extricate yourself lest you be torn apart. Even with the predictability of necromorphs crashing through the vents in bigger rooms, the combat is still fun, challenging, and even somewhat strategic. I remember feeling like I was always on the cusp of running out of ammo, which forced me to change weapons and tactics often.
If you loved the original Dead Space, the remake is a fantastic way to experience the game again. For newcomers, there's an incredibly enjoyable, tense game and I kind of envy you for being able to experience it for the first time. The gameplay enhancements are smart and welcome, while the graphics and sound are simply stunning. I would love nothing more than for Motive to tackle the even-better Dead Space 2, and maybe even give us a complete do-over of 3 more in line with the first two. Hopefully this time, the sales justify the sequels.
Dead Space was completed on PlayStation 5 with no cheats.
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