Dead Space Remake Difficulty Options Comparison

Another addition to the Dead Space franchise, Dead Space Remake, was released with five difficulty settings. Four were already present in the original version. However, the remake debuted a new difficulty level called “Impossible Mode.” Nevertheless, a balanced difficulty level will deliver the best gaming experience. Similar to other RPGs, this game uses the same principle for mission difficulty variations. For example, players are more prone to damage as the difficulty level increases.

How To Change Difficulty Mode In Dead Space Remake

Changing the difficulty in Dead Space Remake is similar to any other game. To change the difficulty, go to the “Settings” option in the main menu and see the “Select Difficulty” tab. In that menu, a small screen explaining each difficulty mode will appear. The five choices are Story, Easy, Medium, Hard, and the freshly added Impossible mode. Moreover, a little detail of each mode will be present on the screen, with the option to either “Accept” or “Cancel.” You can navigate to other difficulty settings by pressing the navigation buttons.

Another setting that might affect the difficulty is Aim Assist, found in the “More Settings” tab under the “Gameplay” menu. Nonetheless, this one depends on your preference, whether you wish to play with it. There are several other options to customize the aim assist settings, allowing players to personalize the game according to their aiming habits. 

Dead Space Remake Difficulty Modes

Dead Space Remake features five difficulty modes that allow players to complete the game while encountering various challenges. Generally, each mode changes the damage Isaac receives and the damage dealt to Necromorphs too.

Although the achievements are not difficulty level based, you get a trophy for completing the game in the impossible mode. The degree of toughness regularly rises as you jump to greater difficulty, and the impossible mode has one more surprise for you.

Difficulty Setting	Auto Save Option	Auto Health Regeneration	Explanation
Story Mode	On	On	Easiest mode with weak enemies.
Easy Mode	On	Off	Enemies are stronger but still killable. Isaac’s health is a little less.
Medium Mode	On	Off	Balanced gameplay with equal damage stats for Isaac and Necromorphs
Hard Mode	On	Off	The enemy’s damage is more significant, and ammo is laborious to find.
Impossible Mode	Off	Off	Like the Hard Mode, auto-save is turned off, and you have only one life to finish the game.

Story

The most basic and easy mode of the game is the story mode. With auto-save enabled and auto health regeneration, this mode will cause no problem, even for players new to action and shooter games. The oxygen tank capacity is huge, and the guns feel slightly overpowered.

A few shots from any weapon can kill enemies, making this mode significantly less violent and stressful. Therefore, it is best for the people who just got into the Dead Space franchise or the players who are playing only for the story’s sake.

Easy

The easy mode takes the game back to its roots, as in the Dead Space 2008. The damage dealt by Isaac is still significant in contrast to that of the Necromorphs. The oxygen tank lasts for a few 10 seconds more. Most importantly, you can find ammo reserves frequently, so you can play without worrying about your accuracy.

The enemy’s grapple improves in this mode, but you can escape them effortlessly. Even though the combats are a little challenging, they will not cause much trouble.

Medium

Medium difficulty provides balanced gameplay to the players. With a decent resistance to Isaac’s attacks and the moderate health of the players, this mode can be a challenging experience for some players. Isaac’s and the enemies’ damage statistics are nearly identical.

Although ammunition is generally accessible, it is recommended to be conserved because some areas may not have enough supply. Bosses may seem a little hard to beat, but with good strategies, you can defeat them without much effort. Furthermore, escaping the enemy’s grapple gets much more difficult.

Hard

The combats are much more violent and require a lot of practice to overpower the enemies. Most opponents give Isaac a difficult time since their attacks are more powerful.

Necromorphs also have a significant boost in damage resistance, making it difficult to kill them. Spending rounds on any enemy is not a good strategy because ammunition is limited in this phase. Hence, decent aim and accuracy are necessary when playing in hard mode. 

Impossible

This setting is made for try-hard gamers that enjoy playing in a more challenging environment. “Impossible Mode” provides the same level of difficulty stats like damage resistance and attack strength compared to the hard mode. Players get only a single save-game slot, and auto-save is turned off. As a result, if a player dies at any time during the game, his difficulty resets to hard mode. So, he will need to start a new game with an impossible difficulty level.

This difficulty setting is only present in the “Dead Space Remake” version, while the older titles are limited to four difficulty modes. Players will receive the achievement “Untouchable” if they are successful in completing the campaign. Furthermore, all game modes except this one are pre-unlocked, and the only way to unlock it is to complete the game in hard mode.

Final Thoughts

We have summed up various difficulty modes present in the Dead Space Remake. Although most players will go for the first two modes, we recommend the Medium mode because it gives a nice blend of story and all other aspects of the game. However, everyone’s perspective of the game determines their choice.

Check out these articles for more detail on Dead Space Remake:

• Dead Space Remake: All Items Guide
• Dead Space Remake: Plasma Cutter Guide