Dead Space Remake Review

The Dead Space Remake isn’t a brand new game but rather a reimagining of how the game would look like if it was made in 2023 rather than 2008, with all the shiny bells and whistles of the newer generation. The 2008 original was developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by EA, this game was the love child of Creator Glen Schofield ( The same mind behind the newly released The Callisto Protocol). The Remake was developed by EA Motive and published by EA itself. We’ll talk about everything we loved and disliked in this Dead Space Remake review.

Going into this remake, apart from the gore-infested hallways and necromorphs. The only thing that had me more scared was that the remake wouldn’t live up to 2008’s Dead Space. Well I am happy to report that after beating the game in the brand new Ishimura of the Dead Space Remake, of the many things worth being scared of, this wasn’t one of them.

Dead Space Remake builds upon the original Dead Space and enhances it in almost every way. The dismemberment-driven shooting is just as satisfying here with the plasma cutter, and EA Motive has managed to preserve the essence of what made the 2008 game so scary while adding on all the newer current-gen enhancements.

We’ll break down this review into 4 categories, those being, Gameplay, Story, Graphics and Sound Design, and Replayability.

Let’s start off this Dead Space Remake review with the game’s plot:

Story

Dead Space is a third-person survival horror game that follows the story of Isaac Clarke, an engineer who is sent to investigate a distress signal from the USG Ishimura, a massive spaceship that has gone dark. Upon arriving, Isaac discovers that the Ishimura has been overrun by monstrous creatures known as Necromorphs, which were once the crew members themselves.

As Isaac tries to find a way off the ship, he uncovers a conspiracy involving a mysterious alien artifact known as the Marker, which has caused the Necromorph outbreak. Along the way, Isaac must battle hordes of Necromorphs and unravel the mystery behind the Marker, all while struggling with his own sanity and traumatic past.

The Necromorphs in this game aren’t the only thing with more meat on them, Issacs story has also been fleshed out with more story details and a new side mission system where you have to explore unseen areas of the Ishimura. These side missions are in the form of holograms revealing events leading up to the Necromorph outbreak, really filling in those gaps of what and how everything went down. With this added context, although the main story arc remains the same, I was able to better understand the decaying mental state of Issac and the game’s shock end is now much more plausible.

I’ll close off this section of the Dead Space Remake review by saying that the remake is not exactly a 1-to-1 retelling of the original’s story, as a returning fan of Dead Space. The Remake had me excited about discovering what’s next for Issac.

Graphics and Sound Design

Dead Space Remake’s detail and blood-drenched setting puts players in an amazingly immersive Ishimura ship, and its excellent audio and visual presentation also bleed into the gameplay. The graphics have been bumped up severely from 2008’s original and I have to say I was in awe of every new place I discovered in the Ishimura. Lights flickering and sometimes even pitch-black darkness really helped keep players on edge at all times. The game runs on the Frostbite engine and Motive Studio have done an excellent job of using this engine to its maximum potential.

With the graphics as good as they are, the audio is damn near cinema-rivaling, with sounds pouring through the speakers with distant screams of pain echoing off the ship’s metal hallways. Hearing the sizzles and crackling of bones every time you shoot your plasma cutter or ripping off flesh as you blast enemies with the force gun is spectacular.

Just walking through hallways that immediately get destroyed and succumb to the vacuum of space looks amazing. This game makes full use of it’s hauntingly beautiful lighting effects, really creating these terrifying backdrops where you never know what might jump out and try to poke you with something sharp.

All of this is even better because of the fact that the Dead Space Remake doesn’t run like complete rubbish, in fact quite the contrary. Playing a Dead Space game has never been better. I played on PC and never experienced a single bug or even a hitch, the inclusion of DLSS was a godsend. The game ran like a hot knife through butter from start to finish.

Gameplay

In this section of the Dead Space Remake review, we’ll talk about the gameplay side of things, as compared to the original Dead Space, where each chapter was broken up into different parts of the ship, in the Remake, the entire Ishimura is one seamless experience. With players using the new tram system to travel within different parts of the Ishimura. It’s nothing short of magic how from start to end there is no loading screen in the game and how as soon as you load up the game and press enter, your save is already loaded up and the game is ready to go.

With the help of this seamless experience, this is where the side missions come into play. With players joining Issac to travel to different sections of the Ishimura to uncover the events of what went down pre-outbreak. Although I do feel like the side missions could’ve been handled a bit better, as the constant backtracking really does get old and frustrating. Aside from the side missions, there is a new security access system that allows Isaac passage to new areas and into loot-containing lockers and chests as he progresses. This helps reward players with backtracking and eliminating some of that linearity.

What made Dead Space’s combat so unique and not just another 3^rd person shooter, was the whole emphasis on Dismemberment. Well, Motive has managed to retain that and enhanced it to newer more grotesque levels. This remake makes combat a touch tighter. A little snappier. The most noticeable addition is what developer Motive refers to as the “Peeling System”, which basically means shooting limbs will now expose skin, muscle, and bone—visually indicating which appendages are close to dropping off so you can take more calculated shots. It’s absolutely disgusting, but in a cool “I wanna do it some more” kinda way, really scratches an itch.

To match the effectiveness of the powerful plasma cutter, weapons have also undergone general improvements. While fighting against bigger crowds or using brand-new secondary fire modes, you have more options, and the visual and audio feedback has been improved to make everything stand out. As compared to the original, I genuinely wanted to use other weapons rather than just the plasma cutter. An actual improvement from the original. With its destructive alt-fire, the contact beam in particular now almost melts anything unlucky enough to get in its crosshair with a single focused laser blast.

Stasis and kinesis abilities, which are also helpful in solving puzzles, enhances combat in other ways. The former stops adversaries in their tracks, while the latter, a Force-like power, enables you to impale enemies with nearby items or if you’re feeling very inventive their own severed limbs. Similar to mining tools, these skills may be improved and upgraded by unlocking and investing in them on a talent tree. The zero gravity moments have also been significantly improved upon, now allowing you to fly freely like in the sequels.

One of the biggest changes in Dead Space Remake is that Issac is no longer a silent protagonist, he is a fully voiced character now played by Gunner Wright, who provided his voice in Dead Space 2 and 3, makes his responses to the growing horrors he encounters and his frantic interactions with other members of his squad appear much more real and genuine which in turn had me hooked to Issac as a character with a deeper connection.

Replayability

Right off the bat, Dead Space Remake has a Newgame+ mode, on Launch no less. This is a feature every survival horror game needs. I had more fun replaying through Dead Space Remake on my 2^nd playthrough than my initial. That really says something. Upgrading all your weapons and Armor to their max levels and absolutely shredding through enemies is extremely rewarding. Special mention to the max-level armor because it looks absolutely badass.

Finishing the game on any difficulty unlocks Impossible mode, this is independent from NG+, but you can play a NG+ on Impossible mode as well. Completing Impossible Mode rewards the player with a new suit and weapon not found in the original Dead Space.

The suit, the Burnished Suit, is a cosmetic item with no effect on stats. However, the Hand Cannon is a returning weapon originating in Dead Space 2 which auto-kills any enemy, resembling the foam hand worn by fans at sports events.

All this really adds to the replayability of the game, urging the inner completionists of players to do multiple playthroughs to really experience everything this remake has to offer, there’s also a secret ending.

Conclusion

Dead Space is one of the few remakes that pays homage to its original while still taking creative risks to enhance it. Dead Space is a must-play for both seasoned space miners and brand-new recruits to planet-cracking, succeeding as both the definitive version of a cult favorite and a fantastic next-gen survival horror title.

If you just bought the game and are looking for helpful guides, we have you covered here. We hope this Dead Space Remake review helped you, happy hunting!