It’s clear that Resident Evil 7 and the subsequent Resident Evil 2 & 3 remakes have had a long lasting impact upon the horror genre in gaming. Resident Evil 7 helped turn the corner for a staple franchise, whilst the remakes proved that a new lick of paint can go a long way. Capcom managed to breathe some new life into the genre and prove to people that horror can be a success in the video game space.

In my opinion, this has lead to many other studios wanting to jump into the fray, and is the reason we are now seeing games like Alone In The Dark, Dead Space and yes, even the likes of Konami showing their interest with multiple announced Silent Hill projects, most prominently the Silent Hill 2 remake. It can also be attributed to the recent release of it’s spiritual successor, The Callisto Protocol. (Our review here)

Visceral Games launched Dead Space back in 2008 and Electronic Arts have tasked Motive Studio with reviving their classic horror title. Ever since the announcement of the remake, I have been skeptically awaiting it’s arrival and wondering just how good the final product would actually be. Was it going to live up to my expectations and recapture the same magic it had back in 2008?

Isaac Clarke’s Story

Set in the future, humanity have drained earth dry of it’s natural resources and have had to break open other planets with giant planet cracking ships to gather the much needed materials that humanity needs to be able to sustain itself. This is where systems engineer Isaac Clarke comes in, he joins a search and rescue team headed for the USG Ishimura that went radio silent after he received a message from his girlfriend Nicole who works onboard.

Isaac’s ship, the USG Kellion suffers major damage among boarding the Ishimura forcing the team to look for an alternative means of transport. The main goal for Isaac at this point is to find Nicole, but it doesn’t take the rescue team long to find out that everything onboard the Ishimura isn’t as it seems. They quickly learn that the planet cracking ship is in dire need of repairs. Comms, guidance system, hull, trams and the engines are all malfunctioning. The quarantine module works fine, as they abruptly learn whilst they are ambushed by Necromorphs shortly after their arrival.

The story remains largely untouched from the original with Gunnar Wright reprising his role as Isaac Clarke. The main end-goal of where the story wants to go remains untouched and whilst there were not any dramatic changes to the script, it is not a line-for-line remake. Isaac also speaks a lot more often and takes his helmet off more, which is a breath of fresh air having him more involved in the narrative this time around.

In-keeping with the original, a lot of the story and lore within Dead Space is found scattered around the Ishimura in the form of text, audio and video logs. This time around sees the welcome introduction of side quests, allowing the player even more options in how they want to approach the story, without having to rely solely on logs.

In general the story related parts remain largely unchanged, but some welcome quality of life improvements and new features help to build the story of Dead Space for a modern audience. The only distinctive change is the inclusion of a new alternative ending upon completion of the new game+ mode.

Limb, By Limb

“Cut off their limbs” painted in blood on a wall should give you a clear enough indication of how you’ll be approaching the grotesque monsters on board. Isaac has a bunch of reworked mining tools as his disposal and it turns out they do a great job at tearing limbs off things. The Plasma Cutter is every engineers go to weapon for dismemberment, but it doesn’t hurt to have other tools like a flamethrower or a pulse rifle at your disposal.

The Stasis Module allows the player to slow down enemies and proves to be a very useful crowd management tool when faced with a bloodthirsty gang of Necromorphs. The name of the game here is ammo preservation and if you find yourself short of some plasma energy, using objects scattered around the environment as weapons comes in handy, which the Kinesis Module allows you to do.

The combat feels exactly identical to the original except only smoother. It always pays off, to play around with everything in your arsenal and try to preserve as much ammunition as possible. It’s an abandoned ship plagued by monsters where ammo is a rarity, and it’s not like anyone is going to come looking for some missing propane tanks. If all else fails you can always dish out some satisfying stomps upon anything unfortunate enough to be underneath your boot.

Shops found throughout the Ishimura have a decent supply of ammunition, but it comes at a cost. That cost being insufficient funds for suit upgrades when you desperately need them. It pays to have a keen eye, and to keep a lookout for credits and anything else valuable on board, as well as nodes that you will need to be able to upgrade your arsenal. Nothing packs a punch like a fully upgraded Plasma Cutter.

Powerful Performance

The journey through the Ishimura is a magnificent one, if you screamed and cowered during the original, that feeling is only amplified with the remake thanks to the improved visuals and audio. The work that Motive have done to bring Dead Space forward and make the ship feel alive is nothing short of incredible.

Smoke pours out from a window, shrouding the floor in a fog like atmosphere, whilst the haunting screams of distant survivors beckon through the halls. You can hear every bang and footstep of necromorphs as they creep around adjacent rooms and air vents. A screeching crescendo lingers for a moment after an encounter, never letting you feel totally safe.

I even backtracked at a specific point, where you make your way through a loud room with an engine roaring beneath the platform you stand on, walking through the heavy doors that muzzled the roar of the engine behind me.

The Ishimura is dripping in atmosphere that doesn’t give you a moment to breathe. Even when you are in a “safe” location browsing upgrades at a shop won’t stop muffled screeches of former crew mates or the sound of metal banging as the ship falls apart.

The zero-gravity sections in particular could see Isaac running short of oxygen whilst fighting floating necromorphs and it all looks, and sounds nothing short of phenomenal.

The voice acting brilliantly compliments all the other welcomed improvements, delivering a life-like performance from the crew. 15 years later and EA’s frostbite engine proving it can still get the job done with an experts touch. The video calls in story moments look and feel so good as they help push the story forward without pulling you out of the game for a cutscene.

Deluxe Edition

Dead Space’s deluxe edition sees in the inclusion of two different suit textures as well as three unique suits. The textured versions are variations of the basic RIG suit, one consisting of an unsettling amount of blood and the other turning Issac in his monster counterparts.

The additional suits are a Lone Survivor Suit, which gives you antlers made from hands. The Venture Suit which gives Isaac more of a cyberpunk-esque aesthetic and the Sanctified Suit comes with the addition of more runes and armour.

Whether you choose the base game or the deluxe edition, the only difference between the different versions are the cosmetics listed above.

The base game comes in at £69.99 whilst the deluxe edition is £79.99. Game Pass and EA Play subscribers benefit from a small discount with the two versions sitting at £62.99 and £71.99 respectively. It’s up to you whether you see the value in these extra cosmetics or not.

Final Thoughts

The Dead Space remake is absolutely worth your time for long time fans and new ones too. Fans of the original will be enthralled with one of the best horror games revitalised for the modern age, and I envy new fans who get to experience the best version of Dead Space for the very first time.

It is truly a masterclass in survival horror and EA’s Motive Studio have done a phenomenal job reworking this classic. Story beats and dialogue are vastly improved, the lighting (or lack of) looks incredible and the audio only helps to add to the dread and tension throughout.

It’s hard not to notice the attention to detail throughout the game. At one point I even abruptly stopped in my path, believing I could hear an enemy creeping up on me, only to realise it was the idling sound of my equipped ripper weapon.

With the choice between performance and quality modes, you can play how you choose. I choose performance mode solely for 60FPS and it runs flawlessly throughout, which is a breath of fresh air in a era of broken and unfinished games releasing.

Everything about the original revamped, reworked and improved for the modern day and I can state how much I’m loving my time with it. As a huge horror fan and Dead Space fan, I can only hope this helps to put the horror genre on the map and can lead to some more Dead Space in the future.

Whether you plan on picking it up launch week or waiting, this is a remake not to miss. Motive Studio have done a spectacular job.