(game review) - Dead Space (Remake)

Story

Isaac is a systems engineer accompanying a search and rescue team on a mission to the USG Ishimura planet mining spacecraft to help out, but upon arriving Isaac and his team notice that the Ishimura seems quiet and absent of life. Having crashed landed upon arrival, immediately after, the team is attacked by a creature whilst Isaac is isolated unable to help them. Whilst some of the team is able to escape, Isaac modifies mining equipment into weapons and works with the rest of his team to investigate what has happened aboard the Ishimura, what has happened to the people, what these creatures are and how to escape.

Gameplay

Considering this game came out over 10 years ago, the gameplay does not feel old at all. With everything that is happening story-wise and how you manoeuvre, in some cases, the game definitely feels like it was ahead of its time. Very linear, but very epic. There are some small and some huge set pieces that floored me. The jump scares are in abundance. I think I was less than 10 minutes in and I am sure I had jumped twice, legitimately. There was a moment I thought I was at the end defeating the end boss, but I was wrong. Then that boss came back again to be defeated, but I still was not at the end. Then the final boss, wow. Not as difficult in comparison to the previous "big" boss but if I am honest, the bosses are not incredibly difficult, but you simply run out of ammo quickly and in a hurry, so the game forces you to improvise and kill by any means. It's survival horror, so...yeah, survive, the best way you can. The game is brutal as well. The many ways your life can be dispatched is funny but also horrifying. There were times I felt I could not witness another death because Isaac's body being ripped apart in every way imaginable was a lot to take in sometimes. With that said, trying to run around with minimal visuals also made it challenging, but the game does not stop from being fun in its own clever way. The game is also a puzzle game, so while you are trying to stay alive, you are also trying to solve tasks and puzzles to progress never really knowing what will jump out at you next.

Graphics

This is a remake so it can only look great, no? Well, if you care about your game and you are not in it simply for a cash grab, you are going to make a 15-year-old game sparkle, and it really does sparkle! The graphics are simply stunning on everything. The depths and the detail. The creatures look great and having Isaac remove his mask helps to show you, the player, his character design which is a departure from the original where he never took his helmet off. You feel more connected with the character you are playing with. The Ishimura looks great. The suit looks great. Even better with the upgrades and the small design changes. The weapons are cool and also upgradeable. Everything simply looks great and I cannot fault it at all. I would say there are a lot of repetitive designs with the ducts, but nothing to cry about. They did an amazing job on the remake. Considering I have only seen the original on video, I can confirm, that the current generation remake helps to flesh out as much detail in the world and locations making you feel more involved and invested in the game and the story. Immersed one would say.

Music/Sound

Annoying. Whilst amazing, the sound and music are beyond creepy. That is what they have set out to do, which is fine, but why does the Ishimura make so much noise that will make you feel there is a creature behind you at all times. You are playing on high alert and on edge as you go through every door and down every walkway because something WILL burst out of an air duct on the ceiling or the wall or from the grates on the floor. Unsettling, comes to mind. The sounds of the creatures and the weapons are great, however, I will say, sometimes the creatures will just appear behind you with zero noise, like...zero. You will see an arm behind your character and before you know it, you are being attacked and likely, hacked to death which makes you think, "Why did I not hear this thing behind me?". It is sneaky if you ask me. Playing in the dark, at night, is something of a nightmare.

Controls

Simple, layered and not intricate. Every weapon you pick up has a secondary function allowing you to attack a creature in various ways with a simple point/aim and shoot. The only "difficult" function is changing weapons whilst running for your life. You are allowed to hold 4 weapons at any one time, which is perfectly fine, but you can carry another 4 weapons, so when you are out of ammo, you may need to swap out a weapon and equip to a d-pad direction from your inventory, so running whilst doing that with the heads-up display on screen and being chased by a creature is a little challenging, but manageable. Floating in zero gravity is also fun. Also, the telekinesis ability is a Godsend. Sometimes you cannot afford to waste ammo, so sending a fire extinguisher into a creature or another object gets the job done just the same. The controls allow you to do that with ease. Using telekinesis and shooting as well is a little difficult but, manageable.

Playability

Would I play this game again? Sure, why not? I really enjoyed the game because of the story, because of the character and weapons, and because of the playability. With games like this, the aim is to complete it, go back to it to re-enter a room you missed before because you hadn't unlocked something or you did not have the correct clearance at the time you first encountered it. The game is likely to be more fun on the second playthrough due to knowing what to expect, how to do some of the puzzles, and how to defeat an enemy. Imagine, this is probably the only game I have nearly 10 save slots because I felt I may have botched a way of progressing in a scene so I made another slot, so if I got stuck I could go back to an earlier save. I did this once. I probably should have gone back a few times but, I managed.

Execution

I did not play the original so I am somewhat disappointed in myself that I could not compare the two. I knew of this game and this kind of game always intrigued me. I loved the look of it, but I just was not sold on it or just did not bother with it. Maybe I was a little scared of it because it seemed too atmospheric for me to handle, but I played Alan Wake. When I learnt of the remaster, I thought, maybe I should at least try it, you know? And I am so glad I did because the bottom line, I loved it. Atmospheric, scary, jump scares, gruesome, disgusting, great storyline with great graphics. A human and relatable protagonist and towards the end, the switch was great, so the fact they did a sequel and third, makes perfect sense, considering what happens in this game. What I will say though, although they made a sequel and third game, I would be happy for them to take a little more liberties. Nothing I can recommend as I have not played them, but maybe fix the third one as I thought I heard the third one was not as great as the first two. Maybe iron out the creases, you know.
One damn enjoyable game which was ahead of its time and a great game to play now.