The Return of the King of Space Horrors – “Dead Space” Game Review

Recent years have taught us that if you have the right idea and resources for a remake, you can do great things – even if you take up the challenge to thoroughly refresh iconic items. Such an art was successful, for example, with Resident Evil 2 , and now an equally successful attempt is the expedition to the Ishimura USG.

 

When in 2008 Visceral Games presented the first part of its cosmic horror to the world, it was hard to get over how much Isaac Clarke’s story differed from the portfolio of the behemoth behind the studio in the form of Electronic Arts. Soon, however, it turned out that the potential of the brand is strong enough to spread it to other pop culture media: animated films expanding the plot, books boldly using lore and two sequels. Everything was going well for Dead Space … at least until the sales columns confirmed it.

While EA had something that broke beyond the long-term scheme in its hands, its methods of killing dubious ventures remained as traditional as possible. This is how, after a disappointing third part, probably the best survival horror outside of Japan fell into a long hibernation. It took a whole decade for him and the ill-fated engineer and crew of the Kellion USG to once again solve the terrifying mystery behind the alien planetbreaker’s distress signal. And you know what? It was definitely worth the wait.

All hands on deck

The studio behind the remake, EA Motive, has set itself the goal not only to update the graphics (which, by the way, still defends itself quite well in the fifteen-year-old original), but above all to make the whole experience complete. Thus, although care has been taken to ensure that the core of the fun is based on the same elements, smaller and larger changes affect basically all aspects of what we got to know in the 2008 game.

The same is the case with the story. Dead Space fansknow it inside out – we have Isaac Clarke, a space engineer who, together with computer specialist Kendra Daniels, security officer Zach Hammond and two soldiers, is tasked with going to the Ishimura USG – a giant mine ship that, apart from sending a distress signal, remains completely deaf to any attempts at communication. The first moments do not promise a routine task when our heroes’ ship is damaged while trying to dock. The real avalanche of crises, however, begins only when they are soon separated – there is no trace of its crew left on Ishimura, and bloodthirsty monsters, taken from the worst nightmares, are prowling around. To find a way out of the trap, the team will have to try to unravel the mystery behind the disaster.

Anyone who has had the opportunity to face the story presented by Dead Space is well aware of how much content is hidden under the surface of a somewhat standard space horror. The next layers of Ishimura, infected with the nastiness, are additional portions of hypotheses, gradually making up an intricately constructed whole – and since for Isaac, who is our virtual alter ego, all this fuss has an additional personal dimension, we have here an extremely efficient mix of threads that evoke a whole spectrum of emotions in the recipient.

In the case of the remake, it works even better – some of the stories related to individual heroes have been changed and deepened to better emphasize their relationships and motivations. The big change is that Isaac gained a voice – while in the original to some extent he could even be treated as an errand boy, this time he is an active participant in the conversation, some of the solutions are his ideas, and it is much easier for the player to understand his character and emotions. Fortunately, EA Motive remembered not to overdo it in this aspect, and fortunately, we are not doomed to the hero’s comments all the time – he actually speaks at key moments, during most of the game leaving the player alone in the face of the horror lurking in the darkness .

This one has also been improved, mainly due to the expansion of the exhibition of the depicted world. While in the original, the amount of audio recordings and text logs could hardly be complained about, now not only some of them have been redacted, but also some new ones have appeared, related to the side missions explaining the open gates from the original. In other words, in Dead Space , even those who know the 2008 version by heart will have a lot of fun to play – and everyone experiencing the adventure for the first time will do so, communing with its best possible form.

Ishimura my home

While the core of the gameplay itself can be said to have remained largely intact – our primary task will still be dismembering aggressively inclined necromorphs – the devil is in the details in this case. Still the best way to eliminate enemies is to remove their limbs, but it is worth noting that the models of the monsters have been enriched with new layers of “meat” to tear off, thus making the fight a bit more difficult, but also more vivid. However, it’s hard to complain about the variety of the arsenal at our disposal – Isaac’s equipment will include both the iconic plasma saw and a flamethrower, a rifle, a contact laser that shoots an extremely strong beam, or a shotgun that knocks enemies to the ground. None of this will surprise the eaters of the original, but the balance of the game is worth praising – especially the higher difficulty level forces you to juggle with weapons, and although everyone will find their own favorite among them, each of the guns will be applicable to different situations. Both the weapons and the hero’s suit can be upgraded with “nodes” found on board the Ishimura or purchased in stores scattered here and there. There are enough of them to max out your favorite tools of destruction, but not enough to do the same with everyone – so nothing stands in the way of replaying the entertainment being a completely different experience. as well as the hero’s suit can be upgraded with “knots” found on board the Ishimura or bought in stores scattered here and there. There are enough of them to max out your favorite tools of destruction, but not enough to do the same with everyone – so nothing stands in the way of replaying the entertainment being a completely different experience. as well as the hero’s suit can be upgraded with “knots” found on board the Ishimura or bought in stores scattered here and there. There are enough of them to max out your favorite tools of destruction, but not enough to do the same with everyone – so nothing stands in the way of replaying the entertainment being a completely different experience.

An interesting thing in this aspect is also the intensity module introduced for the remake, which in theory is supposed to regulate the pace of events and make the game look a bit different each time you load the game – and Isaac will encounter random visions, and it will be unexpectedly hungry from behind his back monster. I have to admit that in practice it works quite well, especially in the early stages, when you walk through the dark corridors with your soul on your shoulder and each unexpected attack causes an inevitable increase in your heart rate. Tension in the new Dead Spaceis built in the same way as in the case of the rest of the series – a bit of psychological horror is mixed with a huge dose of gore and jumpscares. Naturally, as we acquire better equipment and more and more frequent avalanche attacks of antagonists, all this becomes a bit commonplace, but even if EA Motive’s game does not scare you in the same way from start to finish, the atmosphere of hounding that persists throughout the adventure cannot be denied.

Beauty in the dark

The completely rebuilt Ishimura, whose individual decks, unlike the original, can now be explored freely, hunting for additional ammo resources hidden in initially inaccessible locations, is also a place that, despite a fairly large dose of backtracking associated with such solutions, can constantly be enjoyed. Admittedly, in terms of the setting, it will be difficult for EA Motive to compete with the truly next-gen The Callisto Protocol, but how the lighting was tweaked with ray tracing can make a really big impression. It is also impossible to complain about the quality of the textures of the environment, which resonates with the atmosphere, as well as new character models. The faces of some of them (yes, I’m looking at you, Nicole) take a bit of getting used to, but in the end they’re almost unambiguously positive changes.

The soundtrack is absolutely bombastic. While the music itself is practically absent here, the constant sounds of the creaking and moaning guts of the metal monster, the heart-attack of opening the door, the chorus of voices whispering in the dark, and finally the sounds made by the necromorphs – all this adds up to a horror of the highest order. There is nothing bad to say about the voice acting either. Fan-favorite Gunner Wright returns as Isaac, Tanya Clarke reprises her role from earlier Dead Spaces as Nicole, and the new additions in the roles of Zach Hammond and Kendra Daniels are as convincing as the original.

Fortunately, the quality of the audiovisual setting in the case of the PC version did not cause gigantic problems, similar to those faced by The Callisto Protocol . Yes, the game can crunch from time to time when loading new sections of the ship, but the fluidity of the game usually keeps a constant level.

Unity again

Over fifteen hours spent with the new version of Dead Spacegives a perfect picture that we are dealing with a complete remake. Not only EA Motive managed to keep the spirit of the original, but also to expand it so as to make the whole experience fuller and even more satisfying. If you add a flavor in the form of an alternative ending that awaits the more attentive players taking on New Game+, it’s hard not to admit that the restored expedition to Ishimiura simply made it. Contrary to the above-mentioned work by Striking Distance Studios, created to be the leading star of modern space horrors, it fulfilled all the hopes placed in it – and even added something extra from itself. One can only envy those who face it for the first time.