Every once in a while there is a horror shooter that makes a mark on you. In this case, it is a science fiction horror shooter in the form of Dead Space. Originally released in 2008, this remake by Motive Studio shows us that the game that gave some of us nightmares can horrify us again and in new ways. How good is this title? Find out in our review below.
The number of times this title scared me when I was younger can’t be understated. Fast forward fifteen years and nothing has changed. I love these types of games because of their ability to draw you into the story. It has all of the makings of a thriller, mixed with a shooter, and sprinkles in enough jump scares to make you check every corner twice. Dead Space is based around an engineer named Isaac, and a crew who were sent to find the Ishimura, a planet breaker mining ship. It had gone silent and they were sent to figure out why. That is where the fun begins.
Shortly after reaching Ishimura, things start going wrong in more ways than one. All poor Isaac wants to do is get his girlfriend, Nicole, back more than anything, but almost immediately grotesque creatures start attacking from out of nowhere, killing several crew members right away. From this point on, you’ll need to keep Isaac alive as he stumbles around this giant ship, trying to unlock the mysteries of an ancient technology and the perverted religion that seems to surround it. Here begins our journey to discovering what happened onboard the Ishimura.
Considering that this title has been completely remade from the ground up utilizing the Frostbite engine, is an incredible feat. Still developed by Motive, they chose to remake every piece of Dead Space including ditching the Visceral Engine originally used to create the original version. Dead Space Remake runs very well, but there are a few areas where there are hordes of necromorphs and other rag dolls in the same area. These are areas where the frame rate drops below 20 fps. It also hogs a lot of the memory while it is running. Switching up the engine did make it seem like a smoother-running game most of the time. This might be because I am playing it on higher settings using a 5900x CPU, 64GB of Ram at 3200 MHz with a 2080 GPU. Apart from these couple of issues, it ran great the rest of the time. Graphically speaking, the shadows, the lighting, everything has been recreated with insane detail while keeping true to the core of the gameplay of the original.
Combat is an important aspect of Dead Space. All of the different weapons, the suit upgrades, and the melee attacks are integral to your survival. Knowing when to use a certain weapon or a stomp, or a stasis field takes a little getting used to. The main thing to remember though is to dismember your enemies. Shooting off their arms and legs is the quickest way to kill them as body and headshots do not cause fatal damage. Each weapon has base damage and upgrades which are achieved through finding and using nodes at an upgrade bench. You can upgrade the weapon’s damage, reload speed, magazine capacity, and special updates for each weapon. From your trusty plasma cutter to the flamethrower and more. You will be able to choose the best weapons to take on each different area, and type of monster as you continue your journey. Personally keeping the ripper available helped a lot. When you hold your aim button down and press the primary fire button, your saw blade will sit in mid-air. As the necros move closer to you they will get damage dealt to them. After a couple of seconds, you will need to fire another blade. It is a very helpful method of attacking everything.
When you first enter the Ishimura your rig is scanned into the system. This enables you to pull up a ship map from your rig menu. Every deck is listed and every area is. Some areas may not fully show up right away, but they will tell you what you need to know. Where the stores, elevators, upgrade tables are, and more. The map will direct you toward your next mission or selected side mission as well. I like this feature as some games have little direction beyond cryptic messages from NPCs. You are on a big ship and need direction sometimes. Along with the map comes your inventory menu, mission logs, and a task tracker which shows all of the tasks you complete per chapter, and how many still need to be completed. Each area will show a lock emblem if it’s locked, and it will show up as a normal door if it is unlocked.
The best part about playing these types of games, or watching them play, is the jump scares. Getting scared and having that stimulation can be very good if you take it the right way. I find it hilarious when someone jumps at one of the little monsters coming from out of nowhere. While it is funny watching others I sometimes get freaked out enough by some of these popups and find myself laughing afterward. At times I find myself standing still listening to the voices that you can hear subtly in the background. The voices can sometimes be heard, and I am pretty sure they say some of the lines of the crew throughout the game. Bringing everyone back together. There are times when your health level will add to the stress you are under. Especially when you have only one or two health bars left and an elite necro comes out of the vent, or you get grabbed by a giant arm. Couple this, with having a very low amount of ammunition and it has all the makings of the next big horror movie where you have no way out. You learn to save money, ammo, and anything of value until you can upgrade your armor and weapons. It is also helpful when you need ammo. Even though ammo is all over the map and can be obtained from crushing the necro bodies, it is still only a random drop.
I was in my early twenties when I first played Dead Space, the OG, and it was one of the first horror shooters I had played. Back in 2008, there were no visuals of the character’s face, nothing to make you feel anything for the character. Now you can see Isaac’s face, making the connection greater. You now feel something about the character with a face. When he gets his head ripped off, when he gets mauled by giant necros, you feel sorry for him and try your best to not let it happen again. In the first version of the game this was more difficult. I feel like the way you moved around was a little more robotic, as it were. Now walking through the ship feels more fluid and lifelike. Running from necros is going to save your butt half the time, but with the narrow size of the hallways, you need to be smart about it. When you can’t blow off necro limbs with your weapon, pull out your kinesis module and use bombs, objects, or even other enemy body parts to destroy them. Everything becomes a weapon when you are at a loss for the traditional forms. Be careful though. Some enemies will be tougher than the rest. Normal, elite, boss-level creatures will present themselves throughout your play. These are just some of the things you can plan to expect as you play the remake.
The base game is available on Steam and Epic for 59.99 USD while the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions are 69.99 USD. Whether it is your first time playing Dead Space or not, this game will have you jumping out of your chair trying to get away from the necromorphs. Combat will keep you hopping so you better make sure to save up your cash and make your shots count. Get out there and discover the mysteries of the Ishimura and the marker.
Note: This key was provided by FortySeven PR on Steam for review
