Dead Space Remake (2023) Review

Gaming Hound - Dead Space Remake Review - Saffron Taylor

All Aboard the USG Ishimura!

The Dead Space remake is my first ever foray into the franchise, so this review will be from the perspective of a new player. Spoiler alert – I absolutely loved it! I found it a little bit like Resident Evil but set in space. As a huge fan of the aforementioned series, it is fairly reminiscent with the gameplay style, and I liked that aspect.

The protagonist is a man named Isaac Clarke, who is an engineer sent to repair the USG Ishimura, only to be met with a gory massacre, a missing partner and hundreds of creatures called Necromorphs. What went wrong?

Now, I can’t necessarily make comparisons, but this game is absolutely stunning in the graphics department. Crystal clear textures, easy to read text and a lot of disgustingly beautiful details like the way blood splatters on Isaac’s suit or the grotesque remains of creatures once you’ve finished them off. The audio certainly helped a lot with its creepy ambient sounds as you didn’t know if it was the ship or a Necromorph sneaking up behind you, ready to tear you apart. Isaac now talks - which is a new addition - and for me personally I enjoyed listening to what he had to say as he went through the ship and the interactions he had with other characters.

I was pleasantly surprised how generous the game is regarding Save Stations, ammo, credits, and other items to help you on your journey. Of course, it’s always best to save where you can, but I was never frustrated by what was available to me along the way. If you press a certain button too it will also show you a tracker in the direction you need to go and that helped a lot.

Something I really loved about this game is that combat is never boring – there is a variety of ways to dispose of enemies instead of just shooting or doing melee. You can use both but on top of that you have Kinesis which you can use to grab objects and move them out of the way or throw them at enemies. You can pin enemies using table legs or even their own limbs! It saves on ammo, plus it’s fun to use and they often die in one hit. Another element is Stasis, which can be used to slow down fast objects or again, be used on enemies. You’ll be able to delay their movement and take a bit of a breather in case you get stuck. Speaking of shooting, though – there’s also a variety of guns to use and it’s hard to pick which ones! Besides the classic Plasma Cutter, I think my favourite weapon was the Ripper as it uses blades to saw into enemies and you can do it up close or shoot out a projectile.

Tailor your gameplay however you like; besides choosing whichever weapon suits you best, there is a Store (where you spend credits on ammo, upgrades, and med packs), and a Bench to upgrade your suit and weapons to make them the best they can be. You can max out one gun or spread out your Nodes to make all the guns just a little bit more powerful, but you can’t do both – so spend wisely!

There is tons of exploration to be done with backtracking to previously locked rooms and side missions – including new ones that the original didn’t have. You will be rewarded with special items and more story so they’re certainly worth doing. There are even a couple of easter eggs to find!

Overall, I give this game a 10/10! I loved the story, the immersion, the horror, the creative gameplay, and the world altogether. Isaac is a great protagonist too and I look forward to revisiting with New Game+ eventually.

Make us whole.

This game was kindly gifted to me by Gaming Hound to be reviewed.

© Saffron Taylor for Gaming Hound 2023