The recent reveal of Dead Space remake infused me with a giant dose of nostalgia and gave me a sound excuse to revisit the Visceral Games' 2008 survival horror classic. Back in 2008 things were quite a bit different than today regarding the AAA industry. The megalithic publisher EA gets a lot of hate these days and have so for much of their modern history, but back in, and around 2008, things were quite different. There was a period where EA was not considered the root of all evil in gaming. Under its CEO at the time John Riccitiello, EA briefly transformed into a company that's willing to innovate, take risks on niche projects, and build new original IP's.
One of the new original IPs under EA at the time was Dead Space. Inspired by System Shock 2, Resident Evil 4, Event Horizon, and John Carpenter's 1982 classic The Thing, Dead Space was a breath of fresh air in the genre dominated by Resident Evil 4 and not much else.
So, how does it hold up after almost 14 years since release, and does it really need a remake? The answer is yes, and no. Yes, it holds up pretty well, and no, it doesn't really need a remake. Need it or not, we're getting a remake sometime in Q4 this year, it will bring a number of improvements which we'll discuss later in the article.
One area in which you could say the game is dated a little bit is the visuals, and that's mostly due to low resolution textures. Even then the game still has some jaw dropping moments where the strong art direction and excellent use of light and shadows make you forget you're playing a 14 year old game. The USG Ishimura's gothic inspired design is not something we see too often in combination with sci-fi, but it's a good fit and adds to the oppressive mood of the gameplay experience.
One aspect of visuals and creative design that's still as impressive now as it was on release is the total lack of hud and screen clutter. The protagonist's health status is displayed as part of the armor along the spine, while weapons come with a holographic ammo counter. The inventory screen is a real time holographic projection in front of the character, and objective markers were replaced by a locator that would point you towards objective by drawing a holographic line along the floor. All this adds to the immersion and almost makes you feel like you're in a movie.
Game's lack of traditional hud is still one of the best examples of smart design that avoids screen clutter
The masterful sound design is just as impressive. Playing the game with a good pair of headphones is a chilling experience. The sounds coming from the ship's machinery keep you on edge as you're trying your damned hardest to hear any incoming Necromorph that might want to rearrange your body parts. Often you'll hear them raging away somewhere out of sight, almost like they're taunting you before the attack you know is coming sooner or later. Maybe the best sound effect in the game is the almost complete lack of it during the zero atmosphere sections, where the only thing you can hear is Issacs breath and faint thumps reverbing through the floor. Encounters during these sections have a hearth attack inducing capability as you'll often be atacked by a Necromorph you just don’t hear coming.
On the Gameplay front the game hasn’t aged a day. The combat is as satisfying today as it was during release. Dismembering Necromorphs with a plehora of deadly engineering tools not only still looks good, but is incredibly satisfying to boot. The game rewards you for being surgical with your shots, as wildly shooting will only waste your ammo which is in short supply on the higher difficulties. Enemy and encounter variety is good enough to keep things interesting until the end, while sections with the Regenerator enemy still induce a healthy dose of panic. One thing that was criticised during release was the asteroid minigame that was too hard with a controller according to many console players. On PC with a mouse it's much easier to manage alltogether and serves a nice break from fighting Necromorphs.
All in all revisiting Dead Space after that many years was pure pleasure, and it's a testament to the overall design of the game that it holds up so well in comparison to modern titles. That doesn't mean it's perfect of course, there is still some room for improvement. The remake aims to do just that, in addition to the obvious graphics improvement, the developers will bring some big changes that will hopefully transform the game for the better.
An early comparison screenshot shows massive visual improvement
The biggest change is adding a voice to the protagonist Isaac Clarke. In the original he didn't speak at all which made some scenes with other characters a bit awkward. According to developers Isaac will primarily only speak when spoken to, and will sometimes speak where it would feel weird if he remained silent.
Enemy dismemberment will be more detailed and varied, and weapons reworked to give a bigger variety of effects when shooting an enemy. Zero gravity sections will let you float and fly as opposed to original game's magnetic boots that saw you jumping from point to point.
The game's lore will also be expanded according to developers. “We are not going to change the foundation of the story, because that story is really iconic,” said creative director Roman Campos-Oriola. “The things we want to enrich in terms of story or narrative, it’s really about the bigger universe of Dead Space. We want to have more ties with what came after, whether it’s the books, whether it’s the anime, whether it’s Dead Space 2, we want to put the original in a better way inside that broader universe.”
Lastly the remake will flesh out some of the side characters, the main one being Nicole Brennan, Issac's girlfriend and the main reason for his arrival to the USG Ishimura. Unlike the original, the remake will give you means to look for her and learn what happened to her during the outbreak. The remake is set to release sometime in Q4 this year, with as strong a foundation as Dead Space has, with some needed improvements we could be in for a treat.
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