The original 2008 Dead Space still looks and plays pretty good today, its art design alone goes a long way towards keeping it looking fresh amongest 2022's next-gen dazzlers but despite that enduring appeal Dead Space is yet another classic game getting the full remake treatment where developer EA motive seemingly uncovered the most space for improvement & as time goes the game is in the margins and fine details.
No matter how well the original holds up it's admittedly nothing compared to what EA motive showed off to the Press during the lengthy preview of the upcoming remake, the recent preview build evoked fond memories of the original while reminding gamers just how gnarly Deap Space was in the first place while gruesome games were admittedly in their Golden Era during the mid-2000s Dead Space really tried to outdo the competition.
Most gamers blocked the Necromorph babies from their memories but here they are ready to skewer you through the head if you aren't too careful.
The USG ishimura where Dead Space is set is reborn hissing and more Sinister than ever!
The ishimura is hands down the least welcoming ship in any universe and being able to see this rust-colored Behemoth in even greater detail is breathtaking, it can also be fully explored without any loading screens or cut scenes. To be able to freely walk through the terrifying Labyrinth only makes one of Gaming's greatest locations even more glorious, motive has made a big deal about how new tech like the introduced in-game physics can be found underneath the Hood from the peeling system that gives the Necromorphs even more layers to surgically hacked away to audio tech that dynamically reacts to whether Isaac is hurt or not.
But beyond these cosmetic changes motive has introduced one more impressive trick to add a layer of intensity that didn't exist previously aptly called the 'intensity director'. The intensity director was developed to solve an interesting side effect that the remake's more open map while Dead Space originally relied on scripting terrifying moments for maximum scares, this shimura deserves to be explored to its fullest.
But that means if you backtrack you might not be worried about going into certain rooms that you've already cleared, the intensity director says not so fast so its presence isn't overly advertised but always there to shake things up or disturb you in new ways if you're ever feeling too safe.
According to motive there are hundreds of events that can play out depending on the dice roll from enviromental effects like light and smoke to even Necromorph spawns, some can be very subtle and it took a couple of instances of backtracking. Rather than thinking of these additions as game changing the remake's new features make an already great game even better, the peeling system for example as motive calls it adds layers upon layers to the Necromorphs giving each horrifying monster additional flesh, tendons and Bones to hack through.
The ability to dismember your enemies is still satisfying but the added Gore only makes the experience that much more and it seems appropriate to use visceral, the appealing system is also an appropriate metaphor for the Remake itself which is focused on increasing the depth of an experience that fans already know and play. All this is to say if you remember Dead Space looking good it now looks even better and if you remember the game sounding good it sounds even better too.
Deap Space sits in the Middle Ground of recent remakes in more ways than one, it's not as old as Resident Evil 2 or 3 but not quite as recent as The Last of Us. You'd still believe the gold standard might be capcom's Revival of Resident Evil 2 which essentially created a new game from the foundations of some old but very good ideas while The Last of Us Part One offers a chance to play the best version of an already good game, but Dead Space provides something in between.
CONCLUSION
There's enough new in the game that will make the first Dead Space obselete but not enough for an all time gamer to think its a wholly new experience, instead there's lust where there wasn't before and layers upon deliciously sick layers of extra detail to enjoy.