General mix of nausea trying to see this on its own terms versus what the series means for me. I'm moreso feeling to judge towards the latter considering that the game is seeking to be more replacing than going in its own direction, albeit you can still buy the first game on any market for cheap, it's not that sunset, so maybe that's a little mean?

Regardless though, I got about to chapter 5 before I stopped. Then got increasingly upset about it. Positives first it's like, a more competent horror in terms of visual design and understanding of its gore and shock. Genuinely better at pacing its atmosphere than the original, which is something I didn't think I'd find myself saying. I think a lot of that is simply by the original's design, as they couldn't get as visceral with the lighting or do most of the effects presented here, and said lighting back then in gen 7 now looks significantly aged worse even within its context. Dead Space 2 sidelines this entirely by going for a way better fusion with its pocket city meets infection, but still, credit where it's due the devs here's very clearly first project with a game of this kind of tone is firing very well here.

Everything ends there though. The big massive elephant in the room is how Dead Space Remake plays. I think it'd be really really silly to not acknowledge that Dead Space by Clear Intent explicitly and by result is influenced by Resident Evil 4. The OG and especially Dead Space 2 took this influence to give incredibly threatening enemies that were built around a toolset you had properly balanced to deal with them. You manipulated their enemy state between terrifying rush mode and kiting them together so you can get shots in while faster and more difficult incarnations came around the corner later. This significantly added to that horror, the necromorphs were very much abominations that gruesomely formed from humanity and their feral instinctual power that you had to manage and keep your distance especially with their erraticism was The defining factor.

But here? They're entirely defanged. This is utterly indefensible to me. The AI for lack of a better word is total dogshit. They'll constantly, CONSISTENTLY, revert to an idle state both after sprinting or even in the middle of attacks. They're boring, reduced in a manner similar to xenomorphs from Alien to Aliens, their threat deorbited to be replaced by, well, nothing. You're far more powerful too, weapon hitboxes have been so overtuned to where flamethrower just disintegrates now, as an example. Your stomp hitbox is so laughably huge that it brought me out of the game hard. I went through the entirety of chapter 4 trying to see how much I could get by just stomping enemies to death. I succeeded and that was depressing. I'm playing this game on Hard btw, and I've actually never been quite able to power through the original's hardest difficulties. I'm not that good at Dead Space. This remake really is just that toothless.

And that's astonishing to me. This is a remake set to be a powerful recognizable spirit of the original, with an uncharitable doctrine towards its coming entirely because EA still absolutely sunset the original devs with prejudice. But its roots, they're gone! They're not even a part of the equation here. I found playing this less interesting and engaging from a mechanical standpoint than Dead Space 3 and that in of itself is also something I never wished I had to say.

I don't know. On its own terms, I think it's largely understandable that people are seeing this from a nu-standpoint where they, likely honestly, never played the original. Simply observed it from its marketing and its dominating horror appeal and came in hoping to be blown away by that part of things. Which is there. That part is not, like, missing. This is in some sense a strongly competent horror walking sim of sorts (yeah i know, levels are still nonlinear, you still kind of fight things, but it's obviously not the point anymore). Difficult for me to internalize that though. The legacy I loved the series for is gone. I'm not very good with horror games exclusively, I loved Dead Space largely for how its monsters were analogous to the horror and forced me to feel things intrinsically through gameplay. I loved that something something ludonarrative. I liked the power and actualization of accomplishing past these terrible monsters, going through with wounds and scars and feeling like I really just lived through a stone cold hell.

Not here though. Dead Space has moved on. Maybe we should too.

Reviewed on Feb 02, 2023


7 Comments


1 year ago

oof, that's really unfortunate about the AI and difficulty. I still had my eye on this despite everything but man....

1 year ago

when i finally get time to play, i was hoping to enjoy this remake. you did not notice similar AI issues in the original game? on my most recent play through (a couple months ago), i felt the AI easy to manipulate, but i'm not sure if it's because i'm very familiar with it, or if it's something that I can hold against the game.
AI in dead space 1 wouldn't reset to an idle mode. They'd either be in a rush or stalker move state. In rush they'd do an undodgeable attack and then stay as stalker (which they'd then do slow, kiteable attacks), and if you get too far from them they'd go back to rush. In the remake the AI will constantly swap to a like idle state, largely just standing in place not even moving. Here's a compilation https://streamable.com/txsqwx

1 year ago

oh wow thank you for the video showing this problem. the remake necromorphs did some downers before descending through the vents onto isaac

1 year ago

Very well put Luna!

1 year ago

The lack of "good combat" focus (for lack of a better term) seems to be the ethos of recent horror game remakes following in the wake of RE:2 (which itself was a major step back from every OTS RE), but while there it was remaking a PSX game, here it's remaking a game where the combat was the point. Makes me wonder how later horror remakes/reboots following this train will fare, like Alone in the Dark and Silent Hill 2 (that one will at least be interesting, since Ito stepped up to do combat design for the creatures as well).

Good review.

10 months ago

I think it's fair to say that both of us did not have the same experiences with this game, and that's completely fine. I think your viewpoint is still valid and is something worth respecting. The one part of your review that I do not appreciate is your inclination that the majority of people who are fans of this remake are people who did not play the original, implying that their views on this title is to some extent lesser than yours, or even downright incorrect. I can tell you with certainty that I was there for the original game and even managed to beat it on the harder difficulties. I liked this remake, as my own subjective view on it which is only really of worth to myself alone. However, I am not going to say other people probably did not play the original, or in the case that they didn't, imply that their views on this game are lesser than mine. I think it's reasonable to mention your credentials in your reviews so that your audience knows that you are familiar with what you are talking about, but to use it to discredit other people''s opinions only serves to shut off any semblance of honest discussion you may have with other people. If anything, I could go the complete opposite way about it and say that you are too blind by nostalgia to appreciate a genuinely good product in order to discredit you (just to be clear, I do not actually mean this; I am only giving an example). The notion that people are better or lesser due to their individual tastes in entertainment is as callous as the blind zealot fans of sports who argue the worth of the "other" over the color of their shirts. It's what's poisoned discussions about games in social circles when in reality all we're comparing one another over is what toys we like most, and all it serves is to divide people more and enclosing us into bubbles where people can't handle deviant thoughts from the pack, even over something as trivial as entertainment. Just to reiterate again, despite our difference in opinion on this title, I fully respect and believe that your experience is valid. Now I don't know you very well, but a quick glance at your profile does give me the impression that you are a highly respectable individual who I think is cool. I just wanted to point that part out in your review because it reminded me of the worst parts of talking about video games on the internet when you're trying to show your passion about the medium, even with harsh criticism as that is also a form of love because you want games to be the best they possibly can. Anyways, that's all I really have to say. Don't say your views on games are more valid than other people's. That's bad.