"The dead will sleep and the living will see what can't be forgotten."
A very good remake of a cult classic definitively solidified in it's updated form while also staying very true to the original game, the way (in most cases) a remake should be.
Played the original Dead Space earlier this year and really enjoyed it but I did feel like it was lacking in certain areas. It had a great atmosphere to it but it was sort of let down a little by some constraints that thankfully the remake more than makes up for. What I really enjoyed the most was the added depth to the game's characters as opposed to the original. I found it a lot easier this time around to resonate with Isaac, care about him and even associate myself with his problems, something that the silent protagonist type in the original definitely wasn't able to achieve... and that was also something I did not like about the original either, it felt a little detached at times, so this was a really good change. However, it does come with it's share of mishaps.
In terms of gameplay flow, Isaac conversing with his crewmates over comms got a bit tedious after a certain point. You would be locked in rooms on "stand by" before you could progress and it was the most annoying when I was getting dopamine from encounters with necromorphs because then I'd suddenly be slapped in the face with this jarring change of pace. To be fair, I am overstating it a bit, but a few times it did genuinely feel like this and I don't remember if this was ever an issue in the original.
Outside of this, the gameplay is really good though not too far removed from the original, I actually found it a lot easier in some aspects too, so... I'm sure they changed something I probably forgot but, either way, it's still pretty solid. Really intense gameplay which is what I love this genre for the most.
When it comes to the narrative, the original didn't really have that sprawling of an overarching story and that was fine, but I really did prefer the way it was presented here. It just felt much more personal and I learned some things about the characters I wasn't even remotely aware of, especially of Isaac, the literal protagonist!? So, that was really interesting.
Such a great atmosphere too, leagues over the original. Everything about Ishimura just keeps you on edge, it's as atmospherically heavy as games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is something I've been wanting to re-experience in a game ever since. Dead Space really nails the isolation in the narrow halls and desolate, dark spaces that Arkham Asylum also did an amazing job at. Even down to the little things like it's sound design, hearing the whispers of the dead talking to Isaac or the distorted intercoms, even screams in the ventilation, it's really well done and I think it deserves the category it was nominated for in this years' TGA, so I hope it wins.
Not much else to say that I haven't already said about the original because, again, it is very similar and I think in a way, Dead Space (2023) even serves to justify The Last of Us Part I, because the way they were handled as remakes is... pretty much the same, almost. That said, this version of the game, to me, is also the definitive way to experience it. Definitely worth it and also worth the grind for a platinum in the future, hopefully.
A very good remake of a cult classic definitively solidified in it's updated form while also staying very true to the original game, the way (in most cases) a remake should be.
Played the original Dead Space earlier this year and really enjoyed it but I did feel like it was lacking in certain areas. It had a great atmosphere to it but it was sort of let down a little by some constraints that thankfully the remake more than makes up for. What I really enjoyed the most was the added depth to the game's characters as opposed to the original. I found it a lot easier this time around to resonate with Isaac, care about him and even associate myself with his problems, something that the silent protagonist type in the original definitely wasn't able to achieve... and that was also something I did not like about the original either, it felt a little detached at times, so this was a really good change. However, it does come with it's share of mishaps.
In terms of gameplay flow, Isaac conversing with his crewmates over comms got a bit tedious after a certain point. You would be locked in rooms on "stand by" before you could progress and it was the most annoying when I was getting dopamine from encounters with necromorphs because then I'd suddenly be slapped in the face with this jarring change of pace. To be fair, I am overstating it a bit, but a few times it did genuinely feel like this and I don't remember if this was ever an issue in the original.
Outside of this, the gameplay is really good though not too far removed from the original, I actually found it a lot easier in some aspects too, so... I'm sure they changed something I probably forgot but, either way, it's still pretty solid. Really intense gameplay which is what I love this genre for the most.
When it comes to the narrative, the original didn't really have that sprawling of an overarching story and that was fine, but I really did prefer the way it was presented here. It just felt much more personal and I learned some things about the characters I wasn't even remotely aware of, especially of Isaac, the literal protagonist!? So, that was really interesting.
Such a great atmosphere too, leagues over the original. Everything about Ishimura just keeps you on edge, it's as atmospherically heavy as games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is something I've been wanting to re-experience in a game ever since. Dead Space really nails the isolation in the narrow halls and desolate, dark spaces that Arkham Asylum also did an amazing job at. Even down to the little things like it's sound design, hearing the whispers of the dead talking to Isaac or the distorted intercoms, even screams in the ventilation, it's really well done and I think it deserves the category it was nominated for in this years' TGA, so I hope it wins.
Not much else to say that I haven't already said about the original because, again, it is very similar and I think in a way, Dead Space (2023) even serves to justify The Last of Us Part I, because the way they were handled as remakes is... pretty much the same, almost. That said, this version of the game, to me, is also the definitive way to experience it. Definitely worth it and also worth the grind for a platinum in the future, hopefully.