Would I rather EA had greenlit a brand new entry in the franchise? Of course. Did the original age enough to warrant a full remake? I don’t think so, no - I played it for the very first time 3 years ago and it was still superbly playable. But did I enjoy my time with this remake? Absolutely.

The new graphics are very impressive, with the enemy designs looking more gruesome than ever. The haunting atmosphere and palpable feeling of danger lurking just around the corner are still very much present and make traversing Ishimura a harrowing experience, perhaps just a little too easy, even on the Hard difficulty (yeah, I’m not risking hours of progress on the Impossible setting, thanks). The dismemberment mechanic is satisfying as ever and the available array of weapons and tools make combat both tense and fun.

Sure, there are some nitpicks here and there - the zero gravity movement is still wonky, turning Isaac into a voiced protagonist doesn’t work well since he’s not interesting a character at all, and the final battle is kind of meh. But as I said, these are nitpicks and the overall experience is still highly recommended, in all of its 12 hours of slashing through some of the most hideous monsters in survival horror history (plus some really interesting lore!) glory.