Review: Dead Space (2023) remains a thrilling journey through madness
When the original Dead Space was released back in 2008 it was heralded as one of the finest examples of the survival horror genre.
15 years later, revisiting the original USG Ishimura is still an equally thrilling and horrifying experience, but some gameplay mechanics haven’t stood the test of time as well as others.
Enter EA Motive‘s new and improved remake, which attempts to capture all the qualities that made the original game such a groundbreaking release, while also introducing modern touches to bring it up to speed with what players expect in 2023. And for the most part, it’s succeeded.
For those who missed out the first time around, Dead Space puts players in the clunky space boots of Isaac Clark, an engineer whose crew responds to a distress beacon at the USG Ishimura mining ship, where Isaac’s partner Nicole happens to work.
Upon arriving at the Ishimura, Isaac quickly realises that something has caused the ship’s crew to turn into hideous mutant monsters. The goal, then, is to figure out what’s going on, reunite with Nicole and get out of there alive.
This premise – and the general plot beats that encompass it – are by and large replicated in the remake, though there are a few tweaks here and there to try and freshen things up a little, the most notable example being that Isaac can now speak.
Although he also spoke in Dead Space 2 and 3, in the original game Isaac was a silent protagonist. This has been changed with the return of Gunner Wright, who voiced Isaac in the sequels (incidentally, Isaac’s also been given a makeover so he looks like the actor who plays him).
The obvious consequence of this is that practically all of the dialogue in the game has been tweaked to incorporate Isaac’s lines. No longer does the
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