It is one of the most debated questions of all time: what makes a good horror? I have my own list as I am sure you do, but I think there are some fundamentals which we can all agree on. The threat of loss or physical violence (at some point) is key. I also feel like the good horrors trap its victims in a confined space or situation from which they can't escape; The Shining, The Thing or Alien are good examples of this. It is this condition that makes space such a wonderful playground for horror directors. When Dead Space was released in 2008 it was an instant hit and went on to become a classic for horror survival fans. Now with a complete remake landing this week, let us take a look and see if it justifies a new purchase.
Old Dog, New Tricks
So like the film industry, we will often have older games getting dusted off for a full remake. Unlike the film industry, the success rate of these reworkings is significantly higher. When Firaxis remade X-Com, for example, it was a triumphant success that completely honoured what made the original great. However, it is also a balancing act between respect for the source material, while at the same time adding enough to justify the new game (and price tag). It is also, of course, dependent on your own personal opinion: some will be thirsty for a remake while others will see it as unnecessary (The Last of Us remake saw this kind of backlash).
Well, I will say right from the off, this remake is everything I could have hoped for because it walks the line perfectly. On one hand, we see not only a full visual remake with plenty of eye candy to gawk at, but the game I loved is also well and truly intact. On top of that, there is so much more to talk about in the way Motive Studio, an EA-owned developer, has fashioned this remake of Dead Space.
Close Encounters
We join our protagonist Isaac Clarke as he and his rescue team drop into orbit around Aegis VII. They are responding to a distress signal from the USG Ishimura, a planet cracking station designed to literally carve dead planets apart for resources. We also learn that Isaac has a personal interest in his mission as his girlfriend is one of the lead scientists on the rig. Things go south quickly and very soon Isaac is fighting for his life within the belly of the Ishimura.
Issac is a repair tech and it is his job to get things working. The game doesn’t waste any time getting you into the thick of the action and pretty soon he is isolated from his team. Using power tools and industrial cutting lasers is how Issac fights off the mutated horrors that are now sizing up his sweetmeats. There is a decent variation in the types of Necromorphs you encounter and each one comes with a new way to mess you up. Like the First Resident Evil games, which really remind me of Dead Space, managing your resources is vital. Often you will need to risk a melee attack or foot stomp to conserve vital supplies.
As you explore each room you will find an assortment of ammo, money and items. There are shops dotted around which let you buy consumables, upgrades and also sell items for more cash. I would recommend you save all your pennies for the upgrades as these will benefit you the most. Also using the kinesis ability to hurl objects at your enemies saves ammo and is pretty damn fun. Famously, the way health is represented on Issacs back remains intact and now his suit is gorgeously detailed. It might be a little jarring at first to hear Issac speaking, as in the original he was completely silent. This, of course, will be down to preference, but regardless of where you land the original voice actor from Dead Space two and three does a great job.
Space Opera
One of the fundamental elements of horror is not knowing. If you play a section of the game again, after being de-limbed a few minutes prior, knowing what is coming kinda takes the edge off. To combat this the developers designed an ingenious system they call the Dead Space intensity director. Now the game is constantly assessing where you are and will be keeping your sanity on the edge. This can be as simple as the clanging of a nearby object or a Necromorph leaping at you from a previously cleared area.
In a similar vein, when walking past some corpses one of them sprung to life and hacked my legs off. On my return a few minutes later my plasma cutter was primed and ready, only this time one of the other corpsed jumped up and started swinging. In this way you can never bank on being safe and that my friends is genius game design. At some point you will meet a particular nasty Necromorph that can inject mutagen into normal corpses, instantly turning them into ravenous monsters. It does pose the question, if I stomp all these dead folk to red paste before it turns up; does this event still happen?
Another impressive feature is how the level designs have been tweaked. So each area is unmistakable from the original game but you now have options. So for example in one area you find a locked door but will notice a red power conduit heading around the corner. This leads you to a fuse box that allows you to shift power away from other systems and thus allowing access to the room. The kicker is that those other systems are the lights and you must now make your way back in almost pitch-black darkness. There are many changes like this and in fact, the whole game is now designed so you can revisit older sections when you have a higher security pass.
Space Sucks
The vacuum of space s one of the most hostile environments known to man, not somewhere you want to end up in your birthday suit. I think this is why space horrors like Event Horizon and Alien are so tantalisingly tense, because the unfortunate would-be victims are truly trapped within these metallic shells with their tormentors.
This is one of the ways I think Dead Space used its setting so well and how the remake takes it to the next level. As Issac makes his way to each objective the vacuum of space is constantly trying to get in and make your day even worse. At various junctions, you will end up in situations with no gravity and/or a vacuum (so no air). As Issac's suit is a robust piece of kit he can survive in a vacuum but has a limited amount of time before he suffocates. In the original game, you could leap from surface to surface when in zero gravity but now the free-floating mechanic has been brought over from Dead Space 2. Issac can move around with the small jets built into the suit and walk with mag-lock boots.
The single best part about being in a vacuum is how well the sound represents this, as in there is virtually none. This means you can be repairing a panel, turn around and the Necromorph you didn't hear is silently baring down on you. All you can hear is the faint thuds of your feet on metal and the giant panic gasps Issac is taking in: amazing game design. With the vastly improved physics of the Frostbite Engine, I also love how items and debris are sucked towards an airlock when you open one.
‘He’s got an arm off!’
One of the most covered aspects of the original game was the fact you could lop the appendages off the creatures that are trying to kill you. Nay, you are in fact encouraged to do this as it is essential for your survival. As I have mentioned, this remake honours the original but has also sought to add new depth to the fleshy combat.
The ‘Peeling System’ is one such improvement that shows body destruction by removing layers of tissue from the creature revealing muscle and bone. Again with the superior physics baked into the Frostbite Engine, this allows for some interesting gameplay opportunities. There are even systems that allow limbs to be partly severed but still hang limp if there is enough tissue left, grizzly stuff indeed. I have been hoping that more studios implement systems like this as it is a really simple way to convey to the player how much you have damaged an enemy. These advanced systems, for me, trump a damage bar every time and provide an extra level of immersion.
These clever damage models don’t only make the game look great but they also add gameplay dynamics, the obvious one being whacking off a creatures legs will slow it down enough to give you the edge. A favourite tactic of mine is to sever a razor-sharp claw arm and then use Kinesis to stake its owner to the wall. I usually hate hanging things on walls but this might have converted me.
Is it PC?
The Ishimura was redesigned from the ground up, using the original blueprint. The reasoning behind this was that with hindsight, many of the ship spaces just were not conducive to a working space station. So this time around I have spent a lot of time admiring the much more believable and impressive USG Ishimura. The dock where you first crash, for example, is significantly bigger and full of abandoned hardware. While navigating around the Ishimura each area now feels more plausible and connected in a way that would work.
In terms of visuals, it is obvious right from the off that this game has been completely rebuilt from the ground up. Each area now has much more detail both in terms of room structure and the items within it. The advantage of a full remake speaks for itself when you see how much more accomplished the lighting is at creating atmosphere. From long shadows being cast from exterior windows to interior light sources creating shadow puppets in real-time. Tiny glass jars distort light as they would and volumetric gas adds another delicious layer to this spectacle. In short, the way light is used in this game is exquisitely handled.
As a person who loves to pick over these digital worlds, there is plenty here to keep me busy. From messages daubed on walls in blood to finding corpses frozen in their final act: there is so much visual storytelling. In one area I enter a vast chamber and looking up I could see the silhouette of a frozen crew member now hanging in zero gravity. As I activated the gravity field, he and all the other objects came crashing down around me. Someone on the dev team is a fan of Event Horizon. There are even places on the ship that just look like the innards of a giant meat grinder.
Bringing a good musical score to a horror is just as important as the actors and plot points. The themes from Halloween and Amityville Horror will always be burned into my mind as they were so damn effective. Here we see the music react to what is happening on screen but also preempt situations, building stress and you brace yourself for an attack. The low rolling drums that are followed by frantic violin pieces keep your heart beating fast. The sound design is also fantastic and sound is actually affected by the materials around you at that time. Sound also bounces around the station in a very realistic manner, similar to how RTX makes light act as it should. Things moving in the vents above you, distant screams of pain all make sure you are never fully relaxed.
Conclusion
In the last few years, remakes seem to have been very popular and have stirred debate over their worth. Of course, it does come down to many factors such as how old the original is and what price gamers are being asked for. It is clear this isn't just a texture upgrade but a full remake and then some. The developers have also added new gameplay sections, systems and content which enhance the prior game. I like the fact it isn't just a few rooms bolted on here and there, but many additional improvements that have been expertly woven into what was there before. My only complaint is that I think they should have given owners of the original games and nod with some type of discount. However, this is EA we are talking about so nobody really expected the folks who also own the Sims to be giving anything away for free.
So is this remake worth your time? Absolutely. It is possibly the best remake I have ever seen and goes well beyond what I expected when it was first announced. My ideal situation now is that Motive remakes the second game with as much effort and passion on display here. Then take on the third game but fix the issues it had and completely remove all the mess EA put in when that was initially released.
