Dead Space review for PS5, Xbox Series X, PC

What a legacy the original Dead Space left on the world of video games back 15 years ago. It was scary, thrilling, and just an amazing game and experience.  Like most games, it had some components that didn?t leave a great impression. (I?m talking about you, asteroid sequence). Despite shortcomings like this, people loved the game, and rightfully so.

The real question to ask is did we really need a remake of this legendary game? No, we didn?t but I?m sure as hell glad they did anyway. With remasters and remakes galore over the last 10-plus years, there was always a divide in the end results. Many that were considered remastered, were anything. I won?t go into details as that?s a discussion for another day. One game that comes to mind is XIII. I will leave it at that.

With this review, you will get to read two of the team?s thoughts on the Dead Space Remake. Myself, and fellow editor, Tyler.

The approach is my thoughts are from someone that is a fan of the original but has not played it in over a decade so don?t have a great memory of most to compare. Tyler?s thoughts will be more of playing the original recently and having a better memory to compare. My review is based on the PS5 release and Tyler will be speaking about the PC version.

Tyler and I will also be discussing in more depth including spoilers on our Podcast, which you can see here.

Benny?s Review:

I?m going to start with this is absolutely the single best remake I?ve ever played, which is a bold statement for those that know my love of Resident Evil. It?s important to bring this up early because I want you to go pick this game up and play it immediately. Everything I loved about the original is front and center, with an extra sense of TLC to elevate it for modern hardware and also resolves any shortcomings I remember ever encountering in the original.

The visuals are incredible and having several ways to experience this is remarkable. I say this because, while many games provide you with a Performance and Quality resolution option, I rarely spend the time to check each because I?ve grown to stick with lower resolution to improve the framerate. This time around, I played around with the settings and tried with and without the grain, and each setting stands well in its own respect and the dark tone of Dead Space works well with even the 30fps with 4K resolution.

In most survival horror games, I tend to keep grain filters on since they work well with the theme, but found myself this time around with it off and rocking the 60fps because it?s just such a smooth experience. To each their own but you won?t be disappointed here. To go along with the visuals are some solid sound design choices.

One main thing that sticks out is Isaac?s breathing and heart rate which will increase in tense situations and bring a whole new level of immersion. The other aspect was the use of the controller speaker which you will hear all the little audio cues like menu sounds and other ambient effects that if you are a fan of Dead Space you will remember. They bring a nice twist as you play and work well throughout the campaign.

The main difference here in my review is the level design and how much is different and what was revised or changed. I won?t speak to many details of the story for potential new players but The main location of the game takes place on the USS Ishimura, a large space station where you are dispatched to and discover you should have called out.

I remember very specific points in the game and those mostly played out as I remembered, but a specific portion later on involving asteroids was one of the main changes that really elevated my time with the game. This portion of the original was a real dread and more of a chore that took you out of the game. This was redesigned and works so well now, there was not a moment that I had this negative feeling during my initial run through the campaign.

The weapons we grew to love like the infamous plasma cutter return along with some reworked weapons and I don?t remember if the weapon and suit upgrades were the same in the original. If you obtain the deluxe release, you are given access to a variety of other cosmetic suits which I also don?t recall being in the original but one of them is an infected suit, and man is it gnarly, but I played the whole game with it and the ending has a unique visual when you wear it.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this game enough, and has me super stoked for the Resident Evil 4 Remake coming in March, will that dethrone this for me as Game of The Year? Time will tell.

Tyler’s Thoughts:

DEAD SPACE IS BACK! Wow, what an unbelievable Remake. My jaw did not leave the floor during my first playthrough. Everything I loved about the original that made it my favorite game for so many years is still here, but they managed to go above and beyond and improve on what I felt was already perfection. I won?t waste time re-hashing what Benny already covered, but suffice it to say that I was honestly unable to find a single fault with Dead Space (2023). Instead, I will spend my brief time touching on some of the distinct changes, as well as how the game ran for me on PC. The biggest, and most welcome change comes in the form of the asteroid-destroying mission.

In the original, you strap into your seat and control the AA gun to destroy the asteroids coming toward the ship. It is tedious, roughly handled, and stands out even all these years later as my least favorite part of the original game. In the remake, they eliminate the entire original system and replace it with a heart-pounding sequence outside on the hull of the ship, flying from one AA gun to another reactivating them, and zeroing them in. Once you do that for each gun, they begin to auto-target the asteroids and keep the ship safe. This is a prime example of taking the original intent and expanding upon it and realizing it in a whole new way, a way which may have not been possible at the time of the original creation.

The Necromorphs themselves are much more unpredictable as well. If you read my less-than-flattering Callisto Protocol review, one of the big complaints I had was that virtually every noise, and every opportunity for a jump scare *was* a jump scare. That takes all of the tension out of it, as you are always expecting it to happen. Dead Space makes sure that each noise and each malfunctioning vent brings with it that sense of uncertainty. For as many times as it is indeed a Necromorph, there are just as many where it isn?t. In addition, some of them creep up behind you in near silence, and by the time they make a noise and you turn around they are just close enough to be in your face.

This keeps that sense of tension and horror throughout the entirety of the game and keeps you on your toes no matter what section you are in. The random nature of the majority of encounters keeps things fresh on subsequent playthroughs as well, a vent that housed a monster last time may just be a malfunction on your next run. A safe room that had goodies and no Necromorphs last time might have a nasty surprise in store for you next time.

The attention to detail and the care that Motive put into crafting the environments around The Ishimura is astounding. The ship is a living thing, just as much a part of the story as the characters themselves, and Motive understands that. Such love and care was poured into remaking the ship and keeping the feel exactly right while updating the environment to fit this current generation. Everything was very clearly new and fresh but felt exactly like it used to. The updates are seamless and all ?make sense? without in any way tainting the character the original Dead Space built.

Playing on PC, I had zero performance issues. I played on Steam with a 3080ti and DLSS on and was able to achieve a steady 4K/60fps throughout the entire game. I experienced no bugs, no crashes, and no errors at all. I am currently mid-way through my Nightmare run, which I would not be attempting this early on if I was not supremely confident with the performance I had seen thus far.

Dead Space (2023) reminded me all over again why I fell in love with this franchise, why I love Sci-Fi Space Horror so much as a genre, and how truly incredible a well-done Survival/Horror game can be. I have loved my time with Dead Space, and I am looking forward to finishing my Nightmare run and having another 100% completed version of the game to go along with my 100% completion on the Xbox 360 from 2008.

Note: If you love Dead Space, please go watch Event Horizon, the 1997 Paul W.S. Anderson film. You will see where the original team took a LOT of their influence from!- Tyler

EA Provided us with Dead Space codes for review purposes.