It’s hard to point down exactly what this is doing at any given time, but there’s no question that the Dead Space remake really does feel pretty spooky even if you’ve played the original game.

You might want to engage in a little more of this spicier gameplay, so it’s fortunate that a bunch of new sidequests offer extra loot and lore if you want to diverge from the main story.įinally, and perhaps most prominently, there’s a Left 4 Dead-style AI director that adjusts various aspects of the game to ratchet up the tension. Zero-gravity adventure also saw some tweaks and upgrades, making it play more like a take on Descent’s 6-degrees-of-freedom models rather than the awkward point-to-point jumping of the original game. There’s also a variety of new alternate weapon modes, such as the Pulse Rifle’s proximity mines that can be used to help cover Isaac’s back in spicy situations. As ever, that’s the best way to deal with the zombie menace, so this new system is a great addition. While the Plasma Cutter is still a reliable go-to option, other weapons have received a little help in the form of the “peeling” system whereby it’s possible to strip Necromorphs’ flesh and leave them vulnerable to limb removal. For instance, combat’s been spruced up a bit. So what’s new in the remake? There’s quite a few changes here and there, but they definitely tend to be refinements rather than revolutions. All the while, Isaac continues looking for his missing girlfriend Nicole, a doctor onboard the ship whose survival seems increasingly unlikely as the bodies keep piling up. As they find their numbers rapidly picked off, Isaac and his crew will have to fight for their lives.

They’re there to find out what’s been going on with the suspiciously quiet ship, but they rapidly discover why it’s been so quiet: an alien force has started converting the dead on the ship into hostile Necromorph creatures. You might know this story: Isaac Clarke, space engineer extraordinaire, and his crew are sent out to the planet-cracker mining ship Ishimura.

Dead space remake poster