Dead Space remake

TheVoice

TheVoice

TheVoice

Soldato
Joined
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Anyone else looking forward to this one next week? The original Dead Space is one of my favourite games and I had my doubts that a remake would do it justice but from everything I've seen, heard and read so far it looks like they've really kept the soul of the game intact whilst expanding the environments and gameplay mechanics. Even little things like the door lock hologram animations and the "objective complete" sounds are true to the original game, which appeals to me. I was one of the people who really liked silent Isaac, and more to the point, really disliked chatty, sweary Isaac in DS2 (for the purposes of this thread, DS3 doesn't exist), so that's going to take some adjusting to. For the most part though, I'm just excited to get back on board the USG Ishimura and remove some alien limbs with a plasma cutter.

Hopefully we'll get some reviews and gameplay footage ahead of release, just to allay my fears of any technical issues more than anything else.

Callisto Protocol did an alright job of scratching the itch while I was waiting for this one to arrive, and as much as I do think it's been judged a bit too harshly, for me it didn't manage to have the same atmosphere and creepiness as Dead Space does and missed a lot of opportunities.

Launch trailer:

IGN's latest preview:
 
I disagree, it wasn't the most visually-impressive game at the time but it looked great and the visuals fed into the environmental design and enemy dismemberment. If it had looked naff, it wouldn't have had nearly the same effect.

I don't want to start seeing every single game getting remade either but Dead Space is 14 years old at this point and isn't playable on the PS5 or PS4, so I think it has a pretty large potential audience of both newcomers and people who simply have no way to replay the original. The PS3 version is pretty ropey these days too and performance hobbles along at times; it wouldn't have bothered me much at the time but after playing so many games at 60FPS it's jarring.
 
Plainsong said:
One of my favourite games as well so yeah looking forward to it. I couldn’t finish DS2 and 3 I didn’t even bother with. Was going to get it day one but I am invested in other things right now so it might have to wait. Though if it reviews well I may crumble. Like you say the Callisto Protocol did a lot of good things but fell a bit short overall- though I did enjoy my time with it.
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I've played DS several times but only played DS2 and DS3 once. DS2 was alright but it tried to be more cinematic than the first game which spoiled the overall feel for me, it was nowhere near as atmospheric and was often a bit over-the-top. Plus giving Isaac a voice (and some pretty dreadful dialogue to go with it) just spoiled it further.

DS3 was dreadful, it would/could have been a relatively competent sci-fi action shooter on its own feet but it wasn't a DS game at all, and it's from the era where EA started getting big into microtransactions which meant giving the player huge amount of upgrade/resource options. Again, not the point of a DS game at all.

Also worth mentioning that if anyone's looking to get this digitally, on PS5 at least you can save £3 on the £70 pricetag by subscribing to (and then cancelling) a month of EA Play first. Plus don't forget discounted top-up cards from Shopto et al, it makes the price a bit more palatable. I'd imagine there are some better deals out there for the disc.
 
I've just skimmed a few reviews, all sounds very positive and said it stays largely true to the original game. Eurogamer criticised it for giving Isaac a voice which is something I will probably agree with.

No mention of any technical issues that I've seen so far either, which is not something you can take for granted at release these days.
 
ACG's review was quite good too:

If you've bought it digitally it doesn't unlock until 4pm. Sort of wish I'd known that before I booked the afternoon off work but it gives me a chance to take some shelves back to IKEA while I wait. :D
 
It's brilliant. Runs flawlessly, looks superb, dark areas are absolutely pitch black and incredibly atmospheric and tense. They've really captured the atmosphere of the original game too, there's more talking and interaction with the characters than the first game and already there's some changes to how the game flows. Sound design is excellent, areas feel large and expansive and all interface sound effects of the original are there. Isaac feels a little quicker on his feet than the original and the controls are more responsive, I actually didn't mind the clunky feel of the original but it has allowed them to throw more enemies at you more quickly so it makes sense.

Seeing the Ishimura the way it should be is really impressive. It reminds me of re-visiting Shadow Moses Island in MGS4.
 
Plainsong said:
I did that bit today. Was the worst section of the original and decently handled now.

Cracked on quite a bit and I’m up to mission 8 I think. Loving every minute of it and will be going for a NG+ when I am done. I am reading every text log and listening intently to every audio log just to immerse myself into it all.

Talking Isaac absolutely works for me I don’t know why we were all so worried.
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Yeah I don't mind it all at all, I think it's definitely helped them pad out and develop the story more as characters are now having actual conversations with Isaac rather than just talking at him while he offers no response. I still have a fondness for that in the original though, I think it added to the eeriness of it all and made some of the dialogue a bit more impactful.
 
Completed this last night with all side missions done, absolutely adored it. They nailed pretty much everything that made the original great, from the look, the audio design, the atmosphere and the general pace of the game, plus the quite visceral and tense combat, then expanded on everything even more. There are so many ways it could have gone wrong but this was a real love letter to the original game. Even small things like being able to turn off the DS2-style button prompts on doors/item boxes for a bit of added immersion shows the developers are huge fans of the original. I'll still love the original but this has largely surpassed it for me.

It wasn't absolutely perfect; the voice acting was often a bit naff, I didn't mind Isaac talking but Hammond often sounded like the script was being read for the first time. Enemies were sometimes a bit too quick to crowd you, which isn't something I recall being as frustrating in the original (although the pitch black darkness of the new one means they often get the jump on you). I was also disappointed that the "circuit breaker" mechanic wasn't used for better effect more often, there were probably only a couple of times where you had to make a choice between say, lights or life support. I was looking forward to more of those sections but they never came.

I'm hoping I found all the security override caches, I scoured the map intently looking for them all but it's not the best and not being able to set your own waypoint was a bit annoying.
 
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