Fans praise the Dead Space remake's attention to detail, from the serious to the silly
Just Clarkeing about
15 years after the original, Dead Space still has us cooing over its finer details – and even some of the glitches.
The remake has long been considered one of the most anticipated new games 2023, and after playing through its lovingly refurbished realm of intergalactic terror, many fans have sung the praises of Dead Space developers Motive Studios. Not only has the community commended Motive's precise, loyal reimagining of the survival horror classic, many have spotted thoughtful extra details littered throughout the Ishimura.
Dead Space takes player experience. Motive Studios went out of its way when it comes to immersion factor, from refining one of the original's most infamous setpieces to the carefully considered soundscapes. Adding to this sense of realism, however, are elements that make Isaac just as clumsy as the rest of us; opening lockers sometimes causes protagonist Isaac Clarke to smack his bulky helmet on them, complete with a goofy bounceback animation that feels true to life. We've all been there, man.
Not only is Isaac prey to the foibles of being a little clumsy, but he gets scared of the world around him just like we do. Twitter user @GermanStrands discovered that by simply pointing your plasma cutter at a human corpse, you'll raise Isaac's pulse considerably as he starts to panic. Isaac is no stoic super-soldier; this guy is absolutely terrified of what's going on, and that makes it scarier for us by default.
Isaac's heart rate increases when you aim at corpses. The sound design in this game is literally insane. #DeadSpaceRemake #PS5 pic.twitter.com/Vd82emnRaPJanuary 29, 2023
As you rush through the Ishimura laying waste to the beastly Necromorphs in your path, you'll want to keep an ear out for the intercom. Although it mostly offers generic commentary, Reddit user u/Exminded managed to capture a particularly chilling announcement that caught them off-guard. It asks Isaac to "please report to the morgue", since his "lifetime has expired." Creepy.
One glitch experienced by Reddit user u/ChartyParty_ turned Dead Space into an old-school Resident Evil title, complete with fixed-camera angles and awkward character movements. This actually intrigued many r/DeadSpace users, with some even suggesting that a fixed-cam version of the game would be a cool idea. If that entails a return to clunky tank controls as well, however, it's a hard pass from us.
Finally, some of the most glittering praise for Dead Space comes from the keyboard of one of the biggest names in horror. The original director and creator of the Halloween film franchise, John Carpenter tweeted his rave review of the game, praising it for being both exciting as well as scary. If that isn't reason enough to give this faithful remake a shot, I don't know what is.
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Jasmine is a staff writer at GamesRadar+. Raised in Hong Kong and having graduated with an English Literature degree from Queen Mary, University of London in 2017, her passion for entertainment writing has taken her from reviewing underground concerts to blogging about the intersection between horror movies and browser games. Having made the career jump from TV broadcast operations to video games journalism during the pandemic, she cut her teeth as a freelance writer with TheGamer, Gamezo, and Tech Radar Gaming before accepting a full-time role here at GamesRadar. Whether Jasmine is researching the latest in gaming litigation for a news piece, writing how-to guides for The Sims 4, or extolling the necessity of a Resident Evil: CODE Veronica remake, you'll probably find her listening to metalcore at the same time.
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