There are only a few, but they each yield extra context to the events leading up to the Ishimura’s downfall and mostly focus on Isaac’s girlfriend Nicole and Dr. Side missions also encourage players to poke around, as they provide items and narrative nuggets. These gated rooms or lockers often hold valuable upgrades or a bevy of items, which are alluring in a game like this where resources are at a premium. Backtracking is encouraged because of the multiple locked boxes littered around the ship that gradually open up as protagonist Isaac Clarke’s security clearance rises.

Unitologists are delusional lunatics, but at least they keep the trams running on time, even during deadly outbreaks.īreaking from linearity improves the experience in multiple ways. While the 2008 original was a linear rollercoaster through the USG Ishimura, the studio has taken the cart off the rails and allowed players to travel to almost every corner of the ship via the tram right up until the end of the game. Thanks to Capcom, there are a handful of impeccable horror remakes out there, but this Dead Space one still stands out because of how brilliantly Motive tweaked the very foundation of the game. Instead of just mindlessly reconstructing the 2008 hit, the studio has honed in on its many strengths, smoothed out its rough spots, and developed one of the best remakes of all time.

A remake of the original was the smartest way to reset the franchise, and that’s the route Motive Studio went down with its 2023 remake. It was almost a mercy killing, but still a premature one at that. It died on its worst entry, one plagued by bloat, a lopsided appetite for action, and a ridiculous ending that was both too silly and not silly enough.

Dead Space has drifted aimlessly in space since 2013 after Electronic Arts unceremoniously severed its umbilical cable.

Dead space downfall review