Third-person shooter with elements of horror and survival Dead Space — a completely reworked version of Dead Space (2008), featuring a new engine, modern graphics, updated cutscenes, several plot adjustments, and all additional content.
Full of misadventures, violence, and dismemberment, Dead Space tells the story of survival in the tight confines of a ghost ship that sent out a distress signal from deep space. The main character, Isaac Clarke, volunteered for the rescue team out of fear of losing his beloved, who remained on the ill-fated ship. The spacecraft, seemingly alive, resists any attempts to leave. It is overrun by necromorphs — dynamically shape-shifting zombies that can only be defeated by dismembering their limbs. This is harder than it seems, especially with only engineering equipment at hand.
The near future. Humanity is barely making its way into space, building space stations and colonizing planets in nearby systems. The expansion is hindered by a shortage of minerals, which are to be supplied by cyclopean ships grinding planets into dust. One of them, the "Ishimura," began mining the planet Aegis VII somewhere in deep space and stopped communicating. This triggered a chain of fatal events that only the player can break.
The lore of "Dead Space" is well-developed, both in general and in detail, swelling in volume of info from the depths of the past to the beginning of the game. In the first hours, one can learn about the local political system, major corporations, the sect of fanatic Unitologists and their influence on all spheres of life, how the world's economy works, what technologies have been invented, and even the everyday problems of future people. All of this helps to better immerse oneself in the atmosphere and events.
- The remake was developed on the Frostbite engine, which ensured high-quality textures, colorful effects, a realistic lighting system, and good object physics.
- Isaac's models, other characters, and necromorphs are handcrafted and meticulously detailed. Effects such as liquids dripping on the suit or the suit's surfaces freezing in space have been added.
- There are no characteristic problems with model animation, characters and enemies are very flexible and plastic, with dozens of new animations for movement, running, attacking, blocking, etc. Faces are not affected.
- Every shot impacts the enemy model: first, clothes and skin fly off, then flesh, after which the bone breaks, and the final shot completely severs the limb.
- Unlike the original, the compartments of the "Ishimura" in the remake are hardly lit, relying on a small flashlight beam or point light sources. The player is almost always in complete darkness, which drastically changes the visual perception and gameplay experience.
- The yellow filter, popular in late 00s games, has been removed. And space is now truly dark, with only the stars twinkling.
No one will hear your scream
The premise of Dead Space creates intrigue and many questions, but the writers ration the answers and gradually immerse the player in the plot, fully unraveling it in the last quarter of the playthrough. The story, although linear, is unconventional, with a couple of plot twists and unexpected betrayals, keeping the tension until the very end.
The direction successfully conveys how Isaac Clarke, finding himself in a stressful situation as he delves deeper into the depths of the "Ishimura," reaches a peak of nervous tension and experiences terrifying hallucinations, but finds the strength to fight for his life and sanity.
In addition to the main quest, secondary storylines develop, tied to Isaac: relationships with his girlfriend, interactions with allies, survival itself, the struggle with the ship, and the antagonist. Additional characters in cutscenes explain their motives on the "Ishimura" and show their character. Following the horror canon, most of the data can be gleaned from text, audio, and video recordings.
Differences in the remake's plot
- Immersion in events has been accelerated, lore elements are discussed in dialogues (mentioned in notes) much more frequently.
- Isaac removes his helmet and talks, with two voice tracks recorded — one for a healthy and one for an injured hero. Thanks to the voice actor's efforts, Isaac expresses a full range of emotions — jokes, anger, swearing, fear, etc. The whisper in his head has been replaced with something much more plot-oriented.
- Original characters' lines, which filled the hero's silence, have been given to the chatting Isaac, and new lines were created for the characters.
- The characters' personalities and story arcs have been adjusted so that they behave according to the events.
- There is more storytelling through the environment — the details and decorations can help piece together what happened in a section before the player arrived.
- The final plot twist has been changed, and an additional ending has been added. Space is no longer just for white people.
- Twice as many jump scares.
- The game is voiced in English, but there is a fan-made Russian localization.
Dead Space changed the traditional shooter rules. Isaac is far from a fighter; he's an aging engineer, so every action is a struggle for him — movements are slow, he can only shoot when aiming, recoil hits his arms, and he strikes with his full weight. This characteristic of the protagonist creates tension in any skirmish, especially when attacked by different enemies.
There are about a dozen types of enemies in the roster, divided into regular and enhanced types. Combat is based on the mechanics of severing limbs from the torso, facilitated by the heavily altered forms of humans turned into necromorphs and an arsenal represented by mining tools designed for working with rock.
Cutters, saws, impactors, and pipe cutters don't hit a point but release damage in a plane, the inclination of which the player determines. Over time, a last-resort weapon appears — an army assault rifle. All "guns" can be upgraded to improve basic characteristics. An alternative firing mode has expanded their usage.
Enemies are very resilient; depleting health points or aiming for the head is just a waste of ammo. Even losing "parts," they won't die immediately but will continue to attack for a while. More advanced ones regenerate severed parts through necro-mutations and become even more dangerous.
Melee combat is rudimentary — hand hooks push away enemies that come too close, and stomps finish off crawling ones. They also allow you to knock useful items out of enemies or crates. A necromorph that gets too close can trigger a QTE, and if you fail, the player will see a brutal fatality of the protagonist.
The hero's engineering suit is equipped with stasis and kinesis modules. The first slows down moving objects, from fans to necromorphs, and the second allows you to lift certain items and throw them at the same enemies.
Gameplay and single-player changes
- The world is made completely seamless — you can run through the "Ishimura" from start to finish on foot. Fast travel using the tram has been retained.
- The compartments of the "Ishimura" have been made from scratch, but based on the original, they have grown in volume and received many new rooms. The structure has been reworked to make the ship feel less linear without sacrificing tightness.
- By the end, you can return to any compartment to solve a puzzle, unlock a secret, or complete a secondary task. Backtracking is also provided for in the storyline. The remake is 6-7 hours longer than the original.
- Each location has many new interior elements, decorations, and clutter — explosive barrels, stasis canisters, just heavy objects.
- A new system generates changes during backtracking — it changes light and sound sources, adds or removes fog or steam, throws enemies from new places, etc.
- Isaac's control has been simplified, he moves much more nimbly, but still can only run, with no rolls or dodges. The increased heartbeat from Dead Space 3 when necromorphs are near has been transferred.
- Zero-gravity episodes have been completely rebuilt — you can fly in any direction, climb into hidden areas for exploration, find and attach ship elements, and knock out necromorphs.
- Weapons have been reworked. They differ more from each other but are useful in most encounters — switching to a specific enemy is much less frequent. The shooting experience is much closer to an FPS than before.
- Improvised "guns" no longer need to be bought in the store. Everything is given for free, and it's easy to decide whether to take it with you or put it in inventory. The upgrade system has been simplified, and scarce power nodes unlock something genuinely useful.
- Stasis and kinesis can be used more often, and it's harder to miss.
- Access to secret areas and rooms is regulated by a level access system, replacing power nodes. The pass upgrades as you progress, making searching easier.
- A couple of necromorphs have had their weak points changed, behavior model adjusted, and damage rebalanced to be "even faster and deadlier."
- All bosses have been redesigned, both in appearance and with a new set of attacks and vulnerabilities, and some battles have been staged differently.
- A new puzzle with distributing electrical power across four circuits has been added: doors and elevators, mechanisms, lighting, air. You can only choose a pair.
Прохождение Dead Space — это линейное движение вперед с дроблением нежити и зачисткой локаций, поиском секреток и дополнительных комнат с ресурсами, решением инженерных задач и головоломок. Разнообразие вносят уровни без гравитации, где нужно ходить при помощи магнитных ботинок, и уровни в открытом космосе, где надо экономить кислород.
Все собранные ресурсы попадают в компактный инвентарь и расходуются на различные улучшения через верстак, а кредиты можно потратить на снаряжение, аптечки и патроны в магазинах.
Предстоит посетить каждый отсек и починить множество систем — борясь за выживание, команда привела «Ишимуру» в критическое состояние, корабль готов развалиться. Отсеки футуристического космического корабля выглядят убедительно, его структура логично продумана и хорошо взаимосвязана, хотя визуал и страдает от однообразного исполнения.
Саспенс нагнетают по всем каналам восприятия — вручную проработанные, мрачные и зловещие декорации; тошнотворные враги; ворох «скримеров» по скрипту и QTE по любому поводу; подобающее каждому моменту звуковое сопровождение. Адские крики и вопли некроморфов за переборками, звуки лопающейся плоти, хлопот дверей и скрежет механизмов, шумы окружающего пространства и прочее, мигом внушают чувство страха и постоянной опасности.
- Полная тишина и нулевая гравитация открытого космоса встряхивают игровой процесс, заставляя крутить головой и ориентироваться по чуйке.
- В игре адаптивная камера: в режиме прицеливания она «прыгает» за плечо персонажа, высвечивая индикатор патронов; в рукопашке следует движениями персонажа; при обычной ходьбе заходит за голову героя.
- Интерфейс — содержимое инвентаря, индикаторы, видеозаписи — вмонтирован в игровой мир и выводится посредством проекций, реже, мониторов. Показатели здоровья и стазиса выведены на костюм протагониста.