Dead Space (Remake/2023)

On top of not feeling great, I had a lot of mixed emotions last week. I had high hopes for The Callisto Protocol but it ended up being just an average experience. The biggest mistake it made was making me want to play Dead Space instead.

I’ve been a fan of the Dead Space universe for years but had never made it past chapter 3 of the original game. When the new version of Dead Space (2023/Remake/whatever you want to call it) came out, I was torn. Do I want to play it now? But I decided to jump in and I am completely blown away.

It’s set a new standard for remakes. It’s like a “Director’s Cut Remaster” and it’s amazing. Everything from the first game is here and more. *cough Capcom cough*. They’ve added and improved upon so much. It’s like EA Motive looked at the RE remakes and a game director said “Hold My Beer”.

Dead Space is the gold standard for remakes. Period.

The world of Dead Space is more immersive than ever. The USG Ishimura is now a single environment, like the Spencer Mansion or the RCPD building. Side missions now flesh out throwaway characters or people that were only named in text logs.

The audio is also incredible and I highly recommend playing with good headphones. The lighting effects also need to be singled out for their contribution to the ambience. Every part of the Dead Space experience has been refined to make sure you are fully immersed. And I haven’t even tried the new game+ or Impossible mode changes yet! Everything about Dead Space is screaming ‘Play Me’!

I will say you may notice a little ‘fuzziness’ on the screenshots I have captured. This isn’t Dead Space, this is my PS5 and how it’s capturing the images. Everything looks amazing visually in-game, with the exception of a resolution drop while the tram travels.

Yes, while you use the ‘fast load’ mechanic from the original game, screen resolution drops as nothing happens. Is Dead Space using some of that rendering power elsewhere, or simple power conservation for a game lull? I’m not sure. Either way, not a minus to me!

So even though I didn’t play as much as I hoped this weekend, if you’re a fan of the original Dead Space, this is a must-own. If you’re new to the series, I definitely recommend Dead Space 2023 over Callisto Protocol. Dead Space is definitely the first game of 2023 that not only delivers on the hype, it then surprises you with more than you knew you wanted all served in one glorious package.

I finished Dead Space last week and immediately started my New Game+ run. There is a lot about Dead Space 2023 I would love to talk about, but specifics can still spoil a lot of that goodness!

So instead, hopefully, I can give you an idea of how much I am enjoying Dead Space. I played my first run on Medium difficulty, and even though I wasn’t feeling the best had a great time.

Once I had finished, I then waited until Friday night to start up New Game+ and enjoy myself. Sometimes New Game+ is a trophy requirement, but with Dead Space New Game+ is the ‘whole’ Dead Space Remake story!

While still optional, there are new collectables and an enemy to change things up for players. It was wanting to see this extra story information that makes me look forward to giving Dead Space another run.

So now I am playing on Hard, and I am trying to finish the Dead Space with only the starting weapon. If I play my cards right, I will likely finish Dead Space with only 1 trophy left for Platinum.

Will I do the Platinum run? Right now, I am going to say there is a good chance. If I can unlock Impossible difficulty in New Game+, and I don’t have to use only the Plasma Cutter, I think I can do it.

For now, I am enjoying seeing how I can go through my second Playthrough and try to explore parts of the Ishimura I know I missed the first time. I just wish I had a couple of good night sessions to enjoy the run properly!

Last week I finished my New Game+ run of Dead Space. I was hoping that finishing New Game+ on Hard would open up the Impossible difficulty, but it does not. The only way to play Impossible is from a fresh save, or New Game + a run you finished on Impossible already.

That means Dead Space now shares the same ‘honour’ as Resident Evil Village – one trophy stands between me and the Platinum!

The impossible difficulty this time around is different from the original Dead Space. In the new version, the difficulty is set to ‘only’ Hard, but you have one save slot and permadeath. Die once, and the run ends. The only way to continue is to ‘lower’ the difficulty back to Hard.

I want to Platinum Dead Space. I finished Hard mode with only the Plasma Cutter, artificially making that run harder. But I did die a couple of times, and in different places than my first run.

One of the things about Dead Space I am appreciating is even after a couple of runs, the game still manages to make me jump. You can’t rely on enemy placement memorisation to complete the game. There is always a new tweak waiting for you.

So I am nudging my way through Impossible, trying to remember where all the weapon upgrades I want are. This is going to be interesting to see if I can complete the run, and Platinum Dead Space.

I needed something else to play to help take the edge off though.