Dead Space | Review – Space is still alive – SpazioGames

From the stars to the black hole he ended up in dead space when EA decided to close down Visceral Games some time had passed, and every time relaunch operations are attempted to test the waters, putting a new development team in charge of a saga, there is always one to tremble bit’. Coi remake a little less, because the basis remains unchanged and is being done a work of rejuvenation and strengtheningwhere possible, and this is why we had a certain confidence in the work of EA Motive.

Mindful of the short-sighted choices that have gradually changed the physiognomy of the saga, introducing some of its worst enemies into a single player horror, namely co-op and the most pressing pace, the fear that something could change has always been there.

On the other hand, there are examples in which it was decided to modernize a product, effectively transforming it into something else that inevitably lost part of its connotations. With the remake of dead spaceThank goodness that didn’t happenand we can finally say without any doubt that the operation was very respectful and never went beyond the grain.

Dead Space, the return

A shiver of pure terror ran down the backs of the fans when EA Motive hinted that there would be some small tweaks to the plot. Have no fear, because Isaac Clarke’s epic is still the same and the basic story hasn’t been twisted at allbut on the contrary it has had some interesting additions that it is right to inform you about.

Let’s avoid making the usual brief excursus on the narrative pivots around which the events of the protagonist, of his wife lost somewhere, of UNITOlogy and of the horrors perpetrated inside the mammoth Ishimura revolve.

We are rather interested in informing you of the fact that the plot is now more substantial, with fewer obscure points, more thorough. This is especially understood when you realize theintroduction of some good integrations in the so-called lore that connects to the other two episodesin the dialogues and more generally in the brief insights that are made on some secondary characters or on those placed even more on the rear.

EA Motive has promised that the remake of dead space (you can find it on Amazon in the PS5 version) would have been respectful of the original material, which did not want to betray the fans nor reinterpret anything.

The story is indeed made more engaging by many small and large details that are not negligible, such as greater care for video transmissions during the adventure, the word given to Isaac, the directorial direction and text files that offer more details. The latter will not all be within reach, but on the contrary they will be inside some extra rooms created ad hoc for the occasion.

The Ishimura can largely be explored freely and without feeling the limitations of the stakes that had been placed at the time, where the structure of the levels was linked to a game conduction in watertight compartments. Let’s be clear: you won’t be able to roam around the ship, but you will be able to unlock shortcuts, advance having less of the impression of being guided and also go back to open areas to which a higher security level than the current one has been set. A re-design of the game map will come to your aid, now in two dimensions, full of details and much clearer.

It is essentially the introduction of an even deeper narrative layer, which appears to be a different management of the adventure, now capable of improving what by now appears obsolete.

So here is that EA Motive has also thought of a Random enemy spawn system, the main doubt that gripped us due to a possible invasiveness of the upstream choice. Instead, we must say that it works quite well, that it is never intrusive and that it intervenes in moments that can actually surprise the game without ever really leaving it safe.

However, we believe that it should be calibrated a little better, in certain specific cases, because being attacked during a purchase in the store, near a save point or while carefully watching a video message is not exactly the most pleasant experience in the world. Beyond the evaluation of some purists who would always like to stay on the ropes, the fact remains evident that among the twelve hundred random events foreseen, someone needs to be recombined with greater attention.

Gameplay

The remake of dead space, net of what was already good, it also had some improvements on the gameplay side. The weapon and suit development system still provides for the insertion of some nodes within grids, with some pleasant aesthetic changes and theaddition of new special abilities that bind hand in glove with the secondary fire of weapons. To unlock this possibility you need to find the associated projects, but we assure you that at higher difficulty levels the strategic spectrum of the fights expands further.

That wasn’t enough already dismemberment of enemies, it is now important to also choose which mode of fire can extinguish the threat with fewer worries, especially considering the greater possibility of sudden assaults. Speaking of dismemberment, one of the features of the remake of dead space much heralded by the developers was the possibility of destroying the limbs of the necromorphs in even more detail.

After careful analysis, we can assure you that it is little more than a visual tinsel, because in the frenzy of battles, even using stasis, you will inevitably concentrate on the main joints to break, thus paying no attention to the flesh, tendons and muscles that go to pulp under your merciless blows. Moreover, the opponents and their behaviors have undergone some small aesthetic and behavioral changes, but nothing that can actually surprise in terms of artificial intelligence, which remains quite basic.

Instead, they are good improvements made to the phases of zero gravity, which appear to those seen in the second and third chapter. You will remember in this regard as in the first dead space the situation was much more restricted, with Isaac able to roughly jump from one point to another and defend himself against attacks.

Now, he can hover at any time thanks to his thrusters, he can dash and move in space even to solve environmental puzzles that we didn’t remember were in the original game. Even a section, which in the past was completely different, has been redesigned for the occasion, completely eliminating the great static nature with which it operated.

Beyond the marketing hype about not being able to play dead space with headphones for extreme terror, we confirm that the 3D sound is really very accurate and enveloping, with muffled screams, repulsive verses and the constant noises of the damaged ship that will keep you constantly in tension. And then, as you know by now, as in every American horror film, some sudden frights cannot be missing, crosses and delights for those who use products of this kind.

A little more complex is instead the evaluation of the technical sector.

Emphasizing that we have played the remake of dead space exclusively on a PC that meets the recommended requirements, it must be said that not everything is perfect. Let’s be clear: EA Motive has done a very important job and the rejuvenation is evident, as well as the great care taken for the environments and for the creation of the nightmare atmosphere, the volumetric mists, and the play of lights and shadows .

However some textures feel old and some models don’t exactly look like they came out of a new generation game. We have to tell why this dead space is not a remastered, but a real remake that the authors have rebuilt using the Frostbit Enginefrom which a little more was expected.

The demolition of some “walls” within the Ishimura and the possibility of having a much more fluid game management was also aimed at making players enjoy the total absence of loading. This is only partially true, because i loads between zones are camouflaged and in the PC version there is even more attention due to some short hiccups, those typical of hidden uploads.

It is a series of notes that they affect the quality of the remake of dead space? Absolutely not, not at all. On the contrary, EA Motive has succeeded in the daunting task of upgrade and rejuvenate such a milestonewhich will be played by newbies without the technical ballasts of the past.

Reviewed version: PC