Feeling excited, I hold for my PlayStation 5 to flicker connected truthful I tin spell determination I haven’t before, the USG Ishimura, splattered with caller humor by Motive Studio for its Dead Space remake, released January 27. The mining vessel has ever been the grey spinal cord to trigger-happy fearfulness Dead Space, primitively released successful 2008 and made by the since-shuttered Visceral Games, and I’ve gleaned arsenic a newbie (I was 10 successful 2008) that it’s 1 of the champion fearfulness games of each time. But aft I spot the ship—and the atrocities that populate it, indicated by graffiti (“Fuck this ship, it’s a shitty capitalist organization,” 1 on-the-nose scrawl says) and hallways sticky with integrated goo—I wonderment if that’s inactive the case.

The USG Ishimura itself, astatine least, lives up to my expectations. As technologist Isaac Clarke, a formerly non-speaking quality present imbued with Dead Space 2 and 3 actor Gunner Wright’s chill dependable of reason, I crash-land onto it on with my bickering crewmates, including Chief Security Officer Hammond and machine specializer Kendra Daniels. I’m instantly impressed by the ship’s engulfing shadows, the lone other dimension, really, to the lightless spine I walk astir 16 hours moving crossed and around.

It’s glued unneurotic by a speedy tram system, which was chopped up by loading screens successful the archetypal game, but, successful this Dead Space, travels smoothly without interruption. Though I often property my controller’s close instrumentality to punctual a glowing bluish enactment to usher maine to my adjacent location, the tram strategy makes Ishimura’s smallness evident and much suffocating. This feeling doubles erstwhile I re-enter an country I was precocious in, not reasoning astir the bodies I already wasted until noticing, determination they are, inactive piled up.

Those bodies, with their taut, twisted skin, lumpy intestines poking through—like erstwhile you instrumentality your thumb into an orangish to interruption it open—belong to Isaac’s main opponent, the necromorphs.

The remake adds rooms you tin entree with an added information clearance strategy (you gain Level 1, 2, and 3 clearance people arsenic you advancement done the game), which sustains exploration adjacent aft Ishimura’s halls go familiar, and optional broadside quests for added discourse and inheritance connected characters. But, different than that, Dead Space 2023 doesn’t physique connected Dead Space 2008’s unconvincing communicative of crazed Unitologist cult members infecting radical with their Red Marker successful their quest for ascension, and truthful necromorphs proceed to beryllium yowling, sour victims of the Marker, and you request to hack their limbs off.

There are options for however you’d similar to execute this. Maybe you similar the Plasma Cutter, Pulse Rifle, oregon the Ripper, which shoots saw blades. I’ve go attached to the Force Gun, a Dead Space 2 acquisition, which uses the game’s gravity manipulation module, Kinesis, to blast distant necromorphs until they go piles of rattled bones.

I bash that a lot. I blast distant babies with tendrils unfurling from their backmost portion they spit immoderate greenish acerb astatine my Isaac, who ejects a debased groan oregon a gravelly shriek successful response. I tin perceive his pulse racing erstwhile he’s quiet.

I blast distant necromorphs that look similar overgrown bats and necromorphs that look similar praying mantises portion a “boss” necromorph lumbers toward maine similar an intimidating, headless bear. I intermission it with Stasis, different gravity manipulation that you tin recharge to enactment enemies successful slow-mo—it goes down disappointingly easy with a fewer hits to the yellowish pustules astir its joints.

I commencement associating my disappointment with these fluid-filled bulbs. I’m confused by what the Dead Space remake chooses to support and what it changes.

Its airy and graphics get an nonsubjective improvement, the benignant that 15 years allow.

And this isn’t a change, but it’s besides worthy noting that Dead Space’s gameplay connected PS5 is clean—aside from a insignificant irritation wherever starting the crippled backmost up aft redeeming astatine a checkpoint immobilized Issac, truthful I had to adjacent and restart the crippled connected a fewer occasions— which annoyingly feels similar a rarity for caller releases.

I’m blessed that a crippled runs similar it’s expected to. But Dead Space’s ocular betterment isn’t arsenic noticeable as Demon’s Souls in 2020, and whether oregon not you similar its tweaks and additions volition travel down to preference.

I mightiness person preferred if Isaac ne'er spoke. He was, before, an bare vessel for players to spot their ain fears, their anxieties—mine grew insistently the longer I spent proceeding muffled moans reverberating passim Ishimura.

In the remake, Isaac speaks, but helium ne'er gives maine thing to place with oregon basal for. He’s pursuing orders, and helium wants to spell home. Great, the aforesaid was existent for astir everyone other connected Ishimura, and I’ve been mindlessly chopping them into pieces. Why should I attraction if Isaac, successful particular, lives oregon dies? When helium takes disconnected his mask, I don’t adjacent consciousness similar I admit him.

The game’s brag fights, arsenic I mentioned, clasp the boring, methodical process of the original. Hit the yellowish boils until they pop. Move to the near if a tendril is astir to deed you. Then to the right.

When I combat a brag successful 1 of the game’s “zero gravity” environments, I usage my jetpack (on indebtedness from Dead Space 2), to assistance maine execute a akin strategy, zooming distant from tendrils and floating versions of those exploding yellowish sacs portion I awkwardly effort to steer an Asteroid Defense System cannon into a anemic point. I win. Yay. What americium I warring for again?

For love, maybe. Isaac wants to reunite with his woman Nicole, a aesculapian serviceman aboard the Ishimura who hardly exists unless you prosecute her optional broadside quest. But no, conscionable arsenic successful 2008’s Dead Space, the archetypal letters of the game’s section titles spell retired N I C O L E I S D E A D, and emotion was ne'er an option. In the game, it’s a token, thing developers enactment successful conscionable truthful you’d beryllium frightened erstwhile you realized it wasn’t really there.

It is, however, effective. I’m frightened portion playing Dead Space, though that feeling alternates with a droopy consciousness that I’m missing something, astir apt the magic of 2008. I’m missing retired connected a PC to tally those sooty, grainy graphics successful someone’s acheronian dorm room.

15 years later, we person much compelling protagonists to take from, and adjacent much absorbing abstraction zombies, similar those successful Dead Space creator Glen Schofield’s The Callisto Protocol, which is besides mired by repetitive bosses, but astatine slightest looks and sounds incredible. The Dead Space remake accomplishes what it acceptable retired to do, it makes an aged crippled compatible for modern consoles. But that’s each it does. 2008’s lightning stays successful its bottle.