[UPDATED: 10/28/21] : The Dead Space remake is happening and it looks like Isaac Clarke will be talking in this iteration of the first game.

Last week, many reported that EA is planning a revival of the Dead Space franchise. Nothing was officially announced, but the mere fact that there are reports of anything Dead Space was enough for me to revisit the series and remember why I love returning to the shoes of Isaac Clarke and the horrors he had to face in a span of three games, keeping the hope alive that one day we might just get another game in the future. I’m currently halfway through the first game and to my surprise it remains a solid survival horror in 2021.

Playing Dead Space in 2021

What struck me while playing 2008’s Dead Space in 2021 was how some features in the game still make it a unique title for the survival horror genre to this day. Visuals don't come close to what developers can do today but once you get full control of Isaac, the game shows it’s genius designs.

Let’s start with the UI (user interface). Or rather, the lack of one. Dead Space’s recurring concept in providing information to the player is that everything important can be seen clearly in the protagonist’s iconic suit. Health bar, current ammo count, these types of information are usually slapped at specific corners in your screen, the typical design for any video game. But Visceral Games stripped that away and kept the screen clean, while still displaying all we need to know.

The spine area that’s lit up in Isaac’s suit represents his total health, while the amount of ammo in your gun is displayed right on top of the weapon when it’s drawn up to fire. You get the idea. It’s simple yet easy to understand. Even the menu to navigate your inventory, opening audio logs and documents, and video calls with other characters are done through a display that projects in front of Isaac, never detaching the player from the game by transitioning to another screen.

The game also does a wonderful job of hiding mostly all forms of loading through level design. By making Isaac go through elevators or waiting for doors to “authorize your entry”, this results in creating the illusion that there’s no loading time aside from me dying to one of the many gruesome ways to die in the game.

Instead of a transition to a loading screen, (with a tip about the game and a spinning logo beside the word “loading) the player is placed in an elevator bringing me to my next destination, giving me the option to use the time to check my inventory or look at the map one more time to make sure I’m going the right way. In a world where faster loading times is now considered a prime selling point for triple any title, you have Visceral Games masking the game loading in a more productive way, keeping the flow of the game constant, with no interruptions.

Why are you shooting the head!?

Then, we have the ideal means of taking down Necromorphs, grotesque monsters that haunt the living in the Dead Space universe. For most games, going for the head is the most common target as it’s naturally the best way to deal the most damage. But for Dead Space, dismembering the limbs is what you need to target if you want to be efficient.

I recall being amused that the game is forcing me to go against what I naturally aim at when shooting, and that the game had weapons specifically designed for dismemberment. The first weapon — the Plasma Cutter — perfectly displays how combat generally plays out in the series. It’s primarily used for mining, but has become an effective tool in Isaac’s arsenal thanks to its ability to shoot horizontally or vertically. You get more traditional weapons as you progress, but you still must go for the limbs or break an arm and use it to puncture other enemies using your telekinesis space magic.

The features mentioned above does a good job at delivering a solid first impression more than a decade later. Isaac’s movement may feel stiff, as if he’s being weighed down by gravity as I don’t feel fast enough to react, but it seems fitting to feel sluggish. Similar to classics such as Resident Evil’s tank controls, or Silent Hill’s awkward controls. It might be a problem for some but it comes out as one of the game’s many charms for many.

If you haven’t played Dead Space and love horror, give this one a try. It’s only PHP 600 via Steam and if you’re reading this during a sale, you're lucky to get it for even cheaper as it can go as low as 75% off, making it just PHP 149.75. If you like it, head over to Dead Space 2 when you can as many consider the second to be the best in the series, and I agree on that claim.

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