I never loved Dead Space. There were plenty of cool things about it (like Isaac’s suit, an inspired piece of design), but it was never the game that I thought it should have been. When I played the original, I had already played System Shock 2, which was a better execution of ‘collective consciousness biomass monsters on a derelict vessel,’ and instead of a horror-themed action game, I would have preferred an uber-atmospheric rated-M Metroid with more isolation and silence.

This colored my impression going into the remake, but my thoughts went from, “Not quite feeling it,” to, “Wow, this is fantastic.” On the one hand, I still would have preferred my ‘ideal’ version of Dead Space. On the other hand, what it actually is won me over. It absolutely works. It works better than the original. Even Isaac being voiced, which I didn’t like at first—in my ‘ideal’ version, I still would prefer a silent Isaac, but for what it actually is, him being voiced works better than being silent. (I’m surprised to have reversed my opinion on that.)

They put in the work and made good creative decisions. The Ishimura is also closer to being an unfolding Metroid map (not far from Metroid Fusion in how it progresses).

This is the first time that I’ve ever loved Dead Space.
Thank you, Motive.

(A subjective 9 out of 10.)