Released in 2008, the original Dead Space is a modern classic of horror. Set on the gargantuan spaceship the USG Ishimura, you, as engineer Isaac Clarke, must try and repair the ship while also fighting off against the Necromorphs – the mutated corpses of the ship’s crew. 15 years later, you can revisit Isaac’s first encounter with these nightmares, thanks to a shockingly faithful, yet innovative remake.

RELATED: Games To Play If You Like Dead Space

Violent, gory, and tense, but with a cryptic mystery driving you forward, Dead Space is often considered one of the best survival horror games ever made. But is the remake worth your time and hard-earned money, or is it dead on arrival?

Review

Dead Space Isaac Near fleshy growths on the floor

A long-time fan of the series, lead features editor Jade King reviewed the Dead Space remake, describing it as a “triumphant remake that draws strength from familiarity instead of allowing its archaic origins to become a vice”. She praised the reimagined characters, in particular, Clarke’s reimagining from a silent protagonist to a character with dialogue and agency in the story, and found the more open-ended Ishimura ripe for exploration.

The visual and tonal execution is stellar, and it’s easy for the USG Ishimura to sink its fangs in deep. The ship feels like a real place now too, no longer a truncated world divided by long loading screens between each chapter.

Jade did criticise the difficulty of the game, though. Thanks in part to the faster pace of the remake, and more plentiful ammunition, she blitzed through it with little trouble, even on the higher difficulties. This was one of the biggest drawbacks of the game for her, although it didn’t take away from the many things it did right.

Time Expenditure

Dead Space isaac standing in front of "cut off their limbs" written in blood on the wall

Although this take on Dead Space features a more open-ended Ishimura you can freely explore, it is still, ultimately, a linear, story-driven game. If you follow the main story, you can breeze through it in approximately 12 hours.

If you take your time to explore and complete the handful of side missions, you’ll be able to stretch it out to 14 hours. On the other hand, if you want to 100 percent complete the game, which will require more than one playthrough, including one on a higher difficulty, you’ll probably need closer to 24 hours. That is one long day on the Ishimura.

Cost

Dead space necromorph walking towards isaac while he aims cutter at it

The Dead Space remake is only available on current-gen platforms: PC, where it costs $59.99, and Xbox Series S/X or PlayStation 5, where it is ten dollars more at $69.99. The game is available through both retail and digital storefronts, where it can be downloaded through the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, or through Steam or EA Play on PC.

Though it isn’t available on regular subscription services like Game Pass or PlayStation Plus, the PC version is included in EA Play Pro, which costs $14.99 per month. Playing through EA Play Pro gives you access to the digital deluxe edition, which includes five cosmetics not available in the base game.

What Players Are Saying

YES – Amanda Hurych

100 percent yes, the Dead Space remake is worth it. It works for both fans of the original as a polished and nostalgic experience that will both surprise and delight. And it also works for newcomers as the definitive way to get into the series.

Yes – Quinton O'Connor

Sometimes, video game remakes focus so much on improved visuals that the original art style is replaced with a more sterile look that champions graphical advancements but demolishes memorably grungy vibes. Motive Studio has succeeded in upping Dead Space's graphical quality substantially without ever losing sight of what made the USG Ishimura so atmospheric. The result is, in this writer's mind, an even better Dead Space.

An Outstanding Update – Axel Bosso

When you think about it in a certain way, it's hilarious. A game from 15 years ago, with new lighting, sound, textures, quality of life improvements, and a few more changes feel more relevant, interesting, original, and more importantly, fun, than the new attempt by part of its original crew (The Callisto Protocol). This is one of the first big games of the year, and you shouldn't miss it.

NEXT: Is The Callisto Protocol Worth It?