I eventually got round to playing this! I had the 2008 version on Steam, so I thought I’d give it a go instead of the recent remake. Note: if you’re playing on Steam Deck, I’d recommend messing with the joystick deadzones for a smoother experience.
Despite being released 15 years ago, the graphics still look decent! Having no HUD elements is really neat. The gameplay was initially quite stiff and clunky feeling, but it’s something you get used to. You may be aware that a unique mechanic for this game is the ability (and requirement) to cut off enemy limbs. I found this to be a very refreshing take on the standard shooter rule of going for the head. As you progress, you’ll come across certain enemies that swing their limbs about wildly and this is where the ‘stasis’ power comes in very handy. Though more often than not I found myself unloading several bullets in panic, before remembering that stasis is a thing.
Ammo is very limited so you have to be conservative with it. In this respect (and perhaps in the claustrophobic nature of the game in general), I felt that there were a lot of similarities to the Resident Evil games. I was constantly running out of ammo for the plasma cutter (ol’ reliable) which encouraged me to use the other weapons on offer, all of which were unique and fun.
I did feel like navigation of the ship was flawed. The layout was extremely confusing and same-y, so I usually depended on the guidance system to show me which way to go. If the game was designed from the ground up, I’d love to see a more open map approach with recognisable landmarks (akin to a Metroid Prime map).
The story is told in a similar manner to the first Bioshock game, with the lore explained through video/audio/text logs, and through the occasional NPC interaction from a distance. It was a straightforward story but it took interesting turns that I wasn’t expecting.
I think Dead Space (2008) holds up really well, and is definitely worth playing in 2023. I don’t know much about the remake, but assuming it improves the graphics and controls I’m guessing it would be the best option.
On to Dead Space 2!
I also haven’t played the remake, but from what I remember hearing about it, they did redesign the ship layout and traversal, turning it from individual chunks to an actually interconnected large space. Not sure if it fully fixes your issues with it but it’s a huge effort to make a change that big
Ah that’s cool! But then again, the game is designed to be quite linear (there were a couple areas that required backtracking) so I wonder how much of a difference it really makes.
I’ll have to give the remake a go at some point in the future.