TheDead Spaceremake improves upon the original in almost every way. Everything from its graphics to how each individual weapon sounds has been rebuilt from the ground-up. In spite of all the changes,Dead Spaceremains faithful to its source material while bringing the franchise into the modern era.
One of the areas where 2023’sDead Spaceimproves upon the 2008 game the most is zero gravity controls. Instead of having players look at and jump to different surfaces, the remake directlyincorporates the real-time movement controls fromDead Space 2and3. However, while these controls were game-changers back in the day,Dead Space’s zero gravity controls could have used more improvements by today’s standards.
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Whenever Isaac Clarke enters a zero gravity area, players can leave the ground with a simple press of a button. Doing so changes Isaac’s navigation controls, so players can point Isaac where they want him to go and then press the typical sprint button to propel him forward. The left and right directional buttons let Isaac strafe usinghis CEC Engineering Suit, controlling his yaw.
Zero gravity environments begin to get complicated once rolling and pitching get thrown into the mix. The controls for rolling are set to two separate buttons - one for rolling left and another for rolling right. Thesechange Isaac’s orientation relative to the “ground,“and can easily throw players off if they don’t have a keen sense of spatial awareness. ThankfullyDead Spacealso has a reset button that allows players to automatically reorient Isaac.
By pointing Isaac either up or down relative to the “ground” and moving forward or backward, players can change his elevation. Pitching is easy enough to do when no enemies are around, but almost all ofDead Space’s zero gravity sections have Isaacfacing a good number of Necromorphswhenever he makes progress. This makes it difficult to fight and navigate at the same time since players can only move from side to side when aiming their tools. Players are better off tethering themselves to a surface with Isaac’s boots so that they can properly aim at their foes before moving to the next objective.
It is a shame that Motive Studio lifted these controls from past games without ironing out more of their kinks. Isaac moves slowly in zero gravity environments despite supposedly weighing nothing. Not only that, but combat can feel clunky when floating around in these areas.Dead Spacecould have gone the extra mile by incorporating flight elements from more recent EA titles.Bioware’sAnthemcomes to mind, as flying throughout that game world felt fast and responsive, while able to immediately switch gears and became tight when shooting in mid-air.
Dead Space’s zero gravity sections feel right when it comes to their overall size, but the way Isaac navigates through them should be looked at ifMotive Studio decides to work on remakes ofDead Space 2and3. The zero gravity sections in those games are far larger and show up more frequently than those inDead Space, so fine-tuning the controls is essential to make sure players won’t get lost in the vacuum of space.
Dead Spaceis available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
