Cover bands are a wonderful thing. They offer a chance for songs we loved - and even some we hated - to take on new forms that better suit certain tastes. It’s practically unheard of as a concept in the games industry, but somehow, EA Motive’s brand is steadily becoming just that - gaming’s cover band. Whether it’s trying to translate Battlefront II into a campaign or giving flight to an X-wing vs. Tie-Fighter homage, the studio is building a brand out of this. Lucky for Dead Space fans, this is easily their best work yet.

Once again, we step inside the boots of space engineer, Isaac Clarke, as he tries to find his girlfriend, Nicole Brennan, aboard the doomed deep space mining vessel, the USG Ishimura. Undead corpses rebuilt into horrendous monstrosities dubbed Necromorphs twist the human body into horrific new forms that have to be strategically dismembered with industrial tools. It's a formula that captivated many, myself included, back in 2008, only to be left on hiatus since 2013's Dead Space 3 missed the mark.

I will say that Remake undoubtedly is on par with its predecessor - which is outstanding in its own right - but is it better? That's a more complicated matter. Dead Space Remake is never perfect, and as the sort of person who replays the Dead Space games almost every year, you’re damn right I’ve got a load of nitpicks, but I'll take that over staring in abject confusion like I did just a few weeks ago. Rest assured, this isn't another Callisto Protocol.

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What we've got here is a great game on its own, and a solid effort to update a classic. This isn’t just a graphics update, though the game is gorgeously lit, with enough volumetric fog effects to make Silent Hill jealous, all while running remarkably well for the cantankerous Frostbite engine.

Instead, Motive's remake goes deeper to address every major criticism Dead Space has had since 2008 - Kendra Daniels being an irritating whiner throughout the entire story; the ADS cannon sequences testing players’ patience more than their reflexes; the fact that certain weapons just weren’t viable; the New Game Plus mode of the original, while welcome, paled in comparison to the latter games; the infamous twist ending didn't entirely make sense in certain regards. All this and more is handled. The trick is that some of the ways these flaws are fixed introduce new rough spots that hold the Remake back from being the definitive Dead Space game.

Isaac Clarke’s first brush with the Marker and Necromorphs feels like it’s truly part of a universe of horror. A lot of this comes from not only new audio and text logs, but Isaac finally having a voice during the events of the first game. Gunner Wright (the voice and now face of Isaac) and Tanya Clarke (the same, for Nicole) are old pros at this, and it shows because they make every line sing perfectly.

The benefits extend beyond returning veteran actors and narrative nods. Not only is Kendra no longer the most punchable person in the universe, she’s actually one of the most likable characters amid a cast that features demonstrably more fully realized women with personalities and roles extending far beyond being in distress. Two characters are also out as lesbian and bisexual, respectively, and it all fits organically. Nicole’s backstory is wonderfully fleshed out, adding extra gravitas to her final message to Isaac if you follow the sidequests to their conclusion - dialogue even alters based on what quests you’ve completed. Except for Clarke and Wright, every role has been recast, mostly for the better.

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While the levels, bosses, and set-pieces all follow the same progression, the sheer number of differences ensure the Remake is full of surprises regardless of if you know the original Ishimura like the back of your hand. This in no small part thanks to the game going non-linear, if not quite open-world. It's in this liminal space of not-quite-Metroidvania, nor is it a totally open space like Prey (2017). The layout works well, it's just rather unique in design. Levels aren’t simply bigger, but connected - sometimes directly, other times via a tram system. Progressing through the plot unlocks each section of the ship over time.

If The Callisto Protocol was an attempt by Glen Schofield’s team to prove they’ve still “got it”, then Dead Space Remake is proof positive that EA Motive actually has “it”.

A security key system rewards revisiting old levels, as do the handful of side-quests available. While I personally feel the security key upgrades are dragged out a bit too long, the new Circuit Breaker system that complements it is wonderful. With circuits, you can manipulate local power grids, letting you pull off risky gambits for greater rewards, like venting oxygen from a room so that loot-filled rooms are opened, or sacrificing lights to ensure another escape route is open.

Plus, any time you get the chance to turn off gravity, it absolutely flips a level on its head, even making the usual slog of Hydroponics transform into a highlight. I didn’t think you could make the series’ longest fetch-quest work, but somehow they found a way. The circuit breakers have to become a series core mechanic - they're fantastic to toy with and add a great deal of experimentation wherever you find them.

That's what I love about the Remake above all else - in an age where so many AAA games are averse to letting systems interact in unplanned ways, Dead Space Remake embraces them. The only times you aren't in control are in a handful of cutscenes where Isaac's too busy being tossed around by explosions and beasts ten times his size. Everything else feels purely like cause-and-effect of your own actions. This was one of the original’s best aspects, and it's so refreshing to see it return here.

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There’s an Intensity Director that automatically balances loot and randomly generated encounters based on how you’re doing. You’ve got more physics objects than ever that can dismember Necromorphs, including the fan blades that drop out of all those vents they keep tearing through to get at you. So while you’re looking at lots of backtracking, it’s backtracking through a reactive world that evolves with the plot. The longer you play, the more haywire the Ishimura gets, which is a wonderful touch.

The result is messy, but in the best way possible, bolstered by an even faster, more dangerous take on Dead Space 2’s combat system. Dismemberment is key, ammo is sparse, medkits are even rarer, and the in-game economy is far less forgiving this time around. You’re really encouraged to make the most of each weapon, environmental hazard, and available exit as you fight your way through.

For years, standard enemies like the Slasher, Spitter, and Lurker were relegated to spammable fodder, but they finally feel like real threats again even just on Medium difficulty. The bosses have also been given a serious tune-up, though the Brute mini-bosses could actually use a little toughening up given the increased strength of some of your weapons. That said, if you prefer the atmosphere and exploration, there is a new Story difficulty setting, as well as the option to change your difficulty mid-playthrough.

The first major change to combat is the addition of layers - Necromorphs now effectively work like Elites in Halo, where the skin and major muscles serve as shields, while cutting down to the bone is what severs a limb. This makes several weapons that can blast the skin and flesh off an enemy just as valuable as those that slice them up. Less precise weapons finally have more use, and the retooling of Isaac's arsenal shakes things up even further.

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While Motive might not have included any future weapons from the latter games here explicitly, they certainly borrowed several ideas, in addition to throwing in some new ones. The pulse rifle now has the deployable proximity mine as its secondary attack, which you can deactivate if it lands in the wrong spot. The Forcegun, meanwhile, deals significantly more damage now, and can drop a miniature singularity attack that can even clear doorways.

Yet this revamp also has its downsides. For one, you don’t buy your weapons, but find them by exploring the game, which means your first time through, you’re given a drip feed of weapons rather than several options out of the gate, limiting your choices. It can take up to halfway through the game to find some of them. The linegun has also received a substantial nerf due to a massive drop in how often you’ll find ammo for it and its new alt-fire laser mine just doesn’t compare.

The most contentious weapons are likely to be the Contact Beam and Flamethrower. The former is now a sustained blast attack, with its original concentrated burst serving as the alt-fire instead of a ground-pound. Meanwhile, the flamethrower has been turned into a crowd-control weapon with its new 'wall of fire' secondary attack. The substantial retooling is likely to be one of the more controversial changes for fans of the original.

Other than those changes, I’m pleased to say pretty much everything else functions like you remember. There’s a bit less oxygen in your suit, the telekinesis grab is a bit more random about what it prioritizes, and the upgrade trees now require additional parts to open up node slots, but these didn’t really alter the experience that much. Instead, you're busy being delighted to just have some fresh Dead Space content.

Every new encounter is a welcome surprise, and the remixed areas from the original game are fun to rediscover. Sure there were a few times that I think the original had better encounters or pacing, but that’s what I meant at the start - this is a pretty even match-up of good qualities, with little irks that a sequel will hopefully solve.

I barely even had any glitches on my laptop, which was able to easily run the game on High at 1080p with my frame rate reaching triple digits (there was just one weird performance hitch during the final hour of the game that required reloading the game).

Honestly my biggest disappointment was the lack of any content beyond the campaign. While New Game Plus and Impossible (the new Hardcore mode) are fun bonuses, you can experience almost everything the campaign has to offer in one run. A single new side-quest in NG+ just isn't that exciting. Something like Dead Space 2’s Outbreak multiplayer would’ve been great, or a horde mode like in Dead Space Mobile. It's not that Dead Space Remake isn't more than worth your time, there's just not as much incentive for return playthroughs as before.

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If Callisto Protocol was an attempt by Glen Schofield’s team to prove they’ve still “got it”, then Dead Space Remake is proof positive that Motive are the ones who actually have the elusive “it.” A modern vision of Dead Space was inevitably going to change things - some that will doubtless irk some diehard fans - but those moments of protest are brief.

There are a lot of other things worth unpacking about this game (pour one out for Rob as I pitch a thousand Dead Space features), but as a cohesive whole? Dead Space Remake is damn good fun, with interesting ideas and appreciation of the greater franchise that most remakes lack. This isn’t some studio trying to massively reinvent an IP, but working to fit the best pieces together so it can grow anew. It's a fitting tribute to Visceral's best days - maybe not a perfect rendition, but few cover songs ever are.

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