Here's 8 minutes of Dead Space remake gameplay

It's been a long time since I've played Dead Space, and my memories of it are predictably hazy. It's fortunate, then, that the new extended gameplay walkthrough released today includes bits that compare the new game to the original side-by-side, so I can really see how much things have improved.

Like this, for instance.

(Image credit: Electronic Arts)

It's still very Dead Space: Dark corridors, creepy enemies, and plentiful dismemberment courtesy of industrial cutting tools being put to work in ways that they were definitely not designed for (yet are surprisingly effective at). Isaac Clarke, the unfortunate engineer trapped in this sci-fi nightmare, also puts his heavy metal space boots to good use, because the next-best thing to chopping 'em up is stomping 'em down.

The old and the new might seem blurred by the hazy lens of memory, but there are actually quite a few changes in the Dead Space remake, some subtle and some not. We got a closer look at how it all comes together in a new hands-on preview, which sounds very promising. Assuming pre-release bugs are addressed, "the new Dead Space will be a lot like the old one, except with modern graphics, fewer mid-2000s bugs, and a far more detailed Ishimura," our executive editor Tyler Wilde wrote.

"There are some new puzzles and some surprise scares from the 'intensity AI,' but nothing that drastically alters the original sequence of events. I struggle to think of a better way to remake a recent classic like Dead Space."

Also, he didn't remember the original Dead Space experience very well either, which makes me feel a little better about my own powers of recollection.

The Dead Space remake is set to launch on January 27, 2023.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.