In Space No One Can Hear You Scream

Hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween! Not much of a preamble this week, let’s just get into the game that I promised from last edition.

Actually wait, pause.

Nintendo Music

Can you believe for the second time in a month Nintendo announced a new product that wasn’t the Switch successor? First Alarmo, and now Nintendo Music!? I’m know some people hate that they keep doing this, but I find it so funny and whimsical. I wrote a bit about how much I love this side of Nintendo over on my personal blog - they are driving in their own lane and that’s what makes them feel special.

Personally I also find it smart business strategy - differentiation keeps them present in our mind particularly in the lead up to a noisy holiday season. I’ve thought about finally getting Nintendo Switch Online just for the chance of getting Alarmo, and as I sit here and type I think it’d be great if I could be jamming out to the Wii Shop Channel music looping for an hour instead of my usual writing playlist. I don’t have much need for another games catalog since I already have PlayStation Plus, but Nintendo Music fills a need that I have. It’s also tailored to me, someone who has produced multiple video game music centric podcast episodes in the past and always desires more spotlight on that side of a video game. I don’t need much of an excuse to talk about Tim and Geoff Follin’s Silver Surfer music, but I’ll gladly take one.

Okay, sorry I’m done, now let’s get into it.

Dead Space (2023)

Speaking of PlayStation Plus, the 2023 remake of Dead Space was added to the service to coincide with the spooky season, and as a fan of the original I’d been wanting to check it out for some time. Just like with the remake of Resident Evil 4 that I started earlier this year, I’ve found the early half of Dead Space to be an enjoyable remake of something I loved in the past, but unlike the former the game feels much more 2000s than 2020s.

I have to give credit to my wife for that last line. As I was playing the game with her beside me she asked “What is this game called?” as she routinely does. I told her and she chirped “Is this an old game? Feels like it’s from 2007.” I had to pause the game - the comment was spot on. Her explanation was that the vibe just felt old, something about the way the jump scares were constructed felt unmodern. “Zombies are outdated.” Terminology aside, there is something inherently Xbox 360-era about Dead Space. Despite some of the updates in this remake, the design of the menus, the Point A to B to C fetch quest structure, and the brown-green hues timestamp this game more than anything else. Isolated those elements could be seen as issues, but together they create a B-movie style package with rough edges that can be appreciated in contrast to its glossier counterparts like Resident Evil 4.

Quick summary of what Dead Space is all about in case you aren’t aware. You play as Issac Clarke, an engineer whose crew crashes onto a mining spaceship that has been overrun by Necromorphs. You must navigate through the craft searching for a method of escape while hopefully finding your girlfriend and answers along the way. While some aspects of the game feel dated, the central combat mechanic is timeless. The “gun” you begin with, the Plasma Cutter, is an all-time video game weapon up there with Half-Life’s Gravity Gun. It’s one of the only times I can recall wanting to stick with a game’s starter pistol in most situations. The fact that you can now visually see, thanks to the updated graphics, the flesh of the Necromorphs deteriorate with each successful hit makes the combat feel all the more satisfying. It isn’t the most powerful, but it gives a sense of control and efficiency amongst the expanding dangers of the game. In my opinion it strikes the perfect balance for a survival horror game - if you can calm your own emotional frenzy there’s no better defense against your opponents, but as your panic increases so does the risk of death.

This adds to a game that is still extremely effective in crafting a mood. As you may recall, last edition I mentioned being too overcome with dread to make enough progress to write about a certain game - that was Dead Space. Outside of the session where my wife was watching I mainly played this at night with headphones on leading to an amplified experience. The audio design is something that can get lost in muddled TV speakers, but with headphones you can’t escape the layers of whispered voices as Isaac loses some of his mental stability or the lack of sound in the lonesome vacuum of space.

It was the latter idea that really got me during this playthrough. Issac feels so alone, unprepared, and underpowered - you can’t help but feel for the guy. He isn’t a trained professional like Leon who feels confident enough to crack jokes to add levity to a dour situation. Isaac is just a guy in a bad situation that he isn’t equipped to escape from. In order to see another day, he’s forced to dismember already deformed bodies. He gets no moments of respite and neither does the player unless they turn off the game.

Dead Space is a grimy, messy, and jagged experience in the best way possible. It creates a dreadful and overwhelming situation while equipping you in a way that keeps the gameplay aspect of it fun but terrifying. I’d be hard-pressed to find a more suitable game for the spooky season.