TheDead Spaceseries began in 2008 when it launched on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. It was a clear homage toResident Evil 4mechanically, except it was set in space. It wasn’t a basic ripoff either, as it had plenty of its own identity thrown in to shake up the survival horror genre.
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This goes beyond the space setting too, although that is part of the gimmick. Going into zero gravity and floating around the ship made for some memorable moments. The location system was innovative at the time too, along with all of the cool guns. Now, fifteen years later, EA is revisitingDead Spacevia a remake instead of making a new entry. What are some of the biggest changes between the two versions?
This list includes spoilers!
7Isaac Changes
Isaac being able to talk is perhapsthe biggest changemade to the remake. He doesn’t comment on everything that happens around him, unlike a hero akin to Nathan Drake from theUnchartedseries. Isaac was completely silent in the 2008 original release but was voiced in the sequels after that.
The developers also redesigned his face, giving him a younger looker without any grizzled facial hair. Finally, Isaac takes off his helmet quite a few times throughout the game, which he only did in the final cutscene in the original.
6Mercer Changes
Dr. Mercer was introduced about halfway through the original game as the big villain. Isaac interacted with him through windows or on the communication channels, but he never met face to face without a pane of glass in the middle. Inthe remake chapters, he zaps Isaac off-camera with a Stasis attack before menacingly talking about the Marker and his plans for the Convergence Event.
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He pulls the same trick on Jacob Temple, but unlike Isaac, Dr. Mercer does kill Jacob with his own hand. Finally, in the original game, Dr. Mercer gets attacked by a Necromorph in the hopes that he can born again. In the remake, he is dragged off-screen along with the Marker by a giant tentacle.
5Hammond Changes
There are a couple of changes made to how Hammond’s story plays out in the game. He disappears from the radio for a good portion, and after that happens, players eventually met up with him in the food labs. He then met his end, facinga large Necromorphtoward the end of the game.
In the remake, he is never in the food area. His death is the more drastic change as he sacrifices himself and Chen to unlock a core for Isaac to grab. Chen returning in his monstrous form is also a change since he was shot out of the USG Ishimura in an escape pod, never to be seen again in the original.
4They Recontextualize Nicole
Isaac saw visions of his girlfriend, Nicole, throughout the original game. In the end, it was revealed that he was hallucinating every time she appeared, except for a few instances when Kendra sent him video recordings. In the remake, Nicole is sort of real.
She does die via suicide, like in the original, but Isaac is seeing a real person throughout the game. The Marker makes Dr. Cross look like Nicole to him, and Isaac looks like Jacob to Dr. Cross. This is revealed by Kendra after the Marker gets returned to Aegis 7, which is atwist on a twist.
3The Alternate Ending
The original game is left ambiguous because EA presumably didn’t know if they would get to make a sequel. After Isaac destroys the hive-mind on Aegis 7, he blasts off in his ship. After taking off his helmet, he looks to his right to see Nicole again, but then she turns into a monster. This is the same canonical ending in the remake.
However, it is possible to get an alternate ending if players complete a side mission inthe New Game+ mode. The new scene shows Isaac has gone mad due to the Marker’s effect. He’s talking to Nicole, and it’s implied he’s going to build another Marker so that they can continue to speak.
2Weapons Are Found, Upgrades Are Bought
The Plasma Cutteris the only weapon in the original game that players found for free. Everything else had to be made in the store after they found schematics. In the remake, Isaac finds every weapon he comes across, and he doesn’t have to pay a dime.
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Players instead have to buy mods that will unlock more active slots in the upgrade tree for each weapon. It should also be mentioned that the nodes used for upgrading weapons are no longer used to unlock certain doors.
1Exploring The USG Ishimura
There are a lot of changes made as to how players progress throughthe USG Ishimurain the remake. For example, chapter breaks no longer occur once they use the Tram to go to new areas of the ship. Also, players can access the Tram whenever they want. The game is a bit more open now because of that, and there are side quests to complete too.
There are still zero-gravity sections, but players get thrusters to make navigating in these environments easier, which was a mechanic added in the sequels.
TheDead Spaceremake was released on Jun 28, 2025 and is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
