The Unsettling Contrast of the Ishimura: A Review of the Dead Space Remake Developer

As I stepped onto the bridge of the ISG Ishimura in EA Motive's Dead Space remake, I couldn't help but notice the stark contrast between the sleek, high-tech surroundings and the rusting, decaying sections below. It's as if the ship's designers had given more thought to the placement of snack vending machines than life-saving fixtures like oxygen dispensers.

The bridge itself is a gleaming concert stage, complete with fancy free-standing glass displays that seem almost out of place among the cramped, industrial decks below. The mining and maintenance areas are a warren of rust and asteroid debris, with massive turbines roaring away mere inches above one's head. It's an architectural battle between the basic needs of workers – like guardrails – and the requirements of enormous machines, with the former often falling by the wayside.

As a newcomer to the Ishimura, I felt a sense of history as I explored sector after sector, fixing broken systems while battling the horribly mutated undead remnants of the crew. The ship's long career as a 'planet cracker' has left its mark – or rather, its scars – on every deck and corridor.

The not-so-good ship ISG Ishimura is around 62 years old by the time Isaac Clarke arrives in Dead Space, and it shows. While EA Motive's remake sheds some of the original game's enchantment, it also offers a sumptuous reworking of the setting that draws players in. The contrast between the bridge and the lower decks serves as a constant reminder of the ship's dark history and the dangers that lurk in every shadow.

In the end, the Ishimura is more than just a setting – it's a character in its own right, with a personality shaped by years of neglect, decay, and horror. And it's this unsettling contrast that makes EA Motive's Dead Space remake such a compelling experience.

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