Opinion: the original has a better “combat ecosystem” than the remake
There’s a lot different when it comes to the way enemies behave between the remake and the original. 3 main enemies are different the most- the slashers, the leapers, and the exploders. The slashers in the original would sprint like their life depended on it towards Isaac where as in the remake they kind of speed walk and they do have a short burst leap attack but even this is very rare occurrence. The slashers attacks in the original could not be “outrun” meaning if Isaac tried to run away from the slashers or “dodge” their attacks, they 99% of the time always hit him anyways. In short, you HAVE to deal with these things and manage your stasis, or you are going to die. In the remake you can run laps around the slashers and not get hit, you can even abuse their attack animation by running in and then going backwards as they lazily stop in their tracks to swing their attack at Isaac making it really easy to avoid and even melee kill them this way which isn’t the way the game is meant to be played.
Next is the leapers, the leapers in the original would similarly sprint at Isaac so fast, even faster than the slashers. They would use their arms to lift their entire bodies to just hand sprint towards Isaac. In the remake they are much slower and just kind of slither hastily towards Isaac making it much more manageable. There’s no excuse for the slashers and the leapers not to sprint since the pregnant and the twitchers sprint at Isaac in the same remake.
Lastly the most offensive change is the exploders. The exploders in the original were so deadly, you want to avoid getting close at all times, and always have stasis around them. If you even get within even 10 feet you’re ass is grass because even if you explode their sac, you’re going to take splash damage and potentially get killed, and if they get a direct hit on Isaac, even a fully upgraded rig with full health will not save you, it’s an instant kill every time, and it is a big part of the ecosystem of dead space’s combat where you can use these exploders if you know how by using stasis on them right as they wind up their attack and running away and you’ll turn around and see them kill themselves along with whatever other necromorphs that were unfortunate enough to be nearby. Thankfully, you can still do this stasis trick in the remake but only if you don’t pick up the prototype stasis. They also wailed so loud when they entered which is a good thing, that’s the game saying “HEY this motherfucker is the deadliest thing in the room and you need to avoid it”. In the remake, the exploders have been heavily nerfed. Even if you have the level 1 suit and you didn’t put a lick of nodes into your rig, they can not kill you with a direct hit at full health, which destroys any weight that they held in the original. They also have virtually no splash damage so you can now get in close and not get knocked back, another complaint about the remake there too, in the original Isaac could be knocked on his ass occasionally depending on the gravity of the attack, this would make the player feel vulnerable and Isaac in the remake never gets knocked down which is a shame. The exploders are also strangely quiet, so they can now sneak up on you which is just bad game design. I get it for the slashers being able to sneak up on you, but the exploders have always announced their presence due to the nature of their attacks, they’re deadly. These are nitpicky but it does make me feel that original had a better combat ecosystem than the remake.
Everything else the remake trumps the original in, but combat is one of the most important parts of dead space, perfect in dead space 2. So coming to the remake seeing these changes I really hope motive can take note and make the combat of at least these 3 very important enemies for the potential dead space 2 remake closer to the way they are supposed to be.
There’s a lot different when it comes to the way enemies behave between the remake and the original. 3 main enemies are different the most- the slashers, the leapers, and the exploders. The slashers in the original would sprint like their life depended on it towards Isaac where as in the remake they kind of speed walk and they do have a short burst leap attack but even this is very rare occurrence. The slashers attacks in the original could not be “outrun” meaning if Isaac tried to run away from the slashers or “dodge” their attacks, they 99% of the time always hit him anyways. In short, you HAVE to deal with these things and manage your stasis, or you are going to die. In the remake you can run laps around the slashers and not get hit, you can even abuse their attack animation by running in and then going backwards as they lazily stop in their tracks to swing their attack at Isaac making it really easy to avoid and even melee kill them this way which isn’t the way the game is meant to be played.
Next is the leapers, the leapers in the original would similarly sprint at Isaac so fast, even faster than the slashers. They would use their arms to lift their entire bodies to just hand sprint towards Isaac. In the remake they are much slower and just kind of slither hastily towards Isaac making it much more manageable. There’s no excuse for the slashers and the leapers not to sprint since the pregnant and the twitchers sprint at Isaac in the same remake.
Lastly the most offensive change is the exploders. The exploders in the original were so deadly, you want to avoid getting close at all times, and always have stasis around them. If you even get within even 10 feet you’re ass is grass because even if you explode their sac, you’re going to take splash damage and potentially get killed, and if they get a direct hit on Isaac, even a fully upgraded rig with full health will not save you, it’s an instant kill every time, and it is a big part of the ecosystem of dead space’s combat where you can use these exploders if you know how by using stasis on them right as they wind up their attack and running away and you’ll turn around and see them kill themselves along with whatever other necromorphs that were unfortunate enough to be nearby. Thankfully, you can still do this stasis trick in the remake but only if you don’t pick up the prototype stasis. They also wailed so loud when they entered which is a good thing, that’s the game saying “HEY this motherfucker is the deadliest thing in the room and you need to avoid it”. In the remake, the exploders have been heavily nerfed. Even if you have the level 1 suit and you didn’t put a lick of nodes into your rig, they can not kill you with a direct hit at full health, which destroys any weight that they held in the original. They also have virtually no splash damage so you can now get in close and not get knocked back, another complaint about the remake there too, in the original Isaac could be knocked on his ass occasionally depending on the gravity of the attack, this would make the player feel vulnerable and Isaac in the remake never gets knocked down which is a shame. The exploders are also strangely quiet, so they can now sneak up on you which is just bad game design. I get it for the slashers being able to sneak up on you, but the exploders have always announced their presence due to the nature of their attacks, they’re deadly. These are nitpicky but it does make me feel that original had a better combat ecosystem than the remake.
Everything else the remake trumps the original in, but combat is one of the most important parts of dead space, perfect in dead space 2. So coming to the remake seeing these changes I really hope motive can take note and make the combat of at least these 3 very important enemies for the potential dead space 2 remake closer to the way they are supposed to be.