Gunner Wright reprises his role as Isaac Clarke, having assumed the role in Dead Space 2 (2011) and Dead Space 3 (2013). Isaac was a silent protagonist in the original Dead Space (2008), he only responded with grunts and nods, the few words he said were when he cursed while stomping enemies, Isaac's curses, grunts and screams were voiced by Max Shippee. For the remake Motive Studio altered the story to have Isaac talk and be a more engaging character that aligned with the sequels.
Impossible difficulty returns from Dead Space(2008) but with a new twist. The difficulty only allows one save slot instead of multiple, the player can use this as much as they want. However upon death the game forces the player to continue from that save but is no longer able to play on Impossible difficulty from that save. This effectively gives the player one shot to beat the game on that difficulty. If the player doesn't save it's back to the menu. A save will just reroute back to that save point but on a lower difficulty.
When in proximity to the Marker voices chanting can be heard. They are chanting in Latin: "Sumus hic in morte, noster sanctus est". Which approximately translates to: "We are here in death, it is our saint".
The original Dead Space(2008) had some backtracking elements to open previously locked doors. The remake expands upon this to make the backtracking more satisfying. This includes a new mechanic called Suit Security Level. As the player collects ship RIGs or completes tasks, they will gain access to Level 2 or higher doors and supply crates.
In Dead Space(2008), Zero-G flight was handled by having Isaac point to a platform and float to it to land on the platform. It was not possible to freely fly in Zero-G or to do combat while floating. The remake removes this to be in line with Dead Space 2&3 and allows free flowing flight and combat.