How much of Dead Space you want to view will determine how long it is, if you’re curious. The new remake includes additional side mission components that are entirely optional but may extend your experience by a few hours. It is feasible to check at side objectives you can’t yet complete, which only adds more time to your playing, especially considering how your access to the Ishimura rests on plot beats unlocking locked doors and letting you visit particular areas.
Dead Space’s 12 chapters took me roughly 20 hours to complete, although it included 100% completion of all side quests and a lot of backtracking.
Though many of the side quests in Dead Space are locked behind plot development, you can frequently follow them into dead ends where there is nothing you can do—at least until you return to the main narrative when, after completing a primary objective, a new door or pathway may open up. As I played, I also came to realize that most side missions follow the same general path that you would take to finish the game’s main. As a result, I may have really been complicating matters by attempting side missions as soon as they appeared. You just can’t do them until the game allows you to, but it’s not always obvious when that is. There are marks that say “access forbidden,” but I occasionally got lost among them. Additionally, if you don’t frequently check to see if a mission is now open, you can find yourself farther away from it.
If you fully prioritize the game’s key goals at the expense of everything else, a core playthrough of Dead Space that only includes the main story missions will take you 12 to 15 hours to complete. The extra plot beats and trophies/achievements that come with completing the side quests are their main advantages. The Master Override mission and Dead Space crew rigs, however, will grant you access to specific doors and boxes that contain late-game upgrades and precious materials, thus it is worthwhile to complete both.
On average, a casual playing of Dead Space will take you 15 to 18 hours to complete. However, if you want to see everything and complete every objective, plan on that number edging closer to 20.
