It's tough to say for sure without actually looking at it.
There is a chance that, yes, the hard drive itself has completely died, meaning you'll need to resort to your last backup, or look into specialized data recovery services. There's also a chance that the hard drive's casing has failed, as well, and that the hard drive's safe and sound but unable to communicate through the faulty USB port. If that's the case, then all you'd need to do is open up the casing, take the hard drive out, and put it into another external enclosure. (Note that by opening the casing, you'll void any warranty that the hard drive has on it.)
If you bring the hard drive to any Future Shop location and authorize the techs to do so, they can take apart the casing and test the hard drive for you. Pricing and turnaround times may differ by store, so be sure to contact your nearest Future Shop first if you have any questions regarding those.
Hope that helps!
