Yesterday, EA hosted their Dead Space livestream to deliver some more details on the game’s upcoming remake. Plenty of juicy new details were shared and the developers went into more depth on how they plan to improve upon the original game. First and foremost, EA was very clear that Dead Space remake is still very early in development, to the point the developers themselves were describing the livestream as “a bit unorthodox,” so don’t get too excited quite yet. The livestream’s main purpose, according to the developers, was to open communication with the fan community surrounding Dead Space and incorporate player feedback into the final product.
As of now, the game itself looks gorgeous. The livestream included plenty of new footage from the USG Ishimura, which has been remastered with all the bells and whistles next-gen hardware can deliver. The results are striking, and have produced some seriously scary environments for players to explore. As Eurogamer reports, EA will be fully updating the 2008 original graphically in order to “make it relevant for today,” while still staying “true to the source.” The developers also intend to make the USG Ishimura a completely seamless environment to explore, free from cuts or loading.
Aside from purely graphical changes, the biggest difference between 2008’s Dead Space and its’ remake looks to be the protagonist. Yes, players will still be shaking in the boots of Isaac Clarke, but this time around the game will no longer have a silent protagonist. Gunner Wright, who voiced Isaac in the franchise’s sequels, will be returning to add more personal agency to the game, as EA explains. He won’t be a chatterbox, though, as EA has also stated Isaac will only speak when spoken to or when it would be strange to stay quiet. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean he’ll be yelling obscenities’ into the dark every time something spooky happens (looking at you, Outlast II).
To pair with the more personal story being told, the developers have also included more of the game’s “bigger universe” in the remake in the form of audio logs, new dialogue, and who knows what else. Dead Space as a franchise has been notorious for leaving more than a few loose ends untied after the final installment, so hopefully, this new content will shed some more light on the mysteries of Dead Space’s universe.
Finally, the developers went into some detail on how the game’s combat is being reworked. In particular, non-carving weapons have been reworked so that they will “peel” the flesh off of Necromorphs, giving the player a better idea of how much damage their weapons are doing similar to Doom Eternal’s destructible demons.
Dead Space remake doesn’t have a release date yet, but the game is said to be about a year into development, so it’ll likely be a while before this one hits shelves.