EA’s Motive Studio have revealed a “very, very, very, early look” look at the Dead Space remake. It began with teaser trailer that had been previously released which you can watch at the bottom of this post. Senior Producer Philippe Ducharme and Creative Director Roman Campos-Oriola then took to the screen and explained they would not be showing gameplay, the reveal would only show small parts of the game.
Dead Space: Original vs Remake
A ‘Community Council’ of hardcore Dead Space fans have been advising the team on the game and two of the council members joined the livestream.
“We see this project and we want to make sure we honour the original. said Philippe. The team are using the original geometry for the levels but adding in next-gen lighting and effects. “It’s really about improving a lot of different elements,” said Roman.
“Horror is the main pillar of Dead Space,” comments Roman, before explaining that the environment is an important part of this, as is makes the player feel claustrophobic.
Dead Space: The Peeling Engine
A new dismemberment system has been created which is called ‘Peeling’. “One thing we wanted to improve on the original is that, if you are not using a carving weapon (such as the Plasma Cutter), knowing how much damage you are dealing into the enemy was difficult,” said Philippe, “You want to be able to see the flesh peel off”.
The new Peeling system has then shown in detail with the direction and power of the weapon removing different amounts of flash from the Necromorphs. The team also explained that if you manage to damage the enemy but not cut off the limb then the limb will dangle off the creature and you can rip it off. A later version of the engine will allow claws and armour to be shot off.
The zero-g missions were also briefly shown and there will be a new control mechanism here which has allowed the team to rework the areas with new paths and places to explore. The game will have no loading screens and will be one full length interactive sequence, the full ship will be walkable from end to end. They have also very clearly stated there will be no microtransactions within the game, something that riled many players of Dead Space 3.
“We are not changing the foundation of the story, that story is iconic,” said Roman, “All of the core elements will remain. The things that we want to enrich is really about the bigger universe of Dead Space. We want to have more tags with what came after, the books, Dead Space 2, we want to put back the original but in a broader universe.”
“We we also wanted to build a bit more on the characters,” he adds, before explaining that while Isaac searches for Nicole we will learn more about her and what happened to her.
Gunner Wright was then announced as the voice of Isaac Clarke. Fans will know that in the original Dead Space Isaac did not speak but Gunner took on the role of for the two sequels. However, Isaac will not be wandering about commenting on everything like many video game characters, he will only speak when spoken to.
Dead Space concept art
Previously, Creative Director Roman Campos-Oriola has said “We’re rebuilding everything from scratch, but we’re keeping the same story and the same structure.”
No release date was given but it’s very clear the game is a long way off, I wouldn’t expect Isaac to be appearing anytime before 2023.
