EA Motive gave a very early, early look at the development of the Dead Space Remake, but there was plenty to share including a look at the graphical improvements, combat physics, story tweaks, and bringing back Gunner Wright to voice Isaac Clarke.
The Dead Space remake was announced earlier this year and is a fully next-gen remake of the 2008 horror game built from the ground up in Frostbite. We learned that EA Motive will craft improvements where necessary while still being faithful to the original game. Here’s everything we learned from today’s dev showcase.
Here’s How the Remake Compares Visually to the Original
The first thing the developers showed off was how the remake is shaping up visually. Motive was keen to remind audiences that this is an incredibly early look at the remake from pre-production and not at all close to finished.
But even in this early look, Dead Space Remake is shaping up to be a stunner. The environments are built on top of the layouts from the original game, but there will be more details in areas like texture, lighting, character models, and more. During the stream, we saw a very brief moment of the remake in action with a scene of Isaac walking through a hallway.
Combat Looks "a-Peeling”
Dead Space’s core combat mechanic involves dismembering aliens limb-by-limb. This will still be the case in the remake, but Motive has added a new damage system called peeling where you can literally shoot the flesh off of the Necromorphs to reveal their bones and guts.
Like Isaac’s spine light, peeling away an enemy’s flesh is sort of like a health bar for them, and Motive’s combat system allows for some pretty gnarly visuals. You can peel a Necromorph’s leg to see their thigh bone, or their head to see their skull. Some weapons will be better for peeling while others will dismember limbs outright.
Isaac’s Voice Actor Will Returns for the Remake
Aside from grunting and screaming Isaac was pretty silent in the first Dead Space. It wasn’t until the sequel that Isaac found his voice with actor Gunner Wright. For the remake, Wright will return and Isaac will have more voice lines. But don’t expect him to be a chatterbox all of a sudden.
Instead voicing Isaac in the Remake will follow Motive’s rules of changing the original only where necessary. In this regard, Motive revealed the rules for Isaac’s new dialogue.
Isaac will only speak when spoken to, and he will sometimes speak in a situation where “it would feel weird if he remained silent.”
If It Ain’t Broke…
Motive was adamant that it will keep many of the same features of the original game like the pacing while improving areas that might be dated. Isaac’s voice lines are a good example, but there will also be changes to specific gameplay elements.
A big challenge for the #DeadSpace team is to maintain the good aspects of the original (like the pacing) while further improving it pic.twitter.com/6az9d3EgTV
— Nibel (@Nibellion) August 31, 2021
In a look at the Zero-G Therapy Room, Motive revealed it improved the physics and added 360-degree movement and thrusters. There will also be some fine-tuning to the story that will make Isaac’s adventure on the Ishimura connect more with the other games.
No Microtransactions
The developers again confirmed that there will be no microtransactions in Dead Space Remake. This is something EA Motive told IGN during our initial interview following the game’s announcement, but this is something the devs really want you to know about the remake.
Dead Space Remake is very early in development and production is just starting. Meaning it will likely be some time before the game finally is released. Check out IGN’s own interview with the devs for more on the horror revival.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.