Today’s EA Play presentation concluded with a bang with the reveal that the original Dead Space is getting a full-on remake. The long-rumored project is being developed exclusively for new-gen consoles and PC and will give a premium facelift to Isaac Clark’s horrific adventure aboard the USG Ishimura.
EA’s Motive Studios is rebuilding Dead Space from the ground-up using the Frostbite Engine. Besides improving the game with premium lighting, textures, and assets, EA’s press release states that the game will feature an “improved story, characters, and gameplay mechanics”. The publisher doesn’t go into details on what those improvements entail, but the narrative premise remains the same: as everyman space engineer Isaac Clark, you’re on a mission to repair the USG Ishimura only to discover its been overrun by terrifying alien creatures called necromorphs. These monsters have not only slaughtered most of the Ishimura’s crew, but can reanimate corpses. The worst news is that your partner, Nicole, is stationed somewhere on the ship. Isaac must race to find Nicole while combating the necromorph scourge as well as his own deteriorating sanity.
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Dead Space released in October 2008 and was hailed as a horror masterpiece that blended the tense sci-fi horror of Alien with exceptional storytelling and satisfying, dismemberment-focused combat. Game Informer scored the game a 9.25 out of 10, with reviewer Andrew Reiner summing up the game’s horror saying “Dead Space is technically a survival horror game, but it should really be compared to motion picture juggernauts The Thing and Aliens, as it channels the essence of those films more than it does any other game. If horror is your forte, dim the lights, crank up the surround sound, and take the deepest breath you ever have. I think you’ll agree, no game has ever been this frightening.”
In a press release, Phillippe Ducharme, senior producer on the project, expresses the love and care going into the project saying “The Dead Space franchise made a huge impact on the survival horror genre when it was released 12 years ago, and I came to Motive as a fan first to specifically work on this game. We have a passionate team at Motive who are approaching this remake as a love letter to the franchise. Going back to the original and having the opportunity to do so on next gen consoles excited everyone on the team. As we look to modernize the game, we’ve reached out to dedicated fans and invited them to provide us with feedback since the early stages of production to deliver the Dead Space game they want and for new players to enjoy as well.”
Sadly, EA didn’t share a release window for Dead Space. It’s slated to launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
What improvements do you hope to see in the Dead Space remake? Let us know in the comments!
