Horror fan Vali is looking forward to the imminent release of the Dead Space remake full of hope and high expectations. The remake doesn”t just look fantastic, it sounds it as well.
I don”t have to sleep much anymore to …. not to sleep anymore. Because on January 27, 2023, the Dead Space remake is going to give me some unpleasant dreams. Let”s hope so! The remake of one of my all-time favourite games is getting closer and closer. And the more I see and hear about it, the greater my anticipation becomes.
Let me break down for you in the following lines why I already can”t wait for 27 January. And this despite the fact that the original announcement of the Dead Space remake caused me to frown rather than jump for joy.
And while we”re on the subject: With The Callisto Protocol, another potential horror hit and the quasi-successor to Dead Space will be released this year. No wonder, the game is being made under the wing of the original Dead Space creator Glen Schofield. Read for yourself what you can expect on 2 December 2022!
What exactly is new?
Let”s get down to the hard facts first. After all, the developers at Motive Studios never tire of emphasising that Dead Space is a remake and not a remaster. The story and the basic structure of the game remain largely unchanged: As Isaac Clarke, I am given the thankless task of finding my missing girlfriend on board the blood-covered USG Ishimura. So far, so familiar.
All important changes: The remake of the horror classic will be developed from scratch in the Frostbite engine and should bring some significant improvements. I have listed a few of the most important points for you as follows:
- In contrast to the original, the protagonist Isaac Clarke is no longer mute, but completely dubbed. (Incidentally, once again by voice actor Gunner Wright, who also lent his voice to Isaac for Dead Space 2 and 3).
- The USG Ishimura can be explored without loading screens and in a single, constant camera movement. The fantastic God of War from 2018 already showed how much the gameplay can benefit from such a design decision.
- Weapons feature new alternate fire modes.
- There are new rooms and sections of USG Ishimura to explore, as well as additional puzzles and even new side quests, which should add extra facets to the story.
- The so-called
Intensity Director
adapts to the (in)competence of the player and throws more or less (tough) enemies at him accordingly. The principle is familiar to horror veterans from games like Left 4 Dead. - Gameplay-wise, the Dead Space remake no longer relies solely on the strategic dismemberment of the Necromorphs, now there is also a so-called
Peeling
system (no, not the Fortnite banana). This means that flesh wants to be cut , bones broken and tissue torn apart. How exactly this affects the gameplay, however, remains to be seen. - The graphics and sound design have been completely overhauled. You can see for yourself just how good the Dead Space remake looks and sounds in the official trailer for the game:
What for the eyes and ears
Besides the trailer, I”ve now been able to dive a little deeper into the Dead Space matter thanks to a handful of new gameplay scenes. Quite crafty of Motive Studios to present me with, among other things, a clip that sums up the horror of Dead Space in the best possible way.
Maybe you remember when you”re walking through the deserted corridors of USG Ishimura in a heavy engineering suit and all you can hear for a brief moment are Isaac”s footsteps and your own heartbeat? The deafening silence is suddenly shattered by a monotonous knocking. Boom. Boom. Boom.
The closer you get to the end of the hallway, the more you”d like to turn back. But that”s not how video games work. So you keep walking and suddenly you see a human figure in front of you, banging its head against the wall incessantly and with brutal force. Boom. Boom. Boom.
Secretly you hope that the figure won”t turn around and reveal its disfigured grimace to you. This wish comes true – but not in the way you might have hoped. The figure lunges one last time, there is a sickening sound of breaking bones and the thudding of wet mass. Silence reigns again.
Why I”m insanely excited about the remake
The original Dead Space was absolutely fantastic. Criticisms could be searched for with a magnifying glass. Quite sacrilegiously, I would even have questioned whether a remake was needed at all. Because like Resident Evil 4, for example, the original still plays great. I even dug my good old Xbox 360 out of the basement a few weeks ago to play it.
But as the developers have already emphasised several times, Dead Space is not meant to be a loveless remaster or a half-hearted remake. A lot of work, a lot of development effort and a lot of love for the original went into the remake of the horror classic. And you can definitely see that in the game now – with only a few weeks to go until the release.
All of the improvements and new features make sense for Dead Space, even if, strictly speaking, there wasn”t that much to improve. New quests and additional areas on USG Ishimura? Why not, actually. Improved sound design and overhauled graphics? That never hurts. Isaac Clarke now also has something to say? Didn”t need it personally, but I”m happy to listen to it with Gunner Wright.
Editor”s Conclusion
I shouldn”t really be looking forward to the Dead Space remake. I know the game inside out and the original will always have a place in my heart. Strictly speaking, the very attempt at a remake that doesn”t even come from the original developer should be an affront in my eyes.
But if Motive Studios have proven anything over the past weeks and months, it”s that they really do approach their horror project with flair – or at least try to. Because shortly before release, the Dead Space remake looks to me just like I remember the original. I could have sworn, for example, that the game released in 2008 looked just as good as the remake does now!
Ultimately, I expect the Dead Space Remake to be a remake of a classic that reaches at least the same level as the great Resident Evil 2 Remake: a game that feels both new and familiar to veterans – and, in parallel, excites a whole new generation of gaming and horror fans.
