Dead Space is still quite a way off but thanks to a livestream by developers EA Motive, we’ve learnt a little more about this upcoming sci-fi survival horror reboot.
The good news is, Motive are sticking to the spirit of the original instead of turning it into a rhythm game or setting it in medieval France. Though the more we think about we, we’d play the hell out of a Dead Space/Beat Saber mash-up. Motive emphasised that the footage they demonstrated was very, very, early on in the game’s development, which leads us to believe we won’t be seeing Dead Space until late 2022.
Motive’s 42 minute Dead Space livestream was fronted by Senior Producer Phillipe Ducharme and Creative Director Roman Campos-Oriola. It also featured input from Dead Space community representatives Jackie Butler and Kahlief Adams. Between the four of them they divulged a fair amount of information. Here’s what we learnt:
- The development team wants to honour the legacy of Dead Space, in a similar fashion to Motive’s Star Wars Squadrons which drew from the X-Wing and Tie Fighter games.
- They’ve chosen to engage with the community early, to make sure they’re delivering an authentic Dead Space experience that appeals to fans as well as newcomers.
- It will, once again, take place on the USG Ishimura and feature Isaac Clarke, protagonist of the original trilogy.
- Isaac Clarke will be voiced by Gunner Wright who also voiced the character in the original, but he’ll be a little more talkative this time around.
- Even the footage from an early pre-production build looks pretty great; the team have put a lot of effort into lighting and audio in particular. They showed a screen from the original and the reboot together and the most obvious difference was the way the metal reflected light, instead of just looking flat.
- The team is going for an “unbroken experience”. This echoes what the developers previously stated in an interview with IGN, that there will be no in-game loading screens. So you’ll be able to walk from one end of the ship to the other, without the need to use trams. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised if certain sections need to be unlocked along the way.
- The team is taking into account just how isolating it would be being aboard the Ishimura, recognising there’s horror to be derived from that experience. Hearing them talk about this gave us major Event Horizon vibes.
- Dismemberment is back, but all weapons will have a visceral impact on the enemies, not just the cutting ones. Though if you do use a cutting weapon on necromorphs, they’ll lose chunks of flesh as well, which could mean hacking away flesh before you can take a limb off.
- You’ll be able to float around in zero gravity, not just leap from wall to wall using Isaac’s magnetic boots.
- The basic foundation of the story will remain the same, but it will be expanded with elements from the wider, original Dead Space universe; eg, the books, the anime etc.
You can watch the full livestream here. Dead Space doesn’t have a confirmed release date but it will be arriving on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 sometime in 2022.
