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The upcoming Dead Space remake is one of the most anticipated releases of 2023. Developer EA Motive Studio aims to breathe new life into the classic 2008 horror game by improving legacy systems to stay relevant. In a new interview, merchandising director Joel McMillan and senior writer Joe Berry talked about some of the changes players can expect in the remake and what makes horror a good game.
According to McMillan, the Dead Space remake came about not as a “corporate order” from EA, but rather as a love fruit from Motive.
“We have that experience, we keep it to ourselves as part of our own nostalgia, and then we want to try putting our fingerprints on it or see how we can improve it and update it for a new audience,” McMillan said.
Although the Dead Space remake will be almost identical to the original, it will also include many improvements. Among the most noteworthy is the long-awaited overhaul of the frustrating in-game map, which will now be rendered in 2D instead of 3D.
“Looking back, I got a little frustrated with how to manage the original map, or how fast to read it. You have to kind of rotate it to figure out what angle is best to see where your character is and where you need to go,” Macmillan says. “We actually simplified it, not embellished it, to improve its clarity and readability.”
Technological advances since the first game will bring Motive closer than ever to the original vision of Dead Space. Macmillan says the dismemberment will be more realistic and “intuitive” this time around.
“In our version, it’s not just about one or two shots to cut off a limb, like in the original,” he says. “In the remake, you really have to carve the meat in the skin and burn it before you even get to the bone and cut off the limb.”
The original was already so intense with its action that it’s hard to imagine the remake would improve in that regard. But Motive seems to be focused on delivering more horror than before. One thing that’s returning from the original is the new game plus, and while Motive has declined to share details for now, Berry said “you’ll definitely benefit from playing USG Ishimura a second time.”
Dead Space is considered one of the greatest horror games of all time, combining gore and psychological horror in the vastness of space. But she also has a sense of justified vulnerability as protagonist Isaac Clarke. He’s not a Space Marine, but a systems engineer just trying to survive aboard the USG Ishimura.
“One of the ways to make horror really good is to create the right lens through which the audience can see the horror,” Macmillan says. “We have a very close and familiar protagonist.”
In the remake, Motive also aims to keep the slow pace of the original.
“Some horror games are so eager to get to the jump scares or gore that they miss the part that you care about,” Berry says. “It’s too easy to start right off the fears without introducing you to this universe.”
Berry points to the 2013 film Gravity as the main starting point for the remake, especially when designing Ishimura’s desolate spaces. McMillan says the 1986 remake of The Fly was another major inspiration.
«[Муха] does a great job of mixing horror and gore with a psychological thriller,” he adds.
It’s fair to say that the Dead Space remake is not for the faint of heart and the impressionable.
It’s hard to imagine how to make Dead Space even scarier, but Macmillan had an idea so scary that it didn’t make it into the game.
“In horror games, you can pause and you have a moment of safety. You can take a breath and relieve stress. But in persistent online games, you’re playing with dozens of other people, and you can’t just pause the game for everyone,” he explains. “I think removing this feature would make horror games much more efficient. You will really feel like you will never be safe.”
Having a pause button seems necessary, especially in single player, but turning it on really serves as a crutch for some players.
“I still get nervous when I play these games,” McMillan says. “That’s why I personally like having a pause button. But if you really want a scary experience full of anxiety and fear, removing that pause button can help.”
Even with the pause button, it’s clear that there will be enough scary stuff in the upcoming Dead Space remake.
Dead Space Remake releases on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on January 27, 2023.
