Dead Space Remake Announced, Coming To PC And Next-Gen Consoles

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Posted July 23, 2021 by Richard Lee Breslin in Announcements, EA Play, Gaming News, PC, PS5, Trailers, Xbox Series X
dead space remake

Credit: Electronic Arts/EA Motive

Finally, the rumours were officially confirmed as the Dead Space remake was officially announced at EA Play Live.

The Dead Space remake, which has no current release date, will be developed from the ground up and will be coming to PC as well as new-gen consoles.

The remake was revealed during the conclusion of EA Play Live with an “in-engine” teaser trailer. The trailer which looks to take place on the USG Ishimura gives us a brief glimpse of a necromorph, before ending with Isaac Clarke’s Engineer RIG suit lighting up. It was a very brief trailer that didn’t show an awful lot, but it serves its purpose in hying up the announcement for sure.

The Dead Space remake will be powered by the Frostbite Engine, the same engine used to develop the recent Battlefield instalments. It’s certainly a very capable engine full of potential, so it should serve this remake very well indeed.

According to the press release, the remake will feature an “improved story, characters, gameplay mechanics and more as they fight to survive a living nightmare aboard the desolate mining starship, the USG Ishimura, all while uncovering the dreadful mystery of what happened to the slaughtered crew and ship.”

The remake will be developed by EA Motive and not the original developers of the series, Visceral Games, which EA closed a few years ago. This leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth, as it was unfortunate that Visceral was closed, and it would have been nice to see those developers work on this remake. That said, I’m sure EA Motive will do a great job.

dead space remake

Credit: Electronic Arts/EA Motive

“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,” said Phillippe Ducharme, Senior Producer of Dead Space.

“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.”

If you’re not familiar with this survival horror classic. The story of the original Dead Space (and now the remake), see’s: “Isaac Clarke is an everyman engineer on a mission to repair a vast, sprawling starship, the USG Ishimura, only to discover something has gone horribly wrong. The ship’s crew has been slaughtered and infected by some alien scourge…and Isaac’s beloved partner, Nicole, is lost somewhere on board.

“Now Isaac is alone with only his tools and engineering skills as he attempts to uncover the nightmarish mystery of what happened aboard the Ishimura. Trapped with hostile creatures called “necromorphs”, Isaac faces a battle for survival, not only against the escalating terrors of the ship, but his own crumbling sanity.”

dead space

Credit: EA/Visceral Games

Additional details of the Dead Space remake were also revealed during an interview with the developers of EA Motive with IGN. In the interview, they spoke of how not only the remake will be inspired by the original game, but they will also take influences of what worked in the two sequels. For example, EA Motive is looking at ways to implement Zero Gravity sections, something that was introduced in Dead Space 2.

In terms of Dead Space 3, EA Motive claims that the Dead Space remake will have no microtransactions. In-game purchases were a major issue with Dead Space 3 and it put an unfortunate stain on the series. Not to mention that much of the horror was removed from the third game. Considering that this is a survival horror series, removing much of the horror consequently removes a lot of what fans love about this series.

During the interview with IGN, the developers also spoke of how with modern technology, they can make the most out of 3D Audio. If you’re familiar with the first two Dead Space games, then you would know that both featured fantastic audio and played a huge part in generated tension.

dead space

Credit: EA/Visceral Games

The developers also spoke of how they aim to unfold Dead Space with a slow-burn process, unlike the third game which was very action-orientated. However, the developers did also mention how they would like to make the game so that the player feels like they cannot put down the controller. This is great, I think we all want that enjoyment from any game that we play.

However, it does concern me a little when they mention finishing a game “in one sitting”. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean that the Dead Space game will be too short. Unless of course, it has plenty of replay value. You can check out more details via the interview with IGN.

Dead Space will release for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Are you looking forward to the remake? Let us know across our social media channels.

Featured Image Credit: Electronic Arts/EA Motive