Cult horror and SF game released in 2008, which will be enriched by two sequels released respectively in 2011 and 2013, “Dead Space” is the subject of a remake under the leadership of the Motive studio. The result ? An absolute model of its kind.
Small flashback sequence. In 2021, the publisher Electronic Arts put an end to an incessant rumor that had been galloping for several months: it announced that it had indeed in its boxes a remake of the sensational SF horror game dead spacereleased in 2008.
And this new version would not be satisfied with a lazy facelift with large reinforcements of vaguely HD textures and sold at a high price, as we have unfortunately been able to see a little too much in recent years. No: the idea was to (re)do the game from top to bottom, from the basement to the roof.
This remake project has thus been entrusted to the good care of the Motive studio, which has also experienced a lot of ups and downs in recent years with the cancellation of several projects, before finally getting out of the rut thanks to the solid Star Wars Squadrons in 2020.
For those who don’t know this nugget of video games (it’s very bad!), dead space is a TPS (3rd person) shooter game originally developed by the late Visceral Games studio, which was liquidated in 2017.
The title, largely irrigated by film influences like Alien or The Thing, places players in control of a character called Isaac Clarke, a simple engineer sent on a maintenance mission with a small team on the huge USG Ishimura ship.
The arrival on the zone starts on the hats of wheels. The ship’s crew was slaughtered and infected by an alien plague and Nicole, Isaac’s wife, was on board at the time.
Electronic Arts/Motive
Isaac is now almost alone with his tools and his extraordinary engineering talents, to try to unravel the nightmarish mystery of what happened aboard the Ishimura. Trapped by hostile creatures called “necromorphs”, Isaac must fight for his survival, beset by heinous enemies but also by his own fear-induced hallucinations.
If the genre of Survival Horror had already been tagged many times before by other titles, The Franchise dead space had a huge impact on it and established itself as a benchmark. At least especially with the first game, which will be enriched by two sequels, respectively released in 2011 and 2013. And even two animated films in addition to a comic book, Dead Space: Downfall, and Dead Space: Aftermath.
Among the enamored fans of the license is prominently our Big John, a big fan of video games in front of the eternal, who moreover declared himself amazed because Dead Space Remake. And there is something. This redesign exudes love for the source material, brilliantly maintaining a subtle balance between the absolute need to stay true to the game’s DNA and its original story, while adding new elements, in subtle touches, to the possible.
“We have always been huge fans of genre cinema” told us Eric Baptizat and Roman Campos-Oriola, respectively Game Director and Creative Director on the game, who came to Paris to present this new version to the Press at the beginning of November 2022.
“We spent more than two years working on this remake. From the start of the project, moreover, we had what we call at home a “Community Council”; a group of players that we had recruited and who were fans of the license, very Survival Horror-oriented streamers, etc.
We worked closely with them, we showed them many prototypes, concept arts, explained what we wanted to keep or change… The idea behind that was really to have a culture of feedback on this what we were doing, a real outside look, with this constant concern to maintain the balance between the new and the old, above all not to distort the original experience”.
Electronic Arts/Motive
For the Motive team, the creation of this Dead Space Remake went through four founding pillars: authenticity vis-à-vis the original, a strong horror component, uninterrupted immersion – the game being thought of as a sequence shot -, and creative gameplay. In practice, joystick in hand, what does this profession of faith give?
The almost moving rediscovery of a title that we had already largely rinsed out 15 years ago, redone here anew using the Frostbite game engine; the same that equips the games franchise Battlefield. Offering an absolutely incredible level of detail in the textures, to be admired in 4k if you have the possibility.
A feeling of oppression and claustrophobia still as staggering, reinforced by the volumetric effects of smoke and the dim lighting concealing more or less well the creatures who are just waiting to swoop down on you. Never has USG Ishimura seemed so organic and terrifying to run through with fear in your stomach.
Electronic Arts/Motive
Especially since the overall challenge, even in medium difficulty (avoid going down a notch below…), remains high enough not to transform your nightmarish odyssey into a health walk. Because if the passageways of the ship are on the whole narrow, which remains practical for methodically eradicating the creatures one by one, you will also frequently find yourself in more open spaces, sometimes plunged into semi-darkness, forced to face clusters of enemies that won’t let you go. Stress guaranteed.
With a touch of sadism, we advise you in passing to play with headphones on your ears and even light off to reinforce the immersion in the game if you have the courage: the effect will be increased tenfold, but it is obviously at avoid if you are a little fragile of the heart…
But there is more: the narration has been significantly improved and less elliptical, going more in depth, between some side quests absent from the first game and a more developed background, in particular through additional dialogues and memos to read. Elements of (re)contextualization which are also borrowed from Dead Space Dawnfall, which was designed as a Prequel to the events described in the first game. A voice has also and finally been added to the main character, absent from the first game.
Gravity 0 sequences still as exhilarating; a redesigned weapon upgrade system, which also receives, at least for some of them, an alternative fire. Areas and containers with access restricted by Security Passes of different levels and scattered throughout the ship, which will encourage you to come back later to continue your exploration…
Especially since some – bad – surprises will be waiting when you return to areas that have already been combed through and that you thought were cleared of all danger. The insurance there too to keep the player under pressure, who always releases the guard. And sometimes at the worst time.
Electronic Arts/Motive
“Details make perfection and perfection is not a detail” said Leonardo da Vinci. We could not say better by way of conclusion for this dead space remake, which is a perfect illustration. If you’ve never played it, it’s now or never.
And if you have already feverishly walked the corridors of USG Ishimura, diving back into the (mis)adventures of Isaac Clarke is quite simply a moral obligation. Rid of its youthful dross, the game is more than ever an absolute pinnacle of the genre, enhanced by the colossal work done by the Motive teams to which we take our hats off.