The return of Dead Space in the form of a remake for PS5, Xbox Series and PC is already official, it was just announced a few minutes ago. Made from scratch, we talk about everything that the return of this beloved video game redesigned and reimagined for next-generation consoles can bring.

Who doesn’t love Isaac Clarke? Dead Space was, and still is, one of the best horror games in video game history. He had everything to seduce us, and he succeeded. His character was not a space marine, but an engineer who used his tools to survive. The setting was space and an abandoned ship; And even now, in 2021, is it an excessively common setting in the genre, that’s why we want so much to return to its universe: something that we will be able to do with the Dead Space Remake that has just been announced . But in addition to these two great starting points, Dead Space had terrific ideas when it came to gameplay. Isaac could dismember enemiesand use your skills to freeze enemies and objects. I still remember that phrase: “Cut off their limbs!” which is one of the great protagonists of the teaser. Because Dead Space is not a forgotten game . In universities they continue to talk about their inventory and their particular life bar as a perfect integration of the HUD in the game world. In addition, it had a perfect length and a couple of superb script twists, and perfect to build a majestic galactic epic that ended up wasting with an unfortunate Dead Space 3 ; It was a good action game , yes, but small colossi were the first and Dead Space 2 .

It is precisely here where we begin to understand the good and juicy of receiving a remake of Dead Space: that it becomes a whole reboot of the franchise that leads us to an improved Dead Space 2 and the rewrite of Dead Space 3. But that would already be talk about a very distant future. The first thing is to understand what the Xbox Series, PlayStation 5 and the next generation PCs can offer to the original adventure. One problem that the ship we were traveling through in the original, The USG Ishimura, had is that after several hours walking through its corridors it was easy to notice the feeling that the scenarios were repeating themselves . This was understandable because we were wandering around an austere mining ship, but with greater technical power, these scenarios can be redesigned, receiving new decorative elements, details and much more variety. In addition, taking into account that Dead Space has a rich lore built through its original trilogy, alternative video games, and comics, this collection can fill every nook and cranny with artistic graphic clues. This would serve to give more packaging to its history and be even more terrifying , especially with the guarantees of immersion of the vibration improvements that the controls have experienced in recent times and aspects such as the 3D sound that its managers have already announced that they will get a great out of it.

This new level of detail can also be requested from your enemies. The dismemberment of the necromorphs was wonderful in 2008, but in 2021 and with the possibilities of the new consoles, I want a more natural and much more visceral cut of the limbs of the enemies . Today’s game systems should allow us to section out faces, fingers and other small details of its monstrous anatomy at will. That Isaac could do this would not only serve to enjoy a more gore game. Let’s not forget that Dead Space 2 presents us with an engineer with a lot of stress and mental problems. Guts and fluids gushing out would help explain what’s going on with your psyche. On the other hand, in Dead Space we only had half a dozen different necromorphs to annihilate. This remake must include some new ones or redesign the existing ones with new behaviors . In fact, if we combine the already confirmed idea of ​​improved dismemberment, new elements on stage, a series of effects and lighting made available to further enhance the already oppressive atmosphere, and a destruction of Isaac’s sanity that is gradually become present in the game, that would lead to richer, more humane and much more varied combats. That? Doesn’t sound bad for now, does it? Motive, the study in charge of the project, will surely know how to make good use of the Frostbite engine to achieve this.

Dead Space remake has to improve zero gravity moments

For games like Forza Horizon 5 or Ratchet and Clank: A dimension apart we know the tremendous Xbox Series and PS5 of showing us beautiful scenarios . The zero gravity sections of Dead Space weren’t quite working well. Navigation became very uncomfortable for them, and the opportunity to float freely through the beautiful space, through exciting interior areas and to merge the hero with that universe through which their ship roamed was lost. That can improve now . How has been done with the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, you can add new areas and situations where aesthetic enjoyment is part of the equation. And it does not always have to be a beauty at the service of pleasure, also of terror. The light and shadows caused by the suns and stars of space can, and must, hide new creatures lurking from Isaac both outside the Ishimura and within.

Dead Space has a lot of room for improvement when developing a remakeImagine a Hunter with his tremendous regeneration abilities taking advantage of space, its shadows and its emptiness to hunt us down. That is, in terms of environment design, and in its relation to gameplay and horror, Dead Space has a lot of room for improvement when developing a remake. And this finesse also has to be brought into Isaac’s reactions. Without removing your mask, you should be able to count on more with more animations, more alive and less orthopedic; more reactions of disgust, fear, or dread through your body. And his armor should also be able to weaken and suffer deeply from necromorph attacks. It would be great to get to the end of Dead Space and see, by the cuts, bites or lacerations on his suit, the level of suffering to which we have subjected as players and being different depending on our actions .

In this improved relationship of the protagonist with his environment, taking into account that Isaac is an engineer and that one of the strongest points of the adventure is the integration of inventory and life bar in the game, it would not hurt to stop collecting ammunition and team of dead enemies to find it integrated into the stage. The grace of Isaac Clarke’s weapons is that they are not weapons, they are useful tools to carry out their tasks. Because of the situation in which he has to live, he turns them into machine guns, laser cannons and improvised pistols. As an engineer, you could tear pieces out of the environment, thus enhancing exploration and that feeling of creating things with your hands.which he then uses to kill. Going back to the idea of ​​improved dismemberment, it would be great to force Isaac to rummage through the guts or mouths of the necromorphs for these tools. You could even use the teeth of your own enemies as ammunition. In other words, with better power, not only a more beautiful game can be achieved, but also a greater and better integration of all its parts with each other that, in the end, would help each concept of the game work more optimally.

Should follow in the wake of those from Resident Evil

The success of the remakes of the two Resident Evils that Capcom has recently developed should be the roadmap for the return of Dead Space; and everything seems that it will be. It would have been very disappointing if a minimally retouched HD version was announced, which is why we celebrate so much the rebirth of a video game series that we adore by way of rebuilding from scratch. Because Dead Space needs to maintain its essence, but also enhance each of the elements that make this adventure unique. The character’s weakness, the destruction of monsters, the terrifying presence of space, the loneliness of the USG Ishimura, and Isaac’s only real weapon: his intelligence. All of that has to be there. The Resident Evil 2 remake not only optimized graphics, cameras and situations, he knew how to use the technique to offer us a scarier Raccoon City, and a much more impressive police station. His characters were much more defined, and he took licenses to redesign his concept of action and horror. That freedom Capcom drew on to bring Resident Evil 2 back to life has to be here.

You can’t fall into the Dead Space 3 mistake of being more of an action game than a horror gameBut in the same way that I ask for things that I want done for this possible remake of Dead Space, there are others that I do not want them to even think of doing. You can’t fall into the Dead Space 3 mistake of being more of an action game than a horror game. I don’t think they should, either, dare to put in a cooperative since loneliness is a key element in the tone of the saga; especially from this game. Although PS5 and Xbox Series allow us to introduce new and surprising cinematics or show more of Isaac’s face, I think this would be counterproductive. A great virtue of the original was how restrained it decided to be when telling its story. There weren’t too many pauses to watch video scenes, and that accentuated the wonderful feeling of feeling alone, helpless, and distraught. Nor would I add more duration to the adventure at the cost of introducing filler. The ten hours that the original lasted were perfect, and then there was the option to restart the adventure with all your equipment and more difficulty. In this, Dead Space was great.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about talking about what we want from a Dead Space remake is realizing that there are reasons to do so , and we are not only talking about things already confirmed such as the total absence of loading times, if not more specific things. The original deserves to grow, reflect on the ideas that made it such a long-remembered game, and take the next step. Dead Space is one of those sagas that we want and need today. The new consoles can not only give good graphics, but much more coherence and strength to everything that it offered us in its day. Now we just need EA and Motive to do their work and Dead Space returns in an outstanding way to our lives. And let it stay with us forever, far removed from debatable decisions like third-party microtransactions: EA has confirmed that there will be no micropayments of any kind . Now that you know what I want from this remake, it’s up to you. How would you like Isaac Clarke to come back? I read you.