One of the developers working on EA’sDead Spaceremake has said in a recent interview that the game is just too scary to play at night with headphones on. The statement itself isn’t too surprising, of course, considering the franchise’s significant horror pedigree, as the 2008 original is one of the most highly acclaimed horror games of all time.
As therecentDead Spacegameplay trailershave shown, there’s no lack of scares in this particular franchise revival. The remake of the classic title promises a true-to-form horror gaming experience that takes all the best parts from the original game and improves upon them in all the ways that matter. All the while, the developer in charge of the production, EA Motive, is going to attempt to retain the tense atmosphere that fans remember from back in the day.
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Speaking in a recent interview with Play Magazine,Dead Space’s technical director, David Robillard, has said that the game is just too scary for him to play with headphones on. The franchise has always banked heavily on its immersive qualities, withDead Space’s diegetic interfaceplaying a major role in how information is communicated to the player without taking them out of the experience. “These things,” said Robillard, “could have been done [on PS4], but not to the level we’re doing them today.” Robillard’s commentary suggests that the game is going to go all-in on immersion, delivering a horror experience that’s going to feel familiar without foregoing new scares and atmospheric set-pieces.
A prime example of much-needed modernization is present, for example, in theDead Spaceremake’s new 2D map interface. EA Motive is looking to build upon the original title’s core gameplay systems and progression, improving them where it makes sense to do so. The new map is just one aspect of how the developers' reverence for the horror classic isn’t causing them to look at it with rose-tinted glasses.Dead Spacewasn’t perfect, after all, and delivering key improvements in areas that need such a thing will lead to substantially improved immersion, underlining Robillard’s claims about how scary the experience is.
WithThe Callisto Protocolunderperforming heavily, theDead Spaceremake has an even better shot at getting all the limelight it needs to succeed. Whereas the two titles had been compared and contrasted with one another up untilCallistolaunched, the game ended up losing much of its pre-release steam. This, in turn, means thatDead Spacehas a better shot at positioning itself as the ultimate modern sci-fi horror experience.
If Robillard’s claims about how scary and atmosphericDead Spaceis end up being true, it’s entirely possible that EA may revive the IP for further installments. As it currently stands, the remake is already one of thebiggest new games coming out in January 2023, and it has every chance to deliver precisely the sort of thing that horror fans have been yearning for.
Dead Spacelaunches on January 27 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
