The EA Motive developers recently participated in an AMA on Reddit, an acronym for Ask Me Everything (basically a question and answer), from which we learn that they were needed two years and a half to complete it development of the remake of Dead Space.
This was confirmed by the producer Philippe Ducharme, who revealed that the project has started September of 2020. For the record, the game was officially announced less than a year later, during EA Play Live in 2021. This is a time well below the average for triple A titles, but it must be said in this case too we are talking about a remake and not game designed from scratch.
“We started in September 2020. Most of our development team are finished working on Star Wars Squadrons, which was released around that time,” Ducharme said.
During the AMA on Reddit, other notable details also surfaced. For example it was explained that initially the developers were testing the possibility to Isaac of quickly turn 180 degrees via a certain controller input (a bit like for example also in God of War: Ragnarok and its prequel). In the end, however, this feature was discarded as it would have compromised the very experience of fighting with the Necromorphs.
“Originally, we wanted to add the ability to make Isaac turn 180 degrees. But we decided against it because it would break the combat cycle of Dead Space,” explains creative director Roman Campos-Oriola.
“In the middle of the main combat loop is a scary and almost unstoppable threat coming at you. If you can instantly turn around and run away too fast, it changes the combat experience a lot. So we ended up not doing it. We are all fans of Dead Space and not just the first game.”
Finally it was explained why the viewer light of Isaac is less bright in the Dead Space remake than in the original game.
“There is actual light coming from the headset, but we decided to make it less intense than in other titles in the series. The reason is that the game is much darker and that light, when it’s too bright, turns into a constant flashlight. So we decided to reduce it and keep it as a detail only when you approach a wall,” said game director Eric Baptizat.
If you need a hand, on our pages you will find various guides dedicated to Dead Space, such as the one to unlock the secret ending or the one to find all the weapons and upgrades in the game.
