EA’s Motive Studio who’s in charge of developing the Dead Space remake has published the first of its “Inside Dead Space” developer blogs, and the studio talks about remaking the classic.
One of the most interesting bits about the article was how the studio changed how the story unfolds overall. Senior Producer Philippe Ducharme states that they are treating the game as one sequential shot.
“We’re also actually creating the entire game as one sequential shot,” says Philippe. “From the moment you start the game to the moment you end the game, there are no camera cuts or load screens—unless you die. The Ishimura is now fully interconnected, so you can walk from Point A to Point Z, visit the entire ship, and revisit locations you’ve already completed to pick up things you might have missed—that’s all new. It’s now a completely unbroken experience.”
One game that comes to mind that did this is Sony Santa Monica’s God of War 2018, which used it to great effect when it comes to storytelling.
Also mentioned in the dev update is how Motive checks in with “diehard fans” every six weeks or so to bounce ideas off regarding the game. Creative Director Roman Campos-Oriola states:
Really, really early in development…we started discussions with some members of the community who were identified by our team as diehard fans. We met with them every six weeks, roughly, and we gave them full access to what we were doing
Adding to this, Philippe mentions that these diehard fans give their opinion on polarizing topics.
“Because we have our opinions, but that doesn’t mean we’re right!” Philippe adds. “There were a number of polarizing topics we wanted to get a gut-check on, so we gathered feedback from these groups to make informed decisions. A focus on community is one of the key pillars of this project, so we also took feedback from our livestreams, read through user reviews and Twitch comments—there was a lot of intake of information. It was all to understand who we’re addressing with this game, and what made Dead Space spectacular for them.”
The Dead Space remake is set for release on January 27, 2023 on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Go check out gameplay footage of the game right here.
Source: EA