Lor Gislason
Announced during an EA Play Live broadcast, the survival horror shooter Dead Space is being “rebuilt from the ground up” by Motive Studios, the developers behind Star Wars: Squadrons. A teaser trailer featuring the classic CUT OFF THEIR LIMBS line in bloody handwriting and a quick shot of protagonist Isaac Clarke was shown. The game will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. No release date has been announced at this time.
Near the end of the minute-long video, you can faintly hear “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” a reference to the trailer for the original Dead Space.
Released in 2008 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC, Dead Space takes place in the 26th century, with engineer Isaac Clarke investigating a distress call from the USG Ishimura. He arrives at the scene of a massacre with the majority of the crew transformed into Necromorphs, mutated human corpses that have become dangerous monsters. The gameplay revolves around dismembering the Necromorphs with various weapons like the Plasma Cutter. As Isaac ventures deeper into the spaceship, he begins seeing visions of a strange alien Marker and discovers the truth behind the disaster, and he learns of the mysterious Unitology religion.
Praised for its lack of heads-up display, sound design, and atmosphere, the series is considered one of the best video games of all time–especially in the survival horror and shooter genres. The story takes heavy inspiration from horror classics such as John Carpenter’s The Thing, the Alien series, Event Horizon, and the Silent Hill and Resident Evil games while creating its own unique vision of a horrifying future.
Dead Space has two direct sequels, several spin-off titles, books, and CGI films released. Due to the poor sales of Dead Space 3, a fourth installment was canceled, but it remains a fan favourite among gamers.
Interestingly, former director of the now-closed Visceral Games, Glen Schofield is also working on a futuristic shooter with his new studio Striking Distance Studios set in the PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) universe called The Callisto Protocol, intended to be the “scariest game on next-gen platforms.” It takes place at a prison colony in the year 2320 on Callisto, one of Jupiter’s moons during an alien invasion. Not much else is known about the title, currently.
