In a live-streamed development update today, EA Motive showcased a new look at the highly anticipated Dead Space remake. While there were plenty of things addressed in the stream, one of the most notable things included was an early look at what the new game will look like as well as a comparison to the original Dead Space from 2008.
The footage that EA Motive showed of the new Dead Space was brief, however, it gave viewers of the stream a good look into what improvements are being made to the original game in terms of graphical fidelity and atmosphere. Based on the build that the project's senior producer Philippe Ducharme and creative director Roman Campos-Oriola stressed was still very early, it looks like the game will be doing justice to the original by enhancing a lot of the visuals in a way that wasn't possible due to hardware limitations when it was first made.
Based on the side-by-side comparison shown during the stream, it's clear that a lot of Dead Space's resources are being devoted to capturing the metallic, uncomfortable atmosphere of the USG Ishimura. Ducharme and Campos-Oriola stressed that while EA Motive is offering its take on the Dead Space story, the studio is trying to do right by the original in that regard.
Another section of the stream was devoted to showing off the enhanced dismemberment features that EA Motive is adding to Dead Space. The game is known for the infamous phrase "cut off their limbs" and the remake is going all out with that concept by providing a new graphic level of detail not seen in the franchise before.
Now instead of simply blasting through the necromorphs' limbs with Isaac's weapons, players will need to make sure to hit the exact same place twice to sever the limb. When hit the first time, all the flesh will tear off in a small area of the necromorph prompting players to shoot there again to get through the bone.
Ducharme and Campos-Oriola also described situations where a necromorph's bones would sever without breaking the skin where Isaac could need to use his kinesis module to tear the limb off and shoot it back at the monster. Based on the gory details shown during the look at the early build, the technology used for the enhanced dismemberments seems like it'll be a selling point for the game on its own.
Dead Space is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Twitch/EA Motive