Recently,Dead Spacehas once again been a topic of discussion with the release of aDead Space-themed crossover update inBattlefield 2042’s Season 7: Turning Point. With this new update,Dead Spacefans have once again brought up the possibility of EA working on aDead Space 2remake following the successful release of theDead Space 1remake in 2023. Before aDead Space 2remake is developed, however, there’s one other pastDead Spaceentry that could be remade in a new, exciting way to attract fans new and old. This is a virtual reality (VR) remake ofDead Space: Extraction.
Following the successful release of the originalDead Spacein 2008, EA Redwood Shores, later rebranded as Visceral Games, was tasked with developing a Mature-rated game for the then relatively new Nintendo Wii console. According toExtraction’s producer Steve Papoutsis, the decision to make aDead Spacegame for the Wii was in response to Shores’ interest in developing a game that was “intuitive and fun” for Wii owners. However, hardware limitations forcedExtractionto have lower quality graphics than its predecessor and be locked into an on-rails shooter, first-person perspective. Despite these issues,Dead Space: Extractiondebuted worldwide in 2009and would later be ported to the PlayStation 3 in 2011 for its motion controlled PlayStation Move interface.
Set a couple of weeks before the events ofDead Space 1,Extractiondetails the retrieval of the Red Markerfrom Aegis 7 and the beginning of the Necromorph outbreak on both the planet and the orbiting Ishimura Planet Cracker ship. UnlikeDead Space 1, however,Extractionfeatures multiple playable protagonists, including Engineer Sam Caldwell, Detective Nathan McNeill, Doctor Karen Howell, and Sergeant Gabe Weller. Together alongside Concordance Extraction Corporation (CEC) Surveyor Lexine Murdoch and CEC Executive Director of Colonial Mining Affairs Warren Eckhardt, the group struggle to survive against the growing Necromorph horde as they attempt to help other survivors and escape.
References to Eckhardt, McNeill, Murdoch, and Weller can be found in theDead Spaceremake in the text log Unexpected Visitors, which is automatically added to players’ inventory when playing New Game+.
Being a first person rail shooter, not a lot of control is available for players inExtractionbeyond shooting Necromorphs and crazed humans. WhileExtractionis made with a set path for players to view, there are weapons, logs, and ammo players can pick up throughout the game. This often kept players from not focusing on discussions between characters and instead worrying about missing out on some items if not paying attention to the background. IfDead Space: Extractionis remade in VR, players could move freely in the game and allow them to look around areas without fear of missing out on items or dialogue.
A VR remake could further improveExtraction’s gameplay in terms of combat. In most instances,Extractionwill have players stand still and attempt to shoot as many Necromorphs as they can. However, due to the on-rail nature ofExtraction, it’s often difficult to tell how close Necromorphs are to players or if Necromorphs are at a safe distance away to not get hit by them. With a VR remake, players could be able to run away from Necromorphs or better position themselves for brief firefights. This could additionally allow for morehectic fight scenarios with Necromorphsoverwhelming the player instead of waiting for the player to kill every single one in short sections before moving on.
EA’s Motive Studio could be selected to develop theDead Space: ExtractionVR remake based on their prior game experience. In addition to developing theDead Space 1remake,Motive developed 2020’sStar Wars: Squadrons, which had the option to be played in VR. Motive could use their VR experience and assets from theDead Space 1remake to developExtractionVR. This could make the horrific beginning of the Necromorph outbreak inExtractionone of the most grotesque and terrifying events portrayed in the entirety of theDead Spacefranchise.
Dead Space (2023)
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The sci-fi survival-horror classic Dead Space™ returns, completely rebuilt from the ground up to offer a deeper, more immersive experience. This remake brings jaw-dropping visual fidelity, suspenseful atmospheric audio, and improvements to gameplay while staying faithful to the original game’s thrilling vision.Isaac Clarke is an everyman engineer on a mission to repair a vast mining ship, the USG Ishimura, only to discover something has gone horribly wrong. The ship’s crew has been slaughtered and Isaac’s beloved partner, Nicole, is lost somewhere on board.Now alone and armed with only his engineering tools and skills, Isaac races to find Nicole as the nightmarish mystery of what happened aboard the Ishimura unravels around him. Trapped with hostile creatures called Necromorphs, Isaac faces a battle for survival, not only against the escalating terrors of the ship but against his own crumbling sanity.
