THE MAKING OF DEAD SPACE

With a remake on the horizon, the developers of a sci-fi horror classic tell their story

- Robert Zak

Looking at the recent early footage of the Dead Space remake, the most striking thing is just how similar it looks to the 13-year-old original. Sure, it’s shinier and glossier and your Plasma Cutter now sends flesh flying off Necromorphs like porridge in the wind, but overall it puts into perspective just what a masterpiece the first game was.

As gamers start derusting their Ripper blades and lubing their Line Guns with WD-40 in preparation for the remake, I’ve looked back with the developers of the original Dead Space on how they brought together a uniquely timeless classic. When Dead Space creator and Visceral Games general manager Glen Schofield proposed a sci-fi horror game to EA, he says that “EA was a bit freaked out, because it was something they hadn’t done since System Shock.”

Schofield adjusted his idea into a potential System Shock 3, more with the desire to convince EA than to create a true successor to the immersive sim. This seeded the idea with the publisher, though the breakthrough came when Resident Evil 4 launched in 2005. Suddenly, survival horror looked commercially viable again, and in the end it was the now-famous “Resident Evil in space” pitch that sealed the deal.