Dead Space – Remake to be released in early 2023

In a livestream, a time frame for the release of the Dead Space reboot was announced.
In addition, some core features and innovations were introduced to the horror-survival title.

Remake with attention to detail

The developers are working on the Dead Space remake with a lot of attention to detail, as some videos from the livestream make clear. These are about the so-called “ALIVE” system and the revision of the complete soundscape.

A.L.I.V.E. System

The character Isaac Clarke already reacted to certain environmental influences and situations in the original. For example, his heart rate increases in a fight when his life points are low, he gasps for air when he runs out of oxygen or screams when he gets scared.

Even though it served its purpose, it still had some weaknesses. For example, Isaac’s breathing immediately changed back to normal as soon as he had oxygen again, a heal immediately silenced the warning heartbeat, and combat actions often overshadowed the actual moment of fright.

Among other things, this was due to the fact that there were really two audio tracks being played back in time and one was stopped abruptly, which you can definitely hear in the video if you try a little harder.

The new ALIVE system is supposed to improve this point and work on the basic principle of adrenaline and the limbic system that regulates pulse and breathing, for example.

Isaac’s adrenaline level and heart rate are affected by various factors, including combat difficulty, scripted events, startle moments, level of exhaustion, oxygen supply, and health points.

These factors also affect the type of dialogs. Depending on whether Isaac is doing well, exhausted or injured, a different dialog is played.
A factor that should clearly contribute to better immersion.

More realistic soundscape

For example, the entire soundscape has been reworked so that it now takes into account whether there are blockades between the sound source and the player and whether they completely swallow, distort or redirect the sound so that it echoes along a corridor, for example.

New weapon sounds

In addition, virtually all weapon sounds have been reworked. The weapons sound more contemporary and realistic, but retain certain characteristics that make them distinctive.
The video also shows how exactly this rework is done and that basically a lot of individual sounds are layered to achieve the sound we hear in the end.

Release window announced

An exact date for the release of the remake is not yet known. But at least there is a time frame – namely the beginning of 2023.

The developers already have a date in mind, but they want to make sure that all the work can really be completed and that the game will meet their demands and hopefully also those of the fans.

Fortunately, we won’t have to wait that long for more information about the Dead Space reboot, as the next livestream focusing on the art style has been announced for May.