One of the most visible aspects of Visceral Studio’s Dead Space games was its dismemberment mechanic, a key component for survival against the Necromorphs that were its primary enemies. Motive Studios wants to actually improve on that mechanic in the Dead Space remake announced yesterday during EA Play Live 2021.
Roman Compos-Oriola, the creative director at Motive Studios, has said that they’re not just looking to make the combat gorier, but to evolve the core gameplay mechanic to fit with how the game is also being remade in this new version.
In the original games, dismemberment was the primary tool of fighting the Necromorphs, who very often had had their limbs twisted into sharp implements like blades and other such things. Cutting off their limbs not only made them (relatively) harmless, but also helped to kill them faster.
Motive Studios has said that while they intend to make full use of the original game’s infrastructure and assets, they also intend to elevate the gameplay to make certain standout points of later games be in the Dead Space remake as well.
Exactly what this means for the limb-cutting mechanic remains to be seen at this point, considering that on the surface there doesn’t appear to be very much that you can do. However, Dead Space 2 does give players the option to use the Kinesis module to use severed limbs as projectiles, so building on that can also help.
Either way, it all depends on how Motive Studios intends to approach the Dead Space remake. They’ve said that they have no intention of putting in microtransactions (a harshly criticized part of Dead Space 3), but if they truly can improve on the game by bringing in other well-regarded mechanics from the original Dead Space games, hopefully the remake can be the game Dead Space deserves.
The game currently has no confirmed release date, but will be releasing on PC, Xbox Series X, and Playstation 5.
