In a year that is chock-full of remakes, especially remakes for horror games, EA Motive's Dead Space stands out for not only being among the first major releases in 2023 but remaining one of the best in a year filled with great games. Although the Dead Space remake had some performance issues, the remake of the 2008 classic not only stood as a faithful recreation of its source material, but improvements in gameplay, structure, and narrative have it work as an incredible game in its own right. It was also a great showcase of how EA Motive had the potential to create its successor to Dead Space in a way that understands why that game worked so well.
An attempt to make a successor had coincidentally launched the month prior called The Callisto Protocol. There was genuine excitement building around The Callisto Protocol before its release in December, but it was largely seen as underwhelming with its simplistic gameplay and technical issues at launch. One advantage it did have over Dead Space was not being tied to an established series, leaving room to experiment in areas that would have felt out of place within that series. If EA Motive had the same chance at a new IP, it may be able to deliver an incredible game.
EA Motive Could Create An Excellent Dead Space-Like If Allowed
Although the Iron Man game is EA Motive's current priority, the studio has the potential to return to sci-fi horror in its next game. Its handling of the Dead Space remake showed a lot of reverence for the original game and had enough of its own creative flairs that have it work independently and can transfer to a wholly original title.
A popular theory as to what's next for the studio is a remake of Dead Space 2 or something related to Dead Space. Although it arguably holds up better than its predecessor, it would be fascinating to see how EA Motive would remake Dead Space 2 and make changes that would give it its own identity, but something arguably more interesting would be to have the team create something separate from the franchise.
While creating an entirely new IP presents a whole set of challenges, like designing a universe players would want to explore, it is also liberating since it would provide a significant amount of freedom for the team to present more unique ideas that might not even be considered when working on an established property. The Dead Space remake is an incredible work of sci-fi horror, but another remake or even a sequel would have to adhere to the core mechanics associated with the series since straying too far could make the game feel like a new installment in name only.
Something to praise about The Callisto Protocol is that it attempted to take a concept similar to Dead Space but have the gameplay focus more on melee encounters. Its primary issue is that the game does not hold up well against Dead Space, but that doesn't mean Striking Distance Studios shouldn't get another chance to learn from its previous mistakes and release a title that better effectively executes its core ideas. Still, EA Motive could be the best choice to make a new IP similar to Dead Space work if given the creative freedom to do so. Focusing on melee combat like The Callisto Protocol might not be the best direction since that game already exists, but shifting perspectives and improving upon the stealth concepts from Alien: Isolation can potentially be a winning formula.
Even taking the System Shock 2 direction and blending sci-fi body horror with RPG elements could work in a game similar to Dead Space, but probably not in Dead Space itself. Regardless of whether EA Motive ever works on the Dead Space IP again or creates a similar game, it would be a shame if the studio never gets a chance to take a crack at the horror genre again.
Dead Space is out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
