Highlights
- Dead Space's Intensity Director feature adds an extra layer of scares and unpredictability, making replays more interesting and unique each time.
- Customization of the Intensity Director in Dead Space 2 would allow players to have deep control over various enemy elements and environmental moments, tailoring their experience to their preferences.
- With the ability to customize the Intensity Director, players can challenge themselves by tweaking settings or even share their preferred settings for the scariest or least scary experience, fostering community interaction and enhancing replayability.
Though it has lost its time in the spotlight thanks to the equally great Resident Evil 4 remake and the many phenomenal, non-horror titles released throughout 2023, EA Motive’s remake of Dead Space is still phenomenal. The brilliant recreation of the USG Ishimura is filled with great level design, the addition of Isaac Clarke’s voice adds personality to the story, and combat encounters feel better than ever. However, if Dead Space continues, it is the Intensity Director that could have the biggest impact on a follow-up.
With EA Motive currently hard at work on its Iron Man game, a Dead Space 2 remake is likely several years away - assuming that it does actually happen at some point. Hopefully it will, as Dead Space 2 is a worthy follow-up to its critically acclaimed predecessor. While it may be less scary than the first game, it does still have its moments, like the return to the USG Ishimura. If used correctly, the Intensity Director can add some extra scares without harming the top-notch action of the sequel. Beyond that, though, the tool can be used to add replayability if EA Motive is willing to hand it over to the players.
Giving Players Control of Dead Space Remake’s Intensity Director Could Be a Lot of Fun
For those unfamiliar with the Intensity Director, the feature is essentially used to always keep players on their toes. An AI will recognize if players have not been spooked in a while, and then a scare of some kind will be thrown their way. Sometimes, players will be attacked by a random wave of Necromorphs. Other times, they will hear noises as the tram shuts down, or vents will malfunction and break as they move through the Ishimura. This is a brilliant feature that makes the game more interesting on replays, as things will happen a bit differently each time.
However, as interesting as Dead Space’s Intensity Director is, at the end of the day there is a lot of randomization involved. Some players may have a lot of Necromorphs pretending to be dead during their run, while others could instead end up seeing a lot of malfunctioning vents. One occurrence is a lot scarier and more challenging than the other, and for players who want the Intensity Director to really take things up a notch, it can be a bit disappointing when it does not play ball. Fortunately, there is a perfect solution: letting players unlock control of the Intensity Director.
Dead Space has always offered great rewards for completionists, such as the foam finger Hand Cannon and special suits for Isaac to wear. As such, it is not out of the realm of possibility for Dead Space 2 to treat Intensity Director customization as another unlock. The process could be either difficult or simple, with the tool acquired by beating the game without dying or by just finishing the story on any difficulty. From there, gamers could be free to challenge themselves however they see fit.
Intensity Director customization in Dead Space 2 could either give players deep control over every type of scare, or some more limited settings. In a more limited capacity, players could choose between a high likelihood, average likelihood, or low likelihood for Necromorph-related scares and environmental moments. A deeper system would let players tweak every single option, choosing how likely lockdowns are to happen, how often creepy whispers are heard, and how common Necromorphs disguised as dead bodies will be. Additionally, Dead Space 2’s Tormentor could be tweaked to hunt players more or less often through an intensity director setting.
With intensity director customization, players could enjoy Dead Space 2 exactly how they want to. Speedrunners could appreciate turning off the feature, getting as fair of a run as possible by leaving the director inactive. Achievement hunters could be tasked with finishing the game with every intensity director setting flicked to the highest option, something that could be hilarious to see in action. Players could even share what they feel is the best settings for the scariest (and least scary) experience, adding a bit of community interaction to the mix. Depending on how much control players are given over the director, Dead Space 2 replays could feel a bit like Hades’ Pact of Punishment, with players having the option to make things much easier or harder on themselves.
Dead Space is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
