In the remake the smoke machine is on and I love it

Tzzzzzssshhh – the Ishimura is hazier than a techno club.

It’s hard to believe, but the first Dead Space is now 14 years old. For its age, however, the horror show has held up surprisingly well, and it’s still perfectly capable of sending shivers down your spine.

Graphically, however, the remake goes a long way and promises to be an absolute terror grenade. A big part of this is the skillful use of dense fog in combination with dim lighting and deep black shadows.

According to the weather forecast, ground fog is to be expected

In a video, YouTube channel ElAnalistaDeBits compares previously released gameplay clips from the remake of Dead Space, which is due out on January 27, 2023, with the 2008 original. It’s absolutely impressive how much technical progress has been made. gigantic since. the first child fails.

Above all, the atmospheric use of fog and smoke effects enchanted me. As a big fan of the classic Alien movie, where the creators used too dense a fog to envelop alien creatures and environments to create suspense, I’m glad to see the effect is still a standard horror repertoire of well done science fiction.

More particle effects can be seen in the image alone than in the full original.

The first installment of Dead Space also followed this rule back then, but by no means to the extent that a Returnal, Alien: Isolation, or the Dead Space remake does today. Smoke now manifests not just as a localized particle effect lit by roughly defined columns of light, but as thick clouds that envelop nearly every room.

Like here in this comparison image:

remake

original

The remake can and does work more with effects. (Image source: ElAnalistaDeBits)

Without better lighting, such particle effects would not be possible.

The reason the Nebula fits so well into the optics is mainly because it’s integrated so well into the Dead Space Remake’s lighting system. Since many other independently radiating light sources are used and realistically fill the room, a more cohesive overall image is created that sets selective contrasts.

Twinkling lamps or the glow of a nearby star catch the eye, while shadows cast the landscape in a deep, eerie black that hides the surroundings from our eyes.

The Dead Space remake adds a lot more contrast to create more visual variation in the brightness of a scene. (Image source: ElAnalistaDeBits)

In 2008, this was not yet possible. Instead of illuminating individual areas in detail, an area’s shadows and brightness have been largely aligned using an overall light source. As a result, Dead Space 1 looks pretty pale and uniform by today’s standards.

Not to mention it uses dynamic lights in some sections, which was a lot of work at the time and has held up well to this day. These areas will be even more effective in the remake due to the increased computing power of the new consoles and the more modern graphics framework.

The original Dead Space is a grey-green dream. The remake is much more varied in terms of color. (Image source: ElAnalistaDeBits)

By the way, you can find out where in our big subjective ranking of horror games (the original of) Dead Space ended up here:

21
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The 25 Best Horror Games: Our Broad, Subjective Ranking

One of the greatest remakes in video game history

The Dead Space Remake not only stands out from the mass of novelties because of the nebulous light games, but also thanks to the many innovations that shake up the gameplay of the original. So now (as in later parts of the series) we can move freely in weightlessness instead of jumping from point to point:

Spacewalks are much bigger than they used to be, now we can move around freely.

Additionally, Dead Space’s protagonist, ship’s engineer Isaac Clarke, is free to explore and even – as in later episodes – talk to the stranded USG Ishimura.

Other new features include:

• completely new effects
• animations created from scratch
• newly furnished spaces
• much fancier textures and character models
• Enemies have a detailed damage system
• three-dimensional sound

Then there are more whimsical and dynamic shadows, like those cast when enemies are illuminated by the now much more believable beam of light from Isaac’s flashlight.

You can check out the graphical improvements in the trailer here:

2:25

Dead Space Remake – The first gameplay trailer finally gives the floor to Isaac Clarke

Editorial notice

When the remake of Dead Space was announced, I was immediately hooked, because the first part is an undisputed masterpiece, but graphically, it is no longer one of the spearheads of the horror genre. Among other things, due to the dim lighting and weak particle effects. EA Motive is now running them to the max, which is why I’m absolutely thrilled with the material shown so far.

The diffuse play of light and shadow in the oppressive steel corridors of the Ishimura creates an atmosphere so dense that I can’t wait to grab my plasma cutter and hunt down necromorphs. Maybe even with the cool headphones from the unfortunately very expensive Collector’s Edition.

What are you most looking forward to in Dead Space Remake?