Not every great game gets the credit it deserves upon its release. In 2008, Dead Space delivered a spectacularly spooky survival game. It featured a moody, isolated space station location, disturbing necrotic monsters with dangling limbs to blast off, and dopey lore about evil moons and space Scientologists. As an original IP in a somewhat niche genre, Dead Space didn’t quite find its audience. Eventually, publisher EA forced the developers to pump in so much dumb action that the series lost its soul and fell into hibernation.
But after watching the 2022 Summer Game Fest stream, it looks like Dead Space has returned from the grave. Outer space, sci-fi, survival horror shooters are the next big trend.
Ghost Protocol
Originally, this column was just going to be about The Callisto Protocol, a game we already knew was slated to make an appearance at Summer Game Fest. Coming this December, this sci-fi survival horror shooter comes from former Dead Space creators, most notably director Glen Schofield. At first, it was somehow meant to be a part of the PUBG universe, but that connection has been excised. Based on the footage, it’s obvious that this terrifying trek through metal corridors filled with gooey monsters to blast in a third-person perspective is a Dead Space spiritual successor through and through.
What’s funny is that one month later, in January 2023, EA plans to release its own official Dead Space remake. We didn’t see that game at Summer Game Fest, but it looks like a promising reimagining of the original nightmare for next-gen consoles. After years with no Dead Space games, suddenly we found ourselves with two Dead Space games back to back, a real “Volcano versus Dante’s Peak” situation. But as Summer Game Fest continued, the unsettling Dead Space vibes just grew stronger and more numerous.
Night of the Living Dead Space
When the developers behind Fort Solis took the stage, they literally called their game a cross between Dead Space and the movie Moon. Even if they hadn’t made it explicit, this upcoming thriller traps you on a spooky space station, which immediately brings Dead Space to mind. The game has no release date.
Another game, Routine, was originally announced in 2013, but it reemerged at Summer Game Fest. Great timing, too, because the public is now ready for a game where you survive in an isolated lunar base by hiding from deadly robots—and who knows what else. This game also doesn't have a release date.
Obviously, the Alien franchise innovated the sci-fi horror genre, in movies and in video games, long before Dead Space. Still, announcing the new Aliens Dark Descent tactical-shooter contributed to the Dead Space theme. It launches sometime in 2023.
Everyone Can Hear You Scream
We weren’t the only ones who noticed what was going on. Even before the show was over, Twitter was full of wild speculation as to why so many new games at Summer Game Fest appeared to now take inspiration from Dead Space. Is it pandemic isolation? A desire to escape Earth? A love of big stompy boots? Every person’s creative process is unique.
But we’re not complaining. Dead Space was an underappreciated gem, and if these descendants also turn out great that’s even better. If not, well at least we’ve got the Resident Evil 4 remake to look forward to next March.
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