New Dead Space details, including (surprise!) sequel possibilities

by Ross Miller { Jan 16th 2008 at 7:30PM }

Sure, Dead Space isn't out yet, but given its business-savvy publisher (Electronic Arts), talk of sequels is inevitable. Speaking to EuroGamer Germany, executive producer Glen Schofield explained how he envisioned the game as a franchise. "I'd love for this to become a well established franchise; we've created a huge and rich back story and universe, so other games could easily be made."

New details about the survival-horror game were also revealed. You play spaceship engineer Isaac Clarke, who stumbles upon space zombies on a routine mining vessel call. Your goal is to survive, rescue survivors, and probably kill monsters while you're at it. Schofield said that the game will feature in-game cutscenes (à la Half-Life) and upgradeable weapons and skill trees (à la BioShock). He also said that there will not be a cluttered HUD to distract immersion, which leads us to believe it might have something to do with those lights on the backpack seen in the concept art (pictured).

Schofield mentioned downloadable content, which is reportedly under way for the game (here's an idea: put that content in the game now and work on DLC after it goes gold). Dead Space, with fun hyperboles like "scariest video game ever," is expected this fall for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Tags: dead-space, deadspace, dlc, ea, electronic-arts, franchise, sequel

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Killjebus @ Jan 16th 2008 7:41PM

A new IP from the Eveil Empire and it has me intrigued. judging from the trailer on the PSN, this has potential to be the edgy, dark, sci-fi horror game that has been missing from the home console. I hope this one pans out.

C'mon EA ol' buddy...don't let me down.

Hashbrown_Hunter @ Jan 16th 2008 8:25PM

...you know that is some way they will. EA has to f**k up on at least ONE good looking game.

It's part of their genetic code.

riggs @ Jan 17th 2008 11:41AM

and that game is army of two :(

Hyams @ Jan 16th 2008 7:47PM

I was sold as soon as I read the words 'space zombies'.

GaryM @ Jan 16th 2008 7:51PM

Weird. I was just watching the trailer for this last night and was secretly hoping they'd do a PC version. I guess dreams do come true after all. ;)

Looks like The Thing in Space. Which isn't a bad concept at all.

Arturo @ Jan 16th 2008 11:56PM

omg, now that u mention it, i wish the marketplace had the thing, id buy that in a heartbeat, that game was sick. the guys puking and turning on u was crazy and scary lol...

they would always be like be shivering and scared and question u if u hurt them or took bad care of them lol, very under appreciated game. do want please

Saint Fuzzball @ Jan 16th 2008 8:22PM

Hey, I love the idea of fighting space zombies as much as the next gamer but, really guys, Isaac (Asimov) (Arthur C.) Clarke? Really? Is he going to have a companion named Buzz Armstrong that helps him fight against the villian of the game Adolf Kahn? Is that really the level of thought that's going into this game? Am I really going to leave a comment that's made up only of questions?

riggs @ Jan 17th 2008 11:43AM

really?

MadCow486 @ Jan 16th 2008 8:32PM

Uhh... Last time I checked, there were no cutscenes in Half-Life. That's one of the main "revolutionary" ideas about the gameplay - the entire story unfolded with you in direct control of Gordon Freeman.

Jerk Face @ Jan 16th 2008 8:56PM

Though it doesn't sound that way the way he wrote it; I think that's what Ross meant by 'in game' cut-scenes. Though clearly labelling that a cut-scene is a misnomer.

Luzid @ Jan 17th 2008 12:19AM

Well, considering this:

"which leads us to believe it might have something to do with those lights on the backpack seen in the concept art"

was already confirmed in GamePro's spread like six months ago, I'm not surprised at the mistake.

Beatle_Meyer @ Jan 16th 2008 9:46PM

The idea of sequels is news, but nothing else is so I was kinda dissapointed. If you are interested in this game check out this IGN preview

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/825/825875p1.html

if you didn't already. The article, among other things, confirms that the light on the characters back does in fact act as a health gauge.

I'll bet the on-weapon screen acts as a crosshair as well as showing ammo info and such, replacing that part of a normal HUD.

Lard @ Jan 16th 2008 9:56PM

The already planned DLC is what worries me. $60 for half a game seems to be the new business model for EA.

Hugenot @ Jan 16th 2008 10:50PM

This was one of the justifiable concerns that was raised about the increasing popularity of offering downloadable content. It is blatantly obvious that developers and publishers are now removing content from their $60 games in order to try and sell it to us as "downloadable content" for even more money. Halo 3 I'm looking at you -- the worst offender by far.

Kenny @ Jan 16th 2008 10:04PM

I'd be surprised if this game can surpase System Shock 2 in scariness. That is the current scariest game ever made. Best of luck to them.

Dan CiTi @ Jan 16th 2008 10:22PM

MUST HAVE.

drun @ Jan 16th 2008 10:41PM

I'm already scared

Hugenot @ Jan 16th 2008 10:44PM

Is it just me or does this screenshot make it seem like a committee of marketing people at EA handed some screenshots of Bioshock and Gears of War to the game artists and said, "Here. Make a game that looks like this, since these games sold a lot of copies and we want to shamelessly rip them off."

This title just seems a little too formulaic to me right now, but I'll reserve judgement until I can play the demo.