https://www.cybersport.ru/games/articles/krik-v-kosmose-kotoryi-vse-uslyshali-pochemu-remeik-dead-space-deistvitelno-vazhnoe-sobytie

Kane Dane July 24, 2021 Game Developers NEWS, Game Platforms, Gameplay Videos, Gaming Hardware, New Game Release, Resident Evil, Xbox

Nightmare rules

By his own admission, the director of Dead Space was actively breaking the established rules and creating new ones. The idea of ​​developing a horror movie came to him back in 2005: at first, the game was more like Escape from New York in space and was called Rancid Moon. Scofield admitted that one of the key sources of inspiration was Resident Evil 4, and to the team he described the project as “Resident Evil 4 in space”, which immediately gave a certain picture in the head. The fourth part, according to the designer, provides a unique experience: the players feel tension and fear, which is mixed with curiosity. He tried to do something similar in Dead Space. At the same time, Scofield stressed over and over again that Dead Space is a game that he wanted to make himself, and not a title that was expected of him.

Thanks to this approach, the “Dead Space Rules” were born. There were five of them:

1. No interface.
2. Nersonage does not speak.
3. The game must have a dismemberment system.
4. The game is interactive at any time.
5. Everything must be passed through the prism of innovation.

It is worth dwelling on each of the points in more detail.

No interface

An interesting and important feature of Dead Space is that absolutely everything in it happens inside the game. In most titles, health levels, inventory, ammo counters and other indicators are presented as on-screen information available to the player, but not to the character – this is not the case in Dead Space. Health is displayed on a special meter on the back of the engineering suit. The number of cartridges is in the form of a hologram on the weapon itself. The inventory is opened through a special menu in the suit itself, and the hero sees it in the same way as the player. The inspiration came from the divers’ suits: they have an oxygen meter on the cylinder so that other divers can see the problem before it becomes critical.

The character does not speak

The silent protagonist is what makes it easier for players to identify with the hero on screen. The inspiration apparently came from Half-Life: Scofield emphasized that Isaac Clarke was created with an eye on Gordon Freeman. Alas, the idea will be abandoned in subsequent parts.

Dismemberment system

One of the most important gameplay features is the ability to deprive opponents of limbs. Moreover, the usual headshot in Dead Space simply does not work: opponents only become more aggressive from this, which makes it difficult to play. The introduction of dismemberment into the game had a huge impact on game design: weapons, monster behavior, and many other aspects were created with an eye on key mechanics. Scofield paid special attention to the animations of the character’s death: they also used the ability to deprive the hero of important body parts. Over time, this became a kind of counter: death became more sophisticated and long, so that you could demonstrate cruelty in full glory. We will return to this later.

Interactivity

There are no cut-scenes in the game, except for the introduction and the ending, the rest of the time the player takes a direct part in the events. This was important for the developers from the very beginning: any event, any episode is served directly through the character with the ability to instantly react to what is happening. Even plot dialogue is served through holograms displayed using the costume. This approach, among other things, led to certain difficulties: in one of Clark’s scenes in the plot, a tentacle grabs, and the realization of this moment took about a month.

The solution was much more complicated than it seemed at first glance, and required breaking the animation process into many separate components. According to Scofield’s recollections, breaking the process into “layers” helped the team to isolate problem areas and solve emerging difficulties.

Nightmare innovation

TOEvery mechanic, every solution in the game was either created from scratch, or taken from the outside and reworked. As mentioned above, one of the sources of inspiration for the team was Resident Evil 4, in which the character could either move or attack, but not at the same time. In Dead Space, there were no problems with this: the player did not lose mobility when shooting, which gave an additional level of realism. The stats built into the game also relate to innovation, like replacing a melee attack with a trampling with an armored boot. Habitual techniques must certainly be changed at least in detail – and this was the most important when creating the game.

As an example, the developers recalled the ventilation system they had created: usually in games, monsters have a pre-prepared arrangement. In Dead Space, they often move out of sight of the player and can attack from different directions, using alternative paths of movement created specifically for this, which also gives both the effect of surprise and more credibility to what is happening.

Inverted nightmare

The dismemberment clause mentioned cruelty as a special technique when creating a game. Dead Space developers really relied on naturalism, for which they always had a lot of illustrative material at their side. Among other things, there were photographs of car accidents, medical operations and military operations. As the designers recalled, the idea for the creation of the necromorphs was a body, “cruelly turned inside out by an unknown force.” After viewing such photos, many could not sleep well for several weeks.

Photos were used not only in the creation of monsters, but also in other cases: for example, many bodies scattered across the levels were also created with an eye to graphic materials. In the main menu, frames of a decomposing goat were used in the background: the development team specially purchased a dead carcass and spent several days photographing the decomposition process.

The design of the necromorphs with their many limbs is also due to the ability to show naturalistic cruelty: the player can literally disassemble almost any enemy in pieces and pour their blood all over the place. And yet the game manages not to lose the atmosphere of horror: with a rich arsenal and many ways to fight back, the player remains fragile and weak in the face of danger.

Legacy of the nightmare

Successful art direction, fresh solutions, competent direction and sound design helped Dead Space to say a new word in the genre. Yes, Resident Evil 4 introduced a new type of gameplay, but it was Scofield’s brainchild that was able to take the formula to the next level.

Despite the fact that 13 years have passed since the release of Dead Space, it remains relevant today: most modern horror games have taken a completely different path thanks to Amnesia and Outlast, but Dead Space stands alone and gives a completely unique experience. No game has even come close to repeating Scofield’s formula – and even the series itself has lost some of its charm with the departure of the creator. And if the second part still coped with the tasks, although it went into more action, then the third became a nail in the coffin – both Dead Space and the development studio Visceral Games.

To create a successful and relevant game studio EA Motive does not need to make much effort: as the remake of Resident Evil 2, using many of the developments of Dead Space, the gameplay is not outdated one iota. For the most part, developers are required to finalize the picture, add a little to the game at the level of sensations – and success is in your pocket. This is also due to the interest from gamers who remember the original. Scofield, by the way, is looking forward to the remake and is confident in the chances of success – even if he himself is busy with a completely different project, The Callisto Protocol. Which, by the way, resembles Dead Space’s original idea of ​​a space prison.