EA Motive reviving ‘Dead Space’ franchise

EA Play Live, the final E3-adjacent video game showcase of the year, took place last week, and honestly, it was a bit meh.

The biggest news to come from the roughly 40-minute showcase was the reveal of the “Dead Space” remake. “Dead Space” is a sci-fi horror game released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC back in 2008. 

The game was a big hit and is fondly remembered today because of its creepy atmosphere, with the game following the story of engineer Isaac Clarke as he’s part of a search-and-rescue team going through a derelict space ship. 

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The first game was a big success and was followed by two sequels, one in 2011 and the third game in 2013. By the time the third game rolled around, publisher EA figured it could make more money on it if it was a multiplayer game, so it forced in online co-op that no one really asked for and also turned it into more of an action game than a horror one. The fans weren’t happy and the franchise has been on the shelf since then.

The remake is being developed by Motive Studios, the company that created last year’s “Star Wars Squadrons” game and the story mode for 2017’s “Star Wars Battlefront 2.” The game is still early in development, but it looks like it’s going to be drawing inspiration from all three of the main games while avoiding the multiplayer and microtransaction mistakes of the third game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIeQnMKFNIY?feature=oembed

EA also gave us a first look at a new mode coming to this fall’s “Battlefield 2042,” which was revealed earlier this year. The new mode is called Portal and lets players create complex custom game modes using assets from Battlefield 2042, Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3. And all these custom game modes can be shared online so that other people can try them out. 

I was disappointed when EA had the developers at DICE work on “Battlefield 2042” rather than a third Battlefront, but the game is looking good. “Battlefield 2042” is expected to be one of the big new releases this fall.

Codemasters, which was acquired by EA earlier this year, showed off its racing game “Grid Legends,” which is going to have story mode with live action actors. That wouldn’t be at the top of my list of features I’m looking for in a racing game, but the actual racing gameplay does look fantastic. That game is expected to be released next year.

EA also showed off updates to its battle royale shooter “Apex Legends” and its over-the-top dodgeball game “Knockout City,” as well as the cute puzzle game “Lost in Random,” coming out in September.

And that was EA Play for 2021.

What was most surprising about the show was what wasn’t on it. There was no Madden, no FIFA, no NCAA college football, no Need For Speed and no Star Wars on the showcase.

Oh well, there’s always next year.

Dusty Ricketts can be reached at dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. He is currently playing “Marvel’s Avengers.” You can find him through his PlayStation Network ID: DustRAG316.

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