

The original "Dead Space" released in 2008 for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 generation of consoles, so updating the game's audio and visuals was certainly due. The first place to start with such amplifications in the remake was the game's newfound graphical capacity.

Throughout the rest of the game, characters make references to both Chen and Johnson which also adds to the layered humanization that the remake provides the story.ĮA Motive was cognizant of these core affectual experiences and it wanted to amplify those feelings of isolation, survival, and grotesque horror that permeate the USG Ishimura (per EA). Johnson, similarly, gets more screen time and becomes an even sadder sacrificial character after Hammond's selfish orders in the remake eventually get her killed.

However, the remake upped the ante of their sacrifice by having Chen turned into a Necromorph that ends up hunting down Hammond and trapping him into an escape pod. And that's basically all they do in the original - get torn to shreds. They are the characters that die in the opening scene of "Dead Space," in that iconic shot of a Necromorph ripping apart a person through a glass wall. And in the remake, Hammond retains his authoritarian nature but his character and his actions are more grounded in trauma, giving players more empathy towards him.Īnother example of improved story mapping for the game's characters is how Chen and Johnson are treated. For instance, in the 2008 "Dead Space," Hammond is the order-delivery leader who lacks an empathetic side.
