Pistols are rarely the star of the show in video games, but that’s exactly what happened with Dead Space. In the 2008 survival horror classic, Plasma his Cutter, a handgun-like tool that fires vertical or horizontal projectiles, became the most important tool for dismantling Necromorph enemies. When it came to the Dead Space remake, developer his EA Motive knew this iconic weapon needed to be used right. And it’s just like you remember.
“Who wants to replace the Plasma Cutter? “Just kidding, that’s exactly how we approached that weapon during development.
“Anyone [who] Play Dead Space before you learn that weapon, learn the distinct clicks it makes when it spins, remember that sound, its effect on creatures, and how it feels to play with that weapon. “So it was really important for us to preserve that memory, to fill that memory of the players in a way.”
But while you remember the form and function of the Plasma Cutter, EA Motive has made some small changes and improvements. At first these may seem invisible, but a closer look at the updated high-res model of the weapon reveals numerous new small details. , the interlocking components of the twist mechanism can be seen in the housing.
“We really had to start over,” explains Campos-Oriola. “Not just graphics, [the] Current animation should have explained in more detail […] About how it actually works. what is each piece? What do those little elements actually do? Whether you use it later in the game or not, you really had to define how it would move and behave if it were a real tool. ”
It’s this more detailed approach where the difference between the original Plasma Cutter and its remake successor begins. And the closer you look, the more differences you’ll find. “The Plasma Cutter is not the same as the original Dead Space,” Campos-Oriola openly admits. “But you feel it’s the same, you think it’s the same as you remember it. Since it’s a completely new engine, we’ve completely rebuilt how it works, and we haven’t used any of the original code, assets, etc. But our goal with that weapon is to stay as true to the original experience as possible. That was it.”
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More than just a visual update is a new upgrade system that enhances the deadly capabilities of Dead Space’s weapons in different ways. “Every weapon has an upgrade part,” explains his game director Eric Baptizat. “You can find new sections of weapons that you can plug in and physically attach to your gun.”
“It was very important to create a component that looked trustworthy,” he added. So it was really a job to create new elements that fit naturally into the original design. “
If this sounds familiar, it might be because you remember the weapon upgrades from Dead Space 2. In fact, Plasma His Cutter also includes ongoing damage upgrades from its beloved sequel.
“One of the things we took from Dead Space 2 and expanded on a bit is the concept of special upgrades,” Campos-Oriola said. “So it’s actually an upgrade node that has a wide range of effects on weapons. He of these upgrades is one [came] Straight from DS2. Shooting with the Plasma Cutter means that if you have that upgrade, the limbs of the enemy you shoot will set on fire. So it burns the meat and does a little more damage. That’s why we made those adjustments and improvements. “
It’s safe to know that despite the cool new upgrades, the Plasma Cutter is more or less the weapon you love and remember. not.
“When we approached the weapon designs for the remake, we wanted to balance things out a bit so that each weapon felt powerful in its own way,” says Campos-Oriola. “For example, what Pulse did with his rifle was take elements from Dead Space 2. [the rifle’s alternate fire] was a grenade launcher, but since it’s now a proximity mine, we’ve tweaked it slightly. “
“We keep primary fire on most weapons [exactly the same] Because they are iconic and serve different functions in terms of how we fight our enemies,” explains Baptizat. “But we [found] out there [was] We can go further to give players more tools for crowd control over their enemies. And we wanted to give each weapon its own value. “
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The idea of a new alternate firing mode was built on the credibility of fiction. “His one of our philosophies was to make force gun alt-fire, for example, useful in the sense of how space miners would use it,” explained Campos-Oriola. To do.
The Force Gun was once a weapon that simply pushed enemies backwards, but like Zarya’s ultimate in Overwatch, it now has the ability to create gravity wells that pull enemies in. It doesn’t deal any damage, but grouping enemies allows you to efficiently combine gravity wells with things like line guns. It can fire wide beams across crowds or place laser traps.
“What is very interesting is that they can be used in combination. [the gravity well] along with all other weapons,” says Baptizat. “Whether it’s the primary fire of the force gun itself or the line gun’s trap. [placing] Your trap draws enemies here [with the gravity well] Combine them with the Pulse Rifle Proximity Mine. Basically, the idea was to create new tools that let you play with your enemies and create new strategies. “
Pairing elegantly (and frighteningly) with these new weapons is a system that “strips” the enemy’s flesh layer by layer. This brutal addition makes for a fun one-two punch with the Force Gun and Plasma Cutter.
“The original force gun shoots at enemies and slashers. He fell on his butt and stood up,” recalls Campos Oriola. “You say, ‘How much damage did you do to that guy?’ You’re really not sure. He’s almost dead, but you don’t know it.
“Shooting with a force gun, the same slasher fell on his butt, and when he stood up, all the skin, fat and muscle was gone, so he’s really skinny,” he continues. “There’s pretty much nothing left of that guy’s skeleton. You’ll think, ‘Oh, he’s going to die soon.’ Because now you can cut off its limbs with one shot of the Plasma Cutter. [revealed]”
This reimagining of Dead Space’s guns means that all of your favorites are here and work pretty much the same as you remember them, but changed for something more useful and creative. , seems to be the general idea behind all the changes in the remake. We’ll take a closer look at this as part of this month’s IGN First.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK news and features editor.
