It’s been over five years since the release of the last Dead Space game. However, despite the great critical response and being the top-selling game in the US during its launch month, Dead Space 3 didn’t manage to meet EA’s sales expectations. So, the plug was pulled on a possible sequel, Visceral Games were assigned other projects, and in the end, EA shut the studio down for good. Needless to say, Dead Space 4 will probably never see the light of day. That’s a pity, though, considering the what the former creative director of the Dead Space series, Ben Wanat, told Eurogamer.
The game Wanat described for Eurogamer sounds very different than the Dead Space we know. To start with, the linear horror nature of the series so far would have been pushed back. The idea was to make the game more open and shift the focus towards exploration. The core Dead Space 4 gameplay would have been similar to the Lost Flotilla chapter in the last game. “The notion was you were trying to survive day to day against infested ships, searching for a glimmer of life, scavenging supplies to keep your own little ship going, trying to find survivors,” Wanat said.
Still, there would have been a story, so the final game would have been more of a hybrid between the format we know from the previous games and an open-world exploration game. “I figured you’d start in a section of space, maybe following a trail of ship carcasses to an orbital station you think might have the parts and fuel needed to get your ship Shock-capable,” Wanat elaborated. “You’d start to form a picture of what happened in that region while fighting through scores of Necromorphs from ship to ship. And you’d learn a new, critical bit of info along with the means to Shock to a couple of nearby sectors.”
In case you are not familiar with Dead Space terminology, let us explain the Shock part. It is basically a way to travel between different stars in the series’ universe.
Furthermore, the team had plans for different ship types as well. To be more precise, Wanat mentioned “an entire roster of ship types, each with unique purposes, floor plans, and gameplay.” On those ships, new Necromorphs would have appeared. Some of them, reworked to be more of a threat in zero-g conditions. This would have allowed them to fit the exploration gameplay better, as the ground-based enemies we know wouldn’t have been enough of a challenge.
Weapon balance and customization in Dead Space 4 was also discussed by Wanat and Eurogamer. According to the creative director, the crafting system in the last game was “very difficult to tune.” This would have been addressed, “while still giving players plenty to tinker with.”
When it comes to the protagonist, there were no clear plans on whether they would be an already-established character or not. However, Wanat said that he’d love to do a game with Ellie Langford in the lead role and he always “imagined her as the protagonist of Dead Space 4.”
Wanat also shared that there were plans for the ending of the fourth game. However, he refused to share them, just in case EA decides to give the green light on that project some day. “I don’t want to give away the lore, but I will say that we spent a bit of time working out the origin of the Necromorphs and what purpose humans held in this dark universe,” he said. “Would players find a way out of the Necromorph apocalypse? I’d say yes, but they might be sorry they did.”
For a more in-depth look on what Wanat told Eurogamer, make sure to head on over to the source article. In the meantime, we can only hope that one day Dead Space 4 will appear on everyone’s radar.