Most important question of the series without answer. Only Dead Space 4 could reveal the truth about the Necromorphs

Nearly 13 years after its release, Dead Space 3 remains the culmination of Isaac Clarke's story, which started in 2008. While working on this title, the team at Visceral Games had plans for its continuation. Moreover, few people today realize that originally, the third installment was supposed to have a slightly different vision, more faithful to the survival horror genre. In the end, the first idea never got off the ground, and the second one had to be completely reworked to fit the guidelines set by the brand's publisher, Electronic Arts.

Dead Space 4: Isaac (or someone else) alone in space

Before I discuss the creators' ideas for Dead Space 4, I must warn you that you may encounter spoilers related to the ending of the third game below. Moreover, I must note that these revelations were disclosed in July 2018, when Eurogamer had an interview with Ben Wanat, the creative director of the franchise.

Dead Space 4 was meant to be a direct continuation of the third installment of the series. Humanity would face annihilation from the Necromorphs, and we would take on the role of a character who would stand in the way of the cosmic invaders.

Which character? Well, that issue was open. While it's likely that Isaac Clarke would be the main character, the creators didn't rule out the possibility of focusing on Carver, who we met in the third installment of the series, or Clarke's love interest, Ellie. Moreover, the devs even considered introducing us to a completely new character, because, as Wanat said:

At the same time, the developer added that he would most like to see Ellie in the lead role in Dead Space 4.

Dead Space 4 was supposed to allow exploration of spaceship wrecks. Source: Dead Space / Electronic Arts / Motive Studio.

Exploration of the cosmic void

The gameplay in Dead Space 4 was supposed to be based on an interesting scheme. The creators wanted to expand on something that was just hinted at in the third game, letting us explore the wrecks of different spaceships to gather resources. We would move between them aboard our small vessel. As Wanat said:

In all of this, there would be a greater goal, which would be the looming "horizon" of an orbital station where we would find "the parts and fuel needed to adapt the ship for using the Shock." This Shock is, of course, the ShockPoint Drive, a propulsion system enabling interstellar travel, designed by Hideki Ishimura (the same one after whom the USG Ishimura from the first Dead Space is named). With its help, we were supposed to move between different sectors of space, which were supposed to be like open worlds.

In this way, the creators planned to combine the chapter division known from previous installments with providing us with greater freedom. The developers didn't want the ships we visit to just be a backdrop for the events happening on them. Each unit was to have a unique design and identity, similar to the aforementioned Ishimura. The creators wanted to show us "a whole range of ship types, each with a unique purpose and layout," and the challenges awaiting them.

In Dead Space 4, Necromorphs were supposed to learn to move in zero-gravity conditions. Source: Dead Space / Electronic Arts / Motive Studio.

Necromorphs on steroids and enhanced crafting

Of course, the wrecks we visited would be teeming with Necromorphs, with whom we would have to fight. The opponents were supposed to go through a big change, as the creators wanted to give them the ability to move around in zero gravity. Wanat was imagining opponents who could:

It sounds gruesome, but Dead Space fans have seen such things before. Of course, we wouldn't be left defenseless – we'd have a whole bunch of weapons (maybe mining tools?) and a crafting system back in action. However, the latter would undergo big changes compared to Dead Space 3, primarily related to balance and rewarding experimentation.

Finale

As for how the game's story wraps up, the creators wanted to reveal the truth about the Necromorphs and where they come from, and give us a chance to save humanity... but it would come at a steep cost.

In the end, the creators failed to realize their plans for Dead Space 4, because Dead Space 3 didn't meet the sales requirements set by Electronic Arts (according to the publisher, the game should have found 5 million buyers). As a result, the franchise was shelved, and Visceral Games was first assigned to other projects (such as Battlefield Hardline and Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel) and eventually shut down.

Who knows, maybe if the creators had stuck to their original plan for Isaac Clarke's third adventure, things might have turned out differently?

In Dead Space 4, we were supposed to learn the truth about the origin of the Necromorphs. Source: Dead Space / Electronic Arts / Motive Studio.

Dead Space 3 that never was

Back in February 2017, Eurogamer had an interview with Ben Wanat about some ideas they didn't end up using for the third game in the series. It revealed that the creators intended to develop a project that would be faithful to its predecessors in terms of atmosphere and mechanics. As a result, we were supposed to get a game that really dives into Isaac Clarke's loneliness and growing madness. The game was meant to be a claustrophobic horror experience, without trying to mix in any action game elements.

An interesting concept was supposed to be hallucinations that would make us uncertain about what was real and what was merely a product of the protagonist's imagination. Moreover, the creators even had an idea of how to combine all this with the co-op mode required by Electronic Arts. Visceral Games intended to allow the second player to take control of "Shadow Isaac," the protagonist's alter ego, who is his dark reflection. As for the aforementioned hallucinations, they were supposed to show up on just one player's screen, which would create tension and lead to misunderstandings.

The devs even knew how to seamlessly incorporate a crafting system into the game, trying to design it in such a way that it emphasized Isaac's profession (being an engineer, not a soldier). In the end, some ideas turned out to be too hard or expensive to pull off, and others just weren't worth it for the publisher.

So, they swapped out Isaac's shadow with a forced addition of Carver, replaced the claustrophobic horror vibes with action scenes, and tweaked the crafting system to fit in microtransactions. The result was evident to everyone.

Dead Space 3 is a compromise between the creators' vision and the requirements of Electronic Arts. Source: Visceral Games / Electronic Arts.

What's next for Dead Space 4?

Do you think all this means the end of the Dead Space brand? In 2023, Electronic Arts decided to give it a fresh start by green-lighting a remake of the first game in the series. Unfortunately, it didn't become a big seller, so according to some reports that pop up now and then, the brand was supposedly shelved again.

Nevertheless, Glen Schofield, one of the "fathers" of the series, regularly expresses his desire to make Dead Space 4. He recently thought the best shot at making this project work was by selling Electronic Arts to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Although, according to the latest reports (at the time of writing), EA has no plans for another attempt to revive the brand, the company might decide to sell it. And if that happened, who knows, maybe the new owner would fund another attempt to spook players in a space overrun by Necromorphs? Time will tell if this will ever happen.

Dead Space 4

cancelled

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• Overview

• EA / Electronic Arts
• Visceral Games / EA Redwood Shores
• cancelled games
• Dead Space (series)
• Necro Gaming