Motive Studios held a special developer stream for their upcoming Dead Space Remake. The stream focused on the audio design, as well as the sound effects for a lot of the weapons. Apparently, some of the fans had critical feedback for two particular weapons, the plasma cutter and pulse rifle, both of which sounded noticeably different than the original 2008 release. Motive did not ignore this feedback, as they revealed in a tweet that they have updated the sound for both weapons, making a comparison video to show the change.
As you can see in the tweet, Motive Studios gives a comparison for three different variations of sounds effects for both guns. Community Manager Caden House also posted this video to the official Dead Space Reddit page where he also gave some extra details regarding the tweaks. House also added that the feedback was intricate to the changes that were made to the sounds of the weapons. “We believe that the feedback given was definitely valid and reading the comments on what was highlighted, we made a few modifications that we think improves it.”
As a result, both now sound like they have an extra bit of push behind each shot. The plasma cutter gives off the impression that you’re firing something that’s going to puncture the entire wall or topple over some items at the very least. Beforehand it sounded more dull and less thrilling. The pulse rifle now sounds much more like a space-age gun as opposed to before where it was more akin to a modern-day shooter. Given this attention to detail from Motive, it’s safe to say that they’re taking this project very seriously.
The remake was originally announced at EA Play Live 2021 last year, marking the grand return of the franchise. This was then followed with a livestream that outlined the project itself, then another one just last month that went over the audio features. This also included the ALIVE System, which is major part of the game’s mechanics. The Dead Space Remake is currently slated to launch in early 2023.