• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

GamesRadar: Dead Space shows our obsession with retreads isn't nostalgia, it's about filling a AAA void

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Dead Space and GoldenEye are this week's hottest new releases - what does that say about gaming in 2023?

It's January 27, 2023, and this week's hottest new releases include Dead Space and GoldenEye 007. Your cynicism may incline you to ask why gaming is so obsessed with nostalgia. But these sorts of releases aren't really about nostalgia - they're about filling a void in the world of modern AAA games.

Dead Space is an exceptionally well-crafted remake of a beloved cult classic, yes, and while I like the original game, fond memories aren't why I'm so excited to dive into the new version. This is a single-player, story-driven game that's built to be played to completion in a few days rather than offering an endless stream of content.

Single-player gaming has always been alive and well, but the mode of the day is big open worlds and dozens, if not hundreds of hours worth of stuff to do. The likes of Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West are fantastic, but I don't need - or even want - every game to consume my life for weeks at a time. Something like the Dead Space remake is a throwback, yes, but it's a throwback not specifically to Dead Space itself. Instead, it's the kind of linear, limited-scope game that we just don't get as much of in 2023 from the AAA space.

Over 100 hours of discontent
Modern gaming is a frequently wonderful place, with online-connected games offering evolving worlds and endless content while indies help fill in the gaps with memorable, small-scale experiences. But while you'll never catch me saying that gaming was flat-out better in the past, there are certain types of games that have fallen by the wayside, and that's been a loss for many players.

The problem, of course, is that it's not necessarily easier making a linear game than it is making a big open world or a suite of multiplayer features. I'll try to avoid embarrassing myself with too much wildly under-informed speculation about how game development works, but given how much publishers have invested in building much larger games, it certainly seems like they believe they're going to be raking in bigger profits – and more reliably recouping ballooning development costs – from games that players can put more time into, and the financial records of live service devotees like EA and Blizzard would certainly agree.

I think this is why remakes have become such a haven for this school of gaming. The original Dead Space was not regarded as a particularly notable seller, but years of nostalgia have compounded its reputation to the point where the name still has value. Between the Dead Space remake and the Star Wars Jedi series, EA has taken a surprisingly favorable stance on single-player games in the past few years, and it's tough to imagine that would be the case without established names helping to promote them.

Goldenied
GoldenEye is a remaster rather than a remake, and it seems like a pretty light one at that, but it's still providing a type of co-op game we just don't get in modern shooters. It's long been accepted that GoldenEye was effectively made obsolete by Halo, but that ignores the way 007 was built around its now-dated control scheme. It's paced slowly so that you can carefully line up your shots based on the exaggerated enemy animations.

The boomer shooter, uh, boom has ensured that we've gotten plenty of modern throwbacks to classic FPS games from smaller developers, but those are all hyper-focused on lightning-fast action and twitch reflexes. GoldenEye levels are endurance challenges - checkpoint-free affairs where you've got to manage your resources against a small pool of predictable enemies.

GoldenEye's nearly survival horror-esque emphasis on resource management was certainly born in response to the limitations of an N64 controller, but that slower-paced action means it still maintains its own flavor, even today. Indie games like Neon White have proven there's life in shooters outside the post-Halo mold, and GoldenEye itself is being mined in games like Agent 64: Spies Never Die(opens in new tab) and even Screencheat(opens in new tab). What if we could these more varied types of action games out of the AAA scene, too?

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely do not want Halo or Call of Duty to give up the precision of their dual-analog controls. But would it be such a bad thing if we got more shooters that were built in a different mold? Either way, GoldenEye is still here to offer a type of experience I just can't get out of current games.

Ultimately, of course, I don't really want more remakes. What I want are games that feel out of step with the current trends every now and then. And hey, we've had an excellent example of that this week with Hi-Fi Rush, a bold, creative action game that feels like a throwback to a more experimental era of development coming from Tango. But how often is a major publisher going to fund a small-scale experiment from top talent? It's certainly going to be a lot less likely from a company that's not banking on a service like Game Pass.

For now, the remake and remaster trend is largely satisfying my need for robust games that stop short of massive open-worlds and endless content, and I'm most looking forward to remakes of games that I never got to enjoy in the first place. Well, and the Resident Evil 4 remake. That's probably gonna be a banger, too.

There's a chunk of familiar titles among the new games for 2023, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.


 
Last edited:

Elysion

Banned
Several of the paragraphs in the OP are repeated more than once.

Anyway, I agree that the appeal of a lot of these remakes is that they offer the kinds of experiences that we don’t get that much anymore, at least in the AAA space. It‘s unlikely that EA would’ve ever made a AAA linear horror game in this day and age if it wasn’t a remake. I also agree that a game like Fallen Order (or the upcoming Survivor) probably wouldn’t have been made without the Star Wars IP.

And I‘m still waiting for a Soul Reaver remake.
 
Last edited:
I ain't reading all that but yes, creativity is at an all time low in the AAA industry. Elden Ring is nothing but an open world Dark Souls, and if you've played those, you won't see almost anything new. Ragnarok is pretty much an expansion of the first one with minor stuff added in the mix. An improvement but still quite weak on its own. HFW even tho it's my goty, again pretty much an incredible visual experience over the same game, nothing truly unique or out of the ordinary. 2021 was shit as well. These past 2 years pale in comparison to some of the stuff we received prior to those. Remakes are fine but they are treated as fully-priced new games which I will never agree with. As for the more original stuff, they seem to be getting delayed over and over, and we're getting like one every 5-6 years which is ridiculous.

At least the AA and indie industry is still keeping us entertained for now.
 
Last edited:
I get where they are coming from but they are hypocrites since remakes are part of the problem too. Remakes are a waste of time and money since you can just pay the original like it was meant to be. If anything indie devs are making new games that are similar to older games like they seem to like.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Several of the paragraphs in the OP are repeated more than once.
Fixed, problem when copying and pasting from a mobile device.

On topic, I tend to agree somewhat with the article.
I do find Remakes more enjoyable and of higher quality then newer releases.
 
Last edited:

feynoob

Banned
Wrong.

It’s about wanting your favorite games updated to modern standards of fidelity and possible QoL improvements as well.
I would have liked mods option, so that I can have big tiddy blonde being chased by aliens. Would have completed my hollywood adventure.
A man can hope.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Forspoken is also a hot new release this week.
Yes. And it's a shame people got such a hate boner for it.
It's something new but people prefer their safe space which is dead space.

I am not saying forspoken is perfect but it's at least a new IP

As for the thread thesis. Yes. I agree. Look at 2011, 2008 and other years. We used to have whole trilogies of NEW games in 360/ps3 era.
 

feynoob

Banned
Yes. And it's a shame people got such a hate boner for it.
It's something new but people prefer their safe space which is dead space.

I am not saying forspoken is perfect but it's at least a new IP

As for the thread thesis. Yes. I agree. Look at 2011, 2008 and other years. We used to have whole trilogies of NEW games in 360/ps3 era.
Its ok for you to like that game, and for people to have different.

Still that doesnt mean a company can release a half assed game, and charge that much money, and expect people to be happy about it. People need their worth of money from that game.

For a $70 new IP, it needs to prove its worth. I would use the same judgement for redfall and starfield.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Its ok for you to like that game, and for people to have different.

Still that doesnt mean a company can release a half assed game, and charge that much money, and expect people to be happy about it. People need their worth of money from that game.

For a $70 new IP, it needs to prove its worth. I would use the same judgement for redfall and starfield.
It's the same price as.... a remake that is 90% just new graphics that are not even as good as I would expect from graphical remake.
One game does mostly just graphics and other had to do everything. If anything, Dead space should be 40$.
 

ManaByte

Member
Yes. And it's a shame people got such a hate boner for it.
It's something new but people prefer their safe space which is dead space.

I am not saying forspoken is perfect but it's at least a new IP

As for the thread thesis. Yes. I agree. Look at 2011, 2008 and other years. We used to have whole trilogies of NEW games in 360/ps3 era.
It’s dog shit. Dead Space is a Demon’s Souls quality remake.
 

feynoob

Banned
It's the same price as.... a remake that is 90% just new graphics that are not even as good as I would expect from graphical remake.
One game does mostly just graphics and other had to do everything. If anything, Dead space should be 40$.
Remakes shouldnt even be that expensive. I agree with you on that part.
The industry is taking advantage of nostalgic feelings.
 
Im currently alternating between Hi-Fi RUSH, Goldeneye and Fire Emblem Engage. They're all great. Wanted: Dead in 2 weeks, Octopath 2 and Atomic Heart then before Wo Long drops.

AAA is so boring most of the time. Surprised people are focused on Dead Space but it at least seems like a well done remake.
 

Pejo

Member
First time in a long time that I agree with a game journo article. That was well thought out and written, and brings up several good points.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
The whole thing about "it's about filling a AAA void" thats because there are too many people play nothing else other than AAA games and ignore everything else, I enjoy AAA games time to time but if thats all I played I would have been bored and quit from gaming long time a go.
 
Last edited:

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
It's the same price as.... a remake that is 90% just new graphics that are not even as good as I would expect from graphical remake.
One game does mostly just graphics and other had to do everything. If anything, Dead space should be 40$.
That's a very narrow view on it.
When it's a Remaster and the game is literally just being ported and polished up for the platform it's been made for, that is totally understandable to have this view.
But a Remake is remade from the ground up and requires just as much work as a new title if not more depending on the title
Even if they have something to reference from.
They don't get a discount on the budget.
It's still a full production game and that's why you pay full price.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
So is it saying that all of these people who want remakes instead of new games are retards? The title is unclear and there's too many words in that post.
 

StueyDuck

Member
The obsession with retreads/remakes/remasters of games is certainly a mixture of things. One being nostalgia and another may be the lack of AAA games.

But I mostly feel it's also created by an industry that's refusing to do more than the one thing that's popular and making all the money. We are all obsessed with say a dead space because we just want more dead space. We are trying to tell these publishers this the only way we can. With our wallets. We don't want another fortnite battle Royale clone and loot boxes or meaningless rpg mechanics etc.

I'll hands down be there dayone fora timesplitters 2 remaster (chuck 1 and 3 in also) but I'd rather just have a new timesplitters 4 that isnt some bastardised version with skins and loot boxes.
 
Last edited:

Fools idol

Banned
were at the peak of the boom an bust cycle, everything sucks. Once it all crashes down things will revert to the mean and studios will start making good games again
 

j0hnnix

Member
Remasters will continue even after we are long dead, people love nostalgia and even more if it's done right. I don't think this hurts newer ideas coming to fruition, sometimes it helps to bring money in to fund other new games or develop a sequel.

Anyways I didn't read any of that.. I'm busy drinking.

Happy Hour Wtf GIF
 
I really wish studios would go back to smaller, linear 8 to 12 hour, more structured gaming experiences like Dead Space or Callisto Protocol. I don’t need every game to have hundreds of hours of content and filler to justify my money spent. I know it’s usually the casual gamers who embrace the huge games though so that’s probably a big contributing factor.

I don’t mind a few remakes, but I am noticing a more heavy reliance on them now as the generation goes on. Then again, when the companies see their new IPs like Forspoken and Callisto Protocol get dragged through the mud, that’s probably why companies are just remaking established games which they feel are safer to invest into.
 
Last edited:

kiphalfton

Member
Developers need to go back to the tight and focused, linear 10-12 hour experiences we used to get. Put more emphasis in replayability and NG+ and I'll be more inclined to return to the game, than starting over a new 100-hour adventure.
Yep.

IMO the best parts of FFXV were the linear parts (well except the end). Same for the beginning of MGS V. Same for a lot of open world games, that would have done way better as linear games.

I just want a 10-12 hour experience like you said, that has LASER focus. Anything other than that, and the devs lose focus quick and the game suffers.
 
Last edited:

Maverick074

Banned
The downside of all this amazing new graphics tech that the PS5 and Xbox Series X brings is that developing new games takes much more time and money than it did even two generations ago. I mean, The Callisto Protocol was just someone going "fine, we'll make our own Dead Space 4", and that needed to sell like five million copies just to turn a profit.

Why else would SO MANY games be getting remakes now? Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy VII, Max Payne 1 and 2, System Shock, Alone in the Dark, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, The Witcher, and so many others. Video game development has started taking so much time and money, and the profit margin is narrower than ever, that the only way to essentially guarantee a return of investment is to sell a game to consumers that they already have and already like.

This is why almost every game I'm looking forward to is an indie game. Because the indie sector (and part of the AA sector) is the only part of the industry that can still afford to be creative.
 
Last edited:

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
The funny thing here is that GoldenEye is the one in desperate need of a remake. I personally like oldschool shooters and I've replayed many of them in recent years (like Doom 1-2, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, PowerSlave, Serious Sam), but this game looks too rough and too ugly even for me.
 

mrmustard

Banned
The funny thing here is that GoldenEye is the one in desperate need of a remake. I personally like oldschool shooters and I've replayed many of them in recent years (like Doom 1-2, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, PowerSlave, Serious Sam), but this game looks too rough and too ugly even for me.
Build Engine and id Tech games look way better than anything N64 had to offer.
 
Yes. And it's a shame people got such a hate boner for it.
It's something new but people prefer their safe space which is dead space.

I am not saying forspoken is perfect but it's at least a new IP

As for the thread thesis. Yes. I agree. Look at 2011, 2008 and other years. We used to have whole trilogies of NEW games in 360/ps3 era.
I don’t know we want new IPs for the sake of just something new. Someone thought it’d be a great idea to have a 15 year girl yelling f*ck in your ear for 30 hours as the basis for a “new IP”. If that’s the alternative, I’ll take a remaster.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I don’t know we want new IPs for the sake of just something new. Someone thought it’d be a great idea to have a 15 year girl yelling f*ck in your ear for 30 hours as the basis for a “new IP”. If that’s the alternative, I’ll take a remaster.
You won’t know if you like new thing until you do.
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
The funny thing here is that GoldenEye is the one in desperate need of a remake. I personally like oldschool shooters and I've replayed many of them in recent years (like Doom 1-2, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, PowerSlave, Serious Sam), but this game looks too rough and too ugly even for me.
200.gif
 
Top Bottom