Motive’s Dead Space takes this approach to level design even further by making its individual Ishimura sections interconnected. This way, Dead Space becomes far more non-linear than ever before, and that non-linearity is embellished further with different designs for individual rooms and sequences that Motive introduces. Rerouting power as a way to get through areas is a nice reprieve from always lodging spare batteries into their respective sockets, for example, and if players are fond of looting locked rooms they will be pleased to hear about the remake’s new security clearance feature.
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Motive’s Dead Space Swaps Power Nodes for Security Clearance
Dead Space’s power nodes were originally multifaceted. They could either be used to upgrade the player’s RIG, Stasis, Kinesis, and weapons, or they could be used to gain access to optional loot rooms. This gave Dead Space a fun consideration to make when players would find another wall cabinet with a power node inside, and if the player’s last node went to an upgrade they would not be able to open the next node door as a result.
Nodes are not terribly difficult to come by, but having a couple of them on hand at all times would ensure that players can still acquire some optional loot if they happened upon one of those rooms. In the remake, Dead Space features rooms, lockers, and footlockers that are made inaccessible not through power nodes, but through security clearance access. Upgrades are still purchasable with nodes, but they no longer have anything to do with locked rooms.
This is instead depicted through a similar lock prompt that appears, but they now tell players that they need a requisite clearance level in order to unlock that respective door or locker. There are three individual security clearance levels that players obtain throughout the game and allow them to unlock almost any door or locker, but some of the most rewarding loot only comes from having Dead Space’s master override clearance.
Dead Space’s Master Override Makes the Most of Its Tram System
The master override clearance is the cream of the crop, allowing access to anything locked by a security clearance and also things locked with a ‘master override’ prompt. In order to receive this override, players must complete one of the Dead Space remake’s few side quests. This quest tasks players with finding Ishimura crew members’ RIGs found all throughout the ship—this cannot be done consecutively, however, unless players have progressed through enough of the game to have all areas and tram stations discovered.
But once the player’s path to a particular RIG is open, they can track it with Isaac’s yellow guidance waypoint marker and easily locate it. Some players will have no need to carry out this quest, but it is greatly rewarding for any fans who want additional resources. This side quest, like Nicole’s side quest in Dead Space, is essentially a way to make use of the game’s updated tram traversal.
Because players can eventually choose which stations they would like to backtrack in, the level design has accommodated this and placed security clearance doors in almost every section for players to return to later. Likewise, the master override carries over into players’ New Game Plus playthroughs for the Dead Space remake, which means players will have a lot to freely loot as they progress through the game again if they choose.
Dead Space is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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