Dead Space Remake Developers Talk About Changes to the Plasma Cutter, Force Gun, and Pulse Rifle

Developer EA Motive has revealed details about how it went about recreating the iconic Plasma Cutter from the upcoming Dead Space remake. The studio, speaking with IGN as part of the publication’s month-long coverage of the game, talks about how the Plasma Cutter is “perfect as it is”.

“Who wants to change the Plasma Cutter? It’s perfect as it is,” says creative director Roman Campos-Oriola. “I’m joking a bit, but it’s exactly the way we approached that weapon during the development.”

Campos-Oriola goes on to talk about how the it is such an iconic weapon that it became linked to the Dead Space franchise in every way possible. However, the studio has still made some changes to the weapons to make it feel more modern. These new details are small, but noticable if you pay attention to the weapon.

“We really had to go back to the drawing board,” Campos-Oriola said. “With the visual fidelity, both in terms of graphics but also in some of [the] animations that we have today, we had to go much more in detail […] on how that thing actually works. What is each piece? What are those little elements really doing? Whether or not we’re using that afterward in game, we had to really define how that thing would move and behave if it was a real tool.”

Other changes to the Plasma Cutter revolve around the new upgrades system. Each of the weapons in the upcoming remake will feature an upgrade part that attaches to the weapon in question as a new physical part. Essentially, it brings a system similar to what was seen in Dead Space 2 to the first game.

“One thing we’ve been bringing from Dead Space 2 and expanding a little bit on is the concept of special upgrades,” says Campos-Oriola. “So those upgrade nodes that actually have a broader impact on the weapon. So one of those upgrades [came] straight from DS2. It’s the fact that when you shoot with the Plasma Cutter, if you have that upgrade, the limb of the enemy that you shoot at is going to catch fire. And so it’s going to burn the flesh and do a bit more damage. So we made some adjustments or improvements like that.”

Campos-Oriola goes on to talk about changes made to other weapons in Dead Space. The Pulse Rifle, for example, now features a proximity mine launcher as the alternate fire, similar to the grenade launcher from the Dead Space 2 Pulse Rifle.

“We keep, for most of the weapons, the primary fire [exactly the same] because they’re iconic and they serve different functions in terms of the way you fight enemies,” says game director Eric Baptizat. “But we [found] out that there [was] something we could push even more to give more tools for the player to do some crowd control with enemies. And we wanted to give a unique value for each weapon.”

One of the biggest changes being made is undoubtedly to the Force Gun. Originally a weapon used for just pushing enemies away, the Force Gun can now create a gravity well that pulls enemies to its center. While it deals no direct damage, the ability to group enemies together for a more devastating attack from another gun will likely come in quite handy.

“What is super interesting is that you can combine [the gravity well] with all other weapons,” says Baptizat. “So with the primary fire of the Force Gun itself, or with the trap of the Line Gun. So you can have fun [placing] your trap, attracting the enemy onto this place [with the gravity well] and putting them together with the proximity mine of the Pulse Rifle. Basically, the idea was to create new tools to be able to play with enemies and create new strategies.”

The changes to these weapons now also go hand in hand with the new peeling system in the Dead Space remake. Essentially, the skin from enemies starts peeling in response to taking hits from the player’s various weapons.

“Now when you shoot with the Force Gun, the same slasher falls on his ass, stands up, and now he is really skinny because all the skin, all the fat, all the muscle is gone,” says Campos-Oriola. “There’s almost just the skeleton left on that guy, and you’re like, ‘Yeah, pretty sure he is about to die.’ Where it’s become even more useful is that it’s a great weapon to combine with another, because now with just one shot of the Plasma Cutter you will be able to cut that limb because the bones are [revealed].”

The remake to Dead Space is slated for release on January 27, and will be coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.