The upcoming Dead Space remake will see the return of the original voice actor for protagonist Isaac Clarke, Gunner Wright. Wright voiced the character in all three games, but more so provided the grunts and screams of Isaac in the original Dead Space. The character was a largely silent protagonist in the original game, but EA Motive plans to give him dialogue in its remake.
The Dead Space remake will still follow the story of the original game while expanding on it, as the team wants to utilize all of the ideas developer Visceral Games originally planned. Some of these concepts were scrapped for time, budget, and even technical limitations, but EA Motive has the resources and opportunity to realize that initial vision for new consoles and PC. That said, some changes are being made for the sake of modernizing the original Dead Space, as some features from the sequels will be present in the remake.
One way that EA Motive is revitalizing the classic experience is by making Isaac a fully-voiced protagonist in its Dead Space remake. The character didn't get any lines of dialogue until the sequels, but the character will speak in the remake. During a developer stream (via GameSpot), Gunner Wright confirmed he will reprise his role as Isaac and expressed his enthusiasm for the remake. EA Motive noted that Isaac won't talk to himself in the remake so as to not break the tension of the original game's atmosphere, but he will speak to other characters when spoken to. EA Motive also stated that it spoke with fans when considering giving Isaac a voice and became convinced it was the right choice.
EA Motive is clearly trying to win skeptical fans over as it's pulling out all the stops. On top of bringing back the original Isaac actor, the team showed off gameplay from the Dead Space remake, as well. Although it's a very early build of the game and still has a long way to go before it's anywhere close to finished, it highlights the vision of the team, which seems to be true to the original. Some of the gameplay showcases the disgusting - yet impressive - technology for dismembering Necromorphs.
EA Motive's commitment to evolving Dead Space while still ensuring it feels like the game Visceral released in 2008 is commendable. If this does well, perhaps there's room for EA Motive to make a new entry in the series or continue expanding on the previous games through more remakes. Either way, it looks like the Dead Space remake is shaping up nicely at this point in its production.
Source: GameSpot/YouTube