The past few years have seen a huge increase in the number of remakes in release/development by game studios around the world. Before that, remakes were all the rage, but today’s industry is all about taking an old product and rebuilding it from the ground up to fit modern technology and standards. When this trend started, it was a really interesting change of pace, as it gave fans a way to relive iconic previous experiences as if they were brand new installments, but jumping forward to 2023, the remake seems to be absolutely everywhere, and pops up in all sorts of weird and unexpected franchises.
Next up is Dead Space Remastered, which is admittedly (from what I saw at the preview event) an impressive improvement on an already great survival horror game. From the improved graphics and visuals, to the dreaded audio profile, and the new Ishimura ship layout that’s seamless and no longer divided between levels, there’s plenty of reason to be excited. But that doesn’t change the fact that I still don’t quite buy the whole idea of a remake — and by extension, a remake.
I understand the reason for remakes these days. Unlike movies and series, where content often transcends time and remains accessible years or even decades after its original release, games are often limited by their hardware and, for older platforms, are often These pieces of hardware generally become more difficult to obtain as the years go by. This often means that some of the games we celebrate are unobtainable or challenging in today’s environment. Hence the frenzy of remakes and remakes that bring older games to modern systems. However, that doesn’t stop me from being less excited when the remake announcement pops up.
Here is an ad:
That’s because games usually don’t wait that long for a remake. A movie can take decades (unless you’re Disney), and usually when a movie is remade, it’s a slightly different adaptation of the source material, giving it a unique enough spin that it stands on its own and still lets the The original shines. Take the countless versions of A Star Is Born. Games, on the other hand, tend to be as close to the original as possible to provide the truest degree of authenticity. However, the gaming landscape has had some remakes arrive in such a short amount of time that you still have a very clear image of the original in your mind that you start to question why a remake is even necessary. The Last of Us: Part One is a good example.
Right now it does feel like there are a lot of reasons why Naughty Dog decided to revisit their iconic action-adventure game and give it a new, very glossy coat of paint, and it boils down to having a better engine at their disposal, with the PC version coming soon launch, and even an HBO show is on the way. However, none of this is reason to resell the game, which you can get for a fifth of the current remake price. Especially since the game is still virtually the same as what fans have experienced many times before launch and when the remaster was released.
I would applaud Naughty Dog for delivering a game that looks and feels truly modern in every way, however, that’s not always the case with remasters elsewhere in the industry. Take the Destroy All Mankind remake, for example. Original titles can be hard to come by gloves these days, so the idea of a remake is welcome, but what we’re getting is a game from the 2000s with a graphics and performance overhaul and little else. The quest formula and small open-world levels feel very dated and mundane, which all makes me wish the developers didn’t remake the game, but rather reboot the franchise.
Here is an ad:
Which brings me to the point of this rant. I think it’s time for developers to start taking some risks with their old IP. Let’s let these old games live on in history as iconic and glorious memories, then let’s reimagine the intellectual property as something new, giving fans a new way to relive the experience that made me and undoubtedly countless People fall in love with the concept of games when we are young. The Destroy All Mankind series would have been the main contender for the idea, why not Dead Space? Don’t get me wrong, some games don’t fit this bill, at least not for a few years, as The Last of Us falls into this category due to its ongoing and currently expanding story, but for those it’s basically dead Or dormant old franchises, a reboot seems like a more exciting concept than a predictable remake.
One of my favorite game series of the 2010s was Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider game, because we had to go on a series of action-packed, thrilling adventures with famous household icon Lola Croft, except it wasn’t us Adventures taken before, no, but something new and interesting, to me it’s a great example of what a reboot can look like when it’s handled with care and pride. So why not lean towards this? Let’s stop as a gaming community from passing judgment immediately when a game isn’t adapted in exactly the same way we already remember it, and let’s start encouraging fresh experiences with the franchise we all know and love. It might surprise you.
