Dead Space Inspired Negative Atmosphere Gameplay Stretches Definition of ‘Inspired’, but Looks Like Fun

It’s been about six years since Dead Space 3, the so far final installment in the tremendous Resident Evil 4 meets Alien and The Thing series, with no sign of it ever returning. It’s a damn shame honestly, especially considering DS3 ends on a cliffhanger that (without the benefit of a sequel) comes off as a depressing and definitive ending. All that isn’t stopping a group of fan developers from just doing it themselves, though — enter Negative Atmosphere, developed by SunScorched Studios. While the game has been shown off with a few trailers before now, an extended gameplay trailer dropped yesterday really showing off just how close it is to the games that inspired it — and boy howdy is it inspired by.

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Right off the bat, I am absolutely looking forward to this. Despite this being the result of only five months of development (according to the YouTube description), it’s remarkably complete looking already, and aside from one obvious sound bug about halfway through the video, the audio design is superb in my opinion. I do question the future of this game though — not on the part of the developers, but on the part of EA, IP holders of the Dead Space brand. Inspired by Dead Space is sort of pushing it, as the footage pretty much just straight up looks like Dead Space, to an arguably confusing level. I am absolutely down to play this, but the similarities go a little bit too far past the usual threshold these types of inspired by indie games go. The animations, the audio of the main characters heartbeat and breathing, the distinct melee swing and stomp moves, it looks like there’s some sort of dismemberment mechanics, not to mention the general aesthetic — the main character especially just looks like Isacc Clark wearing a bag over his Engineering Suit. I just hope these guys are prepared in case the legal vultures come calling, even if they don’t technically have a case (there’s plenty of precedent for games being shockingly similar to their inspirations) it could be a huge pain in the ass for this team.

Regardless, I am looking forward to this, so we’ll keep you posted on its progress. No release date currently, but you can support the game via Patreon, and follow the development on various forms of social media.