The Dead Space remake will add voice acting for protagonist Isaac Clarke, performed by returning actor Gunner Wright.
Isaac has something to say. #DeadSpace pic.twitter.com/csOKT6ZCYVAugust 31, 2021
Wright announced the news himself during today's Dead Space community reveal stream. After joining the franchise in Dead Space 2, Wright will now reprise his role as Isaac for the upcoming remake, where the original game kept Isaac as a silent protagonist.
Throughout the reveal stream, creative director Roman Campos-Oriola and senior producer Phillippe Ducharme reaffirmed that one of the goals with the remake was to add in improvements and context found in later Dead Space games as well as supporting media. Ducharme said that the decision to add voice acting for Isaac was made fairly early on, and with input from the "council" of Dead Space fans and community members it formed to get regular feedback on the remake.
"What was clear is that, if he's back, it has to be Gunner," Ducharme says. "Isaac is Gunner. We started having these discussions with casting and it became very, very clear that, for us, was the right angle."
Campos-Oriola clarified how Isaac's new voice work will be folded into the original story. "One of the rules that we have is that Isaac is only going to talk when he's being talked to," he explains, though a presentation clarified that while Isaac will "primarily" only respond, he may also speak up "in a situation where it would feel weird if he remained silent."
"He is going to respond. He's going to engage with Hammond. He's going to engage with Kendra. He's going to be part of these discussions," Campos-Oriola says. "But he's alone. When you're alone in that dark corridor, he's not going to talk. He's not going to break that immersion. He's not going to break that feeling of isolation."
In other words, while Isaac will be voiced in the remake, he won't suddenly become a chatterbox.
Speaking of narrative improvements: the Dead Space remake will be one long cut, not unlike God of War.
