Winners and Losers: Dead Space resurrected, while Konami benches PES

Time to take a break from the heat and reminisce over the week’s top stories in a particularly gaming-centric run of Trusted Reviews’ Winners and Losers.

If you’re reading this whilst glued to a fan then rest assured – you’re not the only one. Admittedly, it’s been a tough week to try and fixate on anything other than the weather (I’m pretty sure the world’s productivity has grounded to halt), but there have been some amazing announcements in the gaming space that are well worth paying attention to.

The first is the long-awaited return of EA’s horror franchise, Dead Space, which now has a fully fledged reboot on the horizon. Unfortunately, fans of Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series haven’t been so lucky as long-time developer Konami has plugged the plug on PES in favour of a completely new football title.

Photo Credit: EA

Winner: Dead Space Reboot

Before the series went off a cliff with the dreadful, micro-transaction laden Dead Space 3, EA’s horror franchise was a force to be reckoned with. In the 2000s, truly impressive horror titles were hard to come by, but if Resident Evil 4 laid the groundwork for how survival horror could be adapted into a new style of gameplay, it was Dead Space which reminded players that having an arsenal of weaponry could never guarantee your safety.

Taking some clear inspiration from the Alien films, Dead Space was a complete whirlwind that had horror fans floored. Holding on to that original sentiment, those same fans have long since hoped for a return to the style of the first game, and this week EA dished out exactly that. Dead Space is coming back, rebuilt from the ground up and with a teaser trailer to boot.

Not only will the game act a reset button for EA to course correct the franchise, but it’ll make full use of next-gen hardware in order to deliver a more immersive experience through the Frostbite engine. There’s no release date just yet, but we do know that the game will be headed to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and S.

Hype for the game is already strong, with Senior Producer Phillippe Ducharme stating: “as we look to modernise the game, we’ve reached out to dedicated fans and invited them to provide us with feedback since the early stages of production to deliver the Dead Space game they want and for new players to enjoy as well.”

No matter how the game turns out, I can tell you now that I’ll be playing it in broad daylight, with the volume turned down and at least six or seven friends nearby for moral support.

Loser: Pro Evolution Soccer (RI-PES)

Ever since I was a wee lad, the debate has raged on: which is better, FIFA or PES? Of course, no one could ever settle the debate as it eventually came down to personal preference, but it seems as though PES has lost the war by default as developer Konami is binning the long-running franchise in favour of something completely different.

PES’ successor will come in the form of eFootball (yes, that is what the company’s calling it), and in an attempt to jump on the same bandwagon that has made games like Fortnite, Rocket League and Apex Legends so popular – it’ll be free to play.

eFootball will also be putting a greater emphasis on cross platform play, with the game being made available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC and even mobile devices. The only console not to appear on the list is the Nintendo Switch, although I have a feeling that’ll get added to the mix in due course.

The move into the free to play model does make sense, particularly as shelling out £50 year-on-year for an almost identical game is exactly why FIFA has drawn so much ire as of late, but it is sad that PES as we know it is now gone. With roots dating as far back as the mid-90s, it does feel as though we’ve lost a key piece of gaming history, and I’ll never forget that PES 3 did the unthinkable by having a referee on the cover. Just think, if PES had carried on, VAR might have graced the box-art some day.
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