Dead Space remake’s content warnings are an amazing tool

Original Dead SpaceThis is the ultimate survival horror experience. It makes use of gore and blood, as well as highly disturbing imagery. The 2008 game doesn’t hold back on the punches, and this is all part of the draw for its proponents — the stranger and scarier the visuals, the better. Motive Studio added accessibility options to the remake that will release Jan. 27. These options retain the game’s bite while expanding the appeal.

Dead Space starts off with a content warning: “Dead SpaceThis video contains graphic violence. It includes explicit depictions such as blood, death, dismemberment and impalement. Movies and gameplay depict many traumatic events, and harmful behaviours associated with mental disorders. Topics include self-harm and suicidal ideations, death of colleagues and relatives, claustrophobia, psychosis, visual/auditory delusions, and obsessive behaviours.”

This warning is an excellent content warning in its own right! Compare and contrast Medium, a 2021 horror game, which opens with a brief trigger warning: “The MediumIt was created and developed by diverse teams representing different beliefs and political ideologies. This game touches on sensitive issues and is meant to be taken seriously. Despite this, some players may find certain scenes and themes triggering.”

This is well-meaning, but essentially useless — the equivalent of an allergy warning on a food product that says it was prepared by a diverse team of chefs. It’s cool, though. But that doesn’t actually tell me whether the product is safe to consume.

Image by Motive Studio/Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts publisher and Motive go further than the initial warning. They have an in-game toggle which displays warnings about content before different scenes. Isaac’s famous encounter with a dull sound. Thud! Thud! in the distance, you may rightfully assume it’s a nasty beastie, only to approach and find a poor Ishimura employee slamming their face into the window. If you turn on the accessibility toggle, you will see a warning that says, “The upcoming section contains depictions of self-inflicted death.”

Furthermore, a second toggle exists to “hide disturbing scenes.” This will blur out these scenes (although the audio is not affected). It also blacks out Isaac Clarke’s death animations, which can be truly graphic and gruesome. Some fans love the terror of Isaac being pulled from his limbs or decapitated. Others might not like it.

Electronic Arts provides an external site which catalogs the system. The site even gives a chapter-by–chapter breakdown for each warning in the game and what it covers. There are warnings for suicide, amputation and other obvious triggers. Other warnings address more specific triggers such as needles or medical malpractice.

These options are entirely optional, and it’s possible that most players won’t even look for these toggles — for them, the murder, mayhem, and discomfort are all part of the fun. These options are completely optional and most players won’t even look for them — to them, the murder, mayhem and discomfort are all part of the fun. Dead SpaceThis is an amazing game, filled with atmosphere and tension. Now, more players will be able to explore the Ishimura and help Isaac escape; I haven’t seen this before in a game of this scope and scale. And that’s great.

How to activate content warnings for Dead Space

Head to Settings in the pause menu. Then, select Accessibility. Fourth and fifth choices relate to warnings and content. Toggle “Show Content Warning” for the in-game warnings to appear in the top right of your screen, and “Hide Disturbing Scenes” to place a window that hides the game’s most graphic content. They are both disabled by default and can be switched on or off at any stage of a playthrough.