Dead Spaceis known to be a survival-horror game, but along with its action-orientedResident Evil 4influences it also features a couple leisurely mini-games. Many fans considerDead Space’s original turret sequenceto be a mini-game, though that is also arguably one of the biggest gripes fans had with the original game. Motive clearly has its thumb on the pulse of fans and knows which directions it would be best to take itsDead Spaceremake in, then, because it changed the turret sequence and made it much more palatable from a gameplay perspective.
It would have been a blemish on the remake if massively important story beats had been left out, and it also would have been underwhelming if Motive had left outDead Space’s other two mini-games: the shooting range and Z-Ball. The shooting range is reprised even though it has been altered drastically to emulate a combat training course aboard the USM Valor that is interrupted by necromorphs, and the shooting range itself is more of an Easter egg, and not actually a mini-game to indulge in. Thankfully,Dead Space’s Z-Ballis reprised as a playable mini-game again.
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Z-Ball, also known as zero-gravity basketball, is relatively straightforward. Players useDead Space’s Kinesisto snatch a ball out of midair once it is shot out from one of four colored holes in the wall opposite them, and they must hurl it back into one of those holes. There are six levels to engage with that have shorter shot clock timers, but each level completed unlocks a locker reward in the room prior.
Moreover, later levels will see covers slide atop score holes in a seemingly random order, making players’ shots more difficult. The arena or court is a circular room with a high ceiling and platforms lining the entire place, and players are encouraged to use zero-g leaps from one platform to another to gain multipliers and amplify their scores each time they throw the ball back into a hole.
This is not necessary for completion, and that is a boon since it can be wildly disorienting when leaping around and being discombobulated when attempting to look around the room to find where the ball is situated. It is easy to lose a grip on where players have landed in relation to the ball and even the scoreboard, which could ultimately lose them time on the shot clock overall.
Instead, players can simply stay on one platform and repeatedly catch and throw the ball for the same effect. This is unfortunate because the idea is sound on paper, making the mini-game more involved than a simple game of catch-and-throw. Interestingly, it is not entirely clearwhether theDead Spaceremake makes a positive or negative change to it in gameplay.
In the remake, Z-Ball is effectively the exact same, but without platforms to land on. BecauseMotive’sDead SpaceadoptsDead Space 2’s zero-g flight mechanics, players no longer need to leap from surface-to-surface to get around in zero-g. In order to achieve score multipliers, players need only shoot the ball into a hole whose ring is lit up at that moment.
Players can therefore fly throughout the court freely, but Z-Ball is inherently less engaging due to this simplification. Once platforms are removed, Z-Ball literally does become a mini-game of catch-and-throw because there is no other element to it. Z-Ball is still a fun and nostalgic distraction from the perpetual limb dismemberment players are concentrating on inDead Spaceotherwise, but it is unfortunately nothing more than that. If it had not been included in the remake it is likely that fans would be sorely disappointed, though, and Motive made the right choice by reprising it.
Dead Spaceis available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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