Action Focus Necessary for Dead Space Success, Says Series Writer

Antony Johnston, the writer who worked on the first video game in the Dead Space series, does not appreciate the action focus on the recent release, but he acknowledges that developer Visceral Games has kept horror as an integral part of the experience.

Speaking to NowGamer, the writer states, “I’m personally a big fan of old-school survival horror, and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to work on Dead Space. So the greater emphasis on big action in the sequels means they’re not really for me.”

More action scenes were required in order to make the original Dead Space attractive to a wider number of players and Johnston admits that Visceral has managed, at the same time, to keep some scary segments.

He adds, “To get that story told, to round out the universe, it was inevitable the settings and environments would open out a bit, become a bit more epic in scale. Otherwise you’d just have the same game on a different ship each time, and that’s pretty dull.”

The most recent Dead Space title moves the action to a new planet, called Tau Volantis, covered with ice and filled with human enemies in addition to the familiar Necromorphs.

Players are also able to experience the campaign of the game cooperatively, with John Carver taking his place at the side of protagonist Isaac Clarke in order to improve his chances of survival.

Dead Space 3 also includes a new crafting system for weapons, based on resources that can be acquired in the game or via real-money transactions.

The game received mostly positive reviews after launch and it seems that publisher Electronic Arts is interested in creating another title in the series.

Dead Space 3 can be played on the PC, the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft.