Co-op will add a new experience to Dead Space franchise – dev

By: Moses Abaortae

  |   September 10th, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

Steve Papoutsis, the executive producer of Dead Space 3 at Visceral Games, believes that co-op will add to the overall experience rather than take away from it as he attempts to ease the worries of some of the fans of the series.

Dead Space 3 is set to shake up the usual formula for the series by changing the setting, playing with the sound and most notably, adding co-op. The latter has many fans of the series worried as to whether or not it would actually add or take away from the experience.

Up until now the series has been all about being alone and isolated in claustrophobic corridors with no one to watch the player’s back, which brought with it its own sense of fear and tension. Playing with another person however, could take away from that.

However, Steve Papoutsis, believes that Visceral Games is doing things differently from the norm and that they will find the right balance that the game needs in order to continue building on the brand’s success.

He said, “We want a true co-operative experience that feels different when you play it with a friend.”

“In terms of horror, we’re hoping that when friends are playing they’ll be communicating with one another.” Before elaborating on how that would add a new dimension to the gameplay in Dead Space 3, “Those types of interactions are going to help elicit some different feelings with players; whether it’s excitement, thrills, tension – I think that’s going to come from the unique interactions between the players as they’re talking.”

The interesting thing is how the developers want communication between the two players, where one would have thought that a lack of it would still harbour some form of tension. However, on the flip side, if the co-op does work then it would be just as memorable having someone scream or make a sound as they jump over the headset whenever a classic Dead Space moment takes place.

It is a fine line that Visceral Games is walking, however, if it does pay off, it could raise the benchmark for future co-op games in the future.

Resident Evil 5 is the example many gamers cite when they wish to point out how cooperative gameplay ruins the horror experience for many players. Whether Visceral Games can buck that one-game trend with Dead Space 3 remains to be seen but they seem excited about it, despite a large number of gamers remain cautious on the matter.

But what do the readers think; will the co-op element in Dead Space 3 work in terms of still being scary for both players or will it fall short and just become another third-person shooter? Let us know in the comments section below.