Based off of what we’ve seen of Dead Space 3 thus far, Visceral games is clearly taking the series in a much more action-heavy direction. Fans of horror games have grown concerned about this change in direction, but Frank Gibeau from Electronic Arts has spoken out to calm the fears Dead Space loyalists.
In an interview with CVG, Gibeau admitted that the move toward more action was done to open up the franchise to a wider audience; however, the game will still retain the same level of horror seen in prior entries.
What we’ve tried to do with each instalment is tell a different story about Isaac but at the same time bring in new features and ways to turn the game into a more connected experience … so we embraced [the co-op] idea and we tried to open up the accessibility of the IP a little bit by adding a little bit more action, but not undermining the horror.
We can’t not be a horror game because that’s what Dead Space is … and at the same time we definitely do not want to piss off our fans by taking it too far from horror.
From what we saw of the game at E3 last week, it looks like EA and Visceral are on the right track in striking that happy balance between action and horror. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to read our preview on the game right here.
Gibeau went on to add that they’re carefully considering the feedback from fans, saying:
We listen to the fans and we hear them. We’re going to be releasing more assets over the coming months that show you how deep the horror is. It’s definitely not getting away from gore or horror, but at the same time it’s opening up to a larger audience by adding some elements.
In general we’re thinking about how we make this a more broadly appealing franchise, because ultimately you need to get to audience sizes of around five million to really continue to invest in an IP like Dead Space.
Dead Space 3 is set to release in February of next year for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
