According to EA, we just didn’t have what it takes to get through Dead Space without being so scared it hindered our experience somehow, because they are claiming that the majority of feedback indicated that it was pretty scary. Personally if I was making a horror game and someone told me that the game was pretty scary I would take that as a compliment, however EA saw it as a request to tone it down.
EA marketing boss Laura Miele said they wanted to bring the game to more people, and by looking through their data they found that the horror element was causing problems for some and it needed addressing. Here’s what Miele stated:
“We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game, but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone. So we introduced co-op into the game,”
She continued:
“The horror of Dead Space is still all there. It’s still true to its roots and no less scary, but people felt far more comfortable playing it with someone else than they did doing it on their own.”
So the upside is that the horror will remain, but it begs the question why anyone would complain that horror is scary in the first place. It’s very good to see that they managed to come up with a solution while trying not to let it affect the development process in any way other than adding another way to play.
