Papoutsis had a lot to say on the revival of the survival horror genre and the difficulties of creating a good one:
I don’t think you could get a more pleasing statement out of Papoutsis. Survival horror was a big part of my gaming library growing up with titles like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and even Fatal Frame. The first two titles have since received “reboots”, thrusting the fanchises into an action heavy atmosphere.
Also, I think some of it may even be demand in terms of what games you see that are the big blockbuster games that are selling gangbusters, that may be a motivator. They’re challenging, they’re not easy games to make by any means. There are twitch action elements that need to be really good, then there’s the atmosphere and tension building, story, character design, all those elements that go into it that aren’t as formulaic as some other genres of games.
For us, we’re doing this game because we like horror, science-fiction, so it makes perfect sense for us but I don’t know what other publishers thoughts are on that."
The first Dead Space did scare the crap out of me and I was loathe to play it in the dark. The most engaging part of the game was how ill-equipped Isaac was to deal with the necromorph threat and while the sequel is getting a bit more action heavy, it’s a natural progression in a way. Isaac knows how to deal with the threat now.
With the inclusion of a multiplayer option and more brutal violence, Dead Space 2 is entering the slightly contemporary genre of action-horror. Not entirely a bad thing, provided the atmosphere and setting remain intact. Obviously, there’s a lot of groaning that can go along with this kind of fact, but remember, this is a business about making money as much as it is about pleasing fans.
And just in case you couldn’t get your fright fill soon enough, you can check out an interactive prequel comic coming this Fall.
Dead Space 2 will have you sleep with the lights on once more on January 25, 2010 for Xbox 360 and PS3.
Source: CVG
