Dead Space

Dead Space—Interview

by John Gaudiosi

Electronic Arts is launching a new franchise with Dead Space. Not only is the new game shipping for PC on October 20, it's debuted as a comic book series and also appearing as an animated feature on Starz Entertainment. Chuck Beaver, producer of the game, talks about the new survival horror experience and what gamers can expect in Dead Space.

NVIDIA: Can you talk about the Dead Space movie from Starz Entertainment and how that ties into the game?

Chuck Beaver: The animated feature, titled Downfall, was written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, and animated by the team at Starz/Film Roman. It picks up where the 6-issue comic series by Antony Johnston and Ben Templesmith leaves off, which shows the infection of the colony on Aegis 7, the planet being mined. Downfall shows the necromorph infection vector getting from the colony to the Ishimura, and chronicles the downfall of the ship. The game picks up then where Downfall leaves off, and Isaac Clarke is introduced into the storyline, and we go from there. So, there are quite a few events and plotlines in motion before Isaac even shows up in the series.

Once he does, he needs weapons. Can you talk about the weapons and gadgets players will have access to in Dead Space?

We wanted to immerse literally everything inside the world, so the weapons became mining tools, but “of the future." There are small plasma cutters with blades that rotate vertically or horizontally, depending on how you need to blast a chunk off a boulder to get it to fit into a smelter. There are large ore cutters that shear off whole sides of rocks, flamethrowers for melting ice off rocky comets, and so on. We have a "telekinesis" that is not psionic in nature, but mechanical, so we just call it "kinesis." It's a device that basically grabs any inanimate object, pulls it towards the user, where you can then propel it away from you with great force. This is handy if you run out of ammo and need to catch the exploding organic pods some creature is lobbing at you and throw them back before they detonate.

That's a lot of weapons.

There is also a stasis device, which temporarily slows time in a small area around the projectile's detonation point. This has obvious uses outside of mining. Also, engineers carry standard equipment such as gravity boots, basic environment suits that provide oxygen and life-support, and a holographic 3D map with an accompanying locator system which projects holographic lines on the floor leading to your next destination.

What's your favorite?

Stasis, by a long shot. It never gets old freezing a leaping slasher in mid-air, and then picking off his limbs with a plasma cutter and watching them fly away in slow motion, along with the blood.

Speaking of slashers, what types of creatures will players encounter?

Some of the necromorphs are basic slashers with giant talons arching over their shoulders. Others are cloning samples from the medical deck that have gone haywire from the infection, turning into baby-like, tentacled nightmares. Others are just tentacles. Some are pregnant with smaller swarms of enemies waiting to burst forth if you shoot the host’s belly. Some guard doors and hallways, stuck to walls with a barbed tentacle that can one-shot your head off.

What's the creature that really stands out to you?

My favorite is the exploder. He's got a glowing, explosive puss sack for a right forearm. If he gets near you, he slams it on the ground, detonating himself and you in the process. If you can cut if off before that, you can grab it with kinesis and propel it as a bomb. Or, you can stasis the exploder and wait for approaching enemies to get near him and then shoot out the sack, taking the whole group out. Or let the exploder catch up to a group of enemies, and let him have it. He adds a great tactical element, except for when he blows you up into little pieces.

Where did you come up with the idea of strategic dismemberment?

Glen Schofield, our executive producer, was always obsessed with the idea of hacking off limbs and arms and tentacles, so it was pretty much the very first mechanic we prototyped. I don't think we even took it as far as he wanted, and we took it pretty far.

How does this play into the game?

Strategic dismemberment pretty much requires you to chop off every limb before they stop coming at you -- and there’s a huge variety of states in which they can still come after you. This is fine if just one is around, but becomes quickly panicky in a crowd. Plus, there’s restricted ammo, so if you waste shots on the body, you’ll be standing there with an empty clip being torn into pieces really fast. And of course, we mess with your head as the game progresses. Just as you get dismemberment down, new enemies appear that put a twist on it. They burst open with other enemies if you get it slightly wrong, or flat out surprise you even if you get it right. And even when you think they’re dead, maybe they’re not. It’s a very addictive mechanic. You can even take it so far as to pick up their own body parts and throw them back at them as weapons.