Summary
The originalDead Spacefrom 2008 has earned its place among some of survival horror’s best and most beloved entries. Arriving on the scene in a slightly earlier era where the genre’s presence wasn’t quite as visible as it is within the present landscape,Dead Space, originally developed by Visceral Games, put its stamp on the world of horror and arguably started the ball rolling for its rise in popularity and quantity of releases seen currently. However, the series later veered away from its initial focus to become more action-oriented, especially withDead Space 3’s mixed to negative reception for this, and other disliked changes.
Following a decade-long hiatus after the third title in 2013, theDead Spaceremake started off2023’s stellar year of horror gamesstrongly. Meanwhile, Capcom continued its streak of well-receivedResident Eviltitles with theRE4remake. While it, as well as the priorremakes, were closer adaptations and updates of the originals, the franchise’s previous two releases,RE7andVillage, marked a huge shift in a series standard, namely their move from the longtime fixed angle/third-person viewpoints to first-person.Villagespecifically later offered players the option between either view and a possible newDead Spacecould make excellent and terrifying use of a first-person POV, too.
Camera/Perspectives in Survival Horror Games
Naturally,camera and perspective design are important for any game, depending on the genres and artistic angles that gel best with the style and tone a title is going for. With survival horror, though, this choice can be said to impact the intensity of the experience and desired emotional response and reactions more directly than some others. When executed aptly, a well-directed use of these elements will elevate the terror and gameplay to another level, leaving that much more of an impression on players.
Resident Evil’s Switch to First-Person
Upon its reveal in 2016,Resident Evil 7’s biggest surprise was probably its shift to first-person, something never before seen inRE. It was part of Capcom’s attempt to reboot and inject a fresh turn on the series that had, with its previous few titles, been thought to be growing stale among fans.RE7is often rated as themost terrifyingResident Eviltitleto date, in no small part due to this change along with other design choices that made it a standout survival horror experience.RE Villagecontinued in this vein, and later, its Shadows of Rose DLC allowed players to choose between either first or third-person view, providing both options in one convenient package.
Dead Spaceis already an intense survival horror title as-is in third-person, with the dim cramped corridors and foggy vents of the USG Ishimura mining ship providing a nerve-wracking setting along with the Necromorph’s grotesque abominations stalking and assaulting players around every turn. Protagonist Isaac Clarke was also fully voiced in the remake, giving him more of a personality to latch onto.
Dead Spaceoffering a first-person view would also increase this immersion factor, planting players even more firmly in his shoes, in addition to making combat encounters exponentially more viscerally up-close and personal. IfmoreDead Spaceremakes or another new entrymight be coming down the line, it would be a great and fitting feature for them to include both first and third-person settings, letting fans decide their preferred way of viewing and playing through its terrors.
Some intrepid modders have actually produced a first-person mod for theDead Spaceremake’s PC version.
Dead Space (2023)
WHERE TO PLAY
The sci-fi survival-horror classic Dead Space™ returns, completely rebuilt from the ground up to offer a deeper, more immersive experience. This remake brings jaw-dropping visual fidelity, suspenseful atmospheric audio, and improvements to gameplay while staying faithful to the original game’s thrilling vision.Isaac Clarke is an everyman engineer on a mission to repair a vast mining ship, the USG Ishimura, only to discover something has gone horribly wrong. The ship’s crew has been slaughtered and Isaac’s beloved partner, Nicole, is lost somewhere on board.Now alone and armed with only his engineering tools and skills, Isaac races to find Nicole as the nightmarish mystery of what happened aboard the Ishimura unravels around him. Trapped with hostile creatures called Necromorphs, Isaac faces a battle for survival, not only against the escalating terrors of the ship but against his own crumbling sanity.
