

But then I played through a level of Dead Space 3 and saw that they've figured out a way to remove the issue entirely. What was once a creepy, atmospheric scarefest becomes a regular ol' space shooter.Īt least that's what I thought. Those perfectly timed moments, when a necromorph pops out of the ceiling right in front of you, can't happen any more because you and your buddy won't always be next to each other. Toss in a buddy and what happens? You lose all of that tension. They've ranged from cheap monster closet scares to more creepy undead kindergarden classroom scares, each of the games likely made your hair stand on end at one point or another. Since its origin, Dead Space has been about scares. It's with that in mind that I was extremely wary about Dead Space 3's addition of co-op into the campaign.

It's simply impossible to be scared when you have an AI companion with you at all times, shouting for ammo and telling you when you make a good shot. Sure, there were intense, witch-driven moments in co-op matches of Left 4 Dead, but the second one of your friends started tea-bagging a zombie or telling you about his day at work, the illusion died and you were back to playing a game. But there's one thing that makes a game instantly not scary: company. All sorts of factors, from sound design to ammo availability to lighting, come into play, affecting just how scary a game can be. Worried that adding another player will kill the scares in the next Dead Space? Don't be.
