Dead Space 3 co-op isn't mandatory and will still provide plenty of scares, says producer

Dead Space 3 producer Steve Papoutsis has said those who aren't interested in playing the co-op portion of the game will only miss out on the social aspect, not the storyline, and certainly not the scares.

Speaking with the PS Blog, Papoutsis said when designing the co-op elements, the team wanted to make sure it was both unique and didn't have an "AI bot" following players around.

"That wouldn’t feel like Dead Space," he said. [We wanted to] create a co-op mode that felt additive to the experience. You don’t have to play it – you can play Dead Space 3 in single-player and it plays out in very similar way to what you’ve experienced in the past, and we needed to create a character that fit into the universe and didn’t feel like a throw-away character.

"We first announced John Carver through a graphic novel, so he has his own unique personality and backstory. So when you get into the game he actually brings value to what’s going on. You learn about him and his own personal demons. That’s very different, and we feel it’s very innovative.

"As for being alone and walking down a corridor on your own – you still have that in Dead Space 3. You can play the single player and you still have that. But now when you have another character in the scene with you, it’s a different approach to the horror – it’s more psychological. That’s a new feeling that you’ve never had in a Dead Space game. That’s how we’re injecting horror into the co-op.

"There’s a lot more to horror than things just popping out at you. There’s the atmosphere, the sound, the events, the things that you see in the environment – those all have different impacts on people. You can still have all that when you have two people walking around the environment. So, if you want to have the intense single play experience you can still do that."

For those who aren't interested in playing co-op in the game, don't worry - you won't miss out on "anything."

"If you’re playing single player you’re choosing to have that solitary Isaac experience," said Papoutsis. "If you’re interested in learning about Carver, you’re playing with a friend and you’re getting that additive information, but it’s not changing the end of the story. It’s impacting Carver’s story."

Dead Space is out on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in February.