Dead Space writer not keen on action but admires Visceral's balancing

Dead Space writer Antony Johnston has described the more action-heavy sequels as "not really for" him, but said Visceral Games has done well to keep horror elements in the mix.

Johnston wrote the first Dead Space and plotted out much of the narrative featured in Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3, but didn't write the second two games.

"I’m personally a big fan of old-school survival horror, and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to work on Dead Space. So the greater emphasis on big action in the sequels means they’re not really for me," he told NowGamer.

But Johnston admits that adding more action sequences was "a necessary evil in order to broaden the fan base".

"It’s a very difficult balancing act to pull off. So far, I think Visceral has done an admirable job of maintaining that balance," he said.

Visceral always wanted to go "bigger", Johnston added, and the story he'd planned out demanded it.

"To get that story told, to round out the universe, it was inevitable the settings and environments would open out a bit, become a bit more epic in scale," he explained.

"Otherwise you’d just have the same game on a different ship each time, and that’s pretty dull."

Dead Space 3 is out now on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Reviews have been mixed.

Thanks, GameInformer.