Visceral: Dead Space’s “brown spaceship” setting got “a bit samey”

Did you have a good time aboard the USG Ishimura? We certainly did, if by “good time” you mean trying to blow the limbs off some ghastly hybrid of man and lawn strimmer before it rips your chest in two.

The bust-up “planet cracker” vessel was the perfect playground for a survival horror game, with its bramble patch of maintenance ducts, fluctuating lighting and gore-streaked holographic decor. Some, however, could have done with a change of scene after the first few hours, and Visceral has taken their feelings into account for Dead Space 2.

That’s according to Ian Milham, Art Director, whom we spoke to at Wednesday’s showcase. Asked whether the Ishimura would return (as rumoured), Milham was coy. “We have not confirmed or denied that the Ishimura will make an appearance.

“Let’s put it this way: while there’s a lot more variety in Dead Space 2, which I think is a good thing, the response to Dead Space 1 was very positive in terms of the setting, but I think it all felt towards the end a bit samey. Brown spaceship – OK.

“So we’re bringing a lot more variety this time round, a lot more new spaces, but I will say, without being too specific, that classic Dead Space fans will be very happy with what’s in the game.”

Milham also threw a bone to those who enjoyed finding and decoding hidden alien messages in the first game. “We always try to put more in the world than can be easily seen at a glance, to reward hardcore people like that. So yeah, there might be some stuff.”

Read the full interview here.