You might recallabout a month agowhen Nick Chester told us about the possibility ofDead Spacecompletely lacking the ability to pause. Many of you shared your disgust at such a thought, and rightfully so. I mean, someone has to look out for the bladders of gamers everywhere.
Dead Space‘s Executive Producer, Glen Schofield, revealed the truth behind the game’s pause functionality in aninterview with MTV Multiplayer:
“I was saying that in a game like ‘Resident Evil,’ you pause and you go into your menu. So if you’re in the middle of a fight, you may stop the fight, give yourself more ammo, and change your weapon. What I was saying is that took me out of the moment.”
“[What] I was saying is you don’t pause to grab your ammo. You better ammo up before you begin your fight. Because you can’t really be safe. [The combat] is happening live and in real time. The reason for me is that adds tension, because people are saying, ‘S—, I’ve got to get more ammo.”
What a relief! I get what he’s saying about being taken out of the experience — it really can be a big deal when you’re playing a game that’s supposed to scare you. Then again, there should always be the option to pause, no matter how tense the player was before pressing the start button and taking a break.
