Interview: Dead Space 2 Multiplayer Details

We recently got a chance to chat with Scott Probst, producer at Visceral Games, who works closely on the Dead Space 2 multiplayer campaign. We talk challenges of crafting a multiplayer campaign, comparisons to Left 4 Dead, campaign details, and more.

This is the first time in the Dead Space franchise that multiplayer is being introduced. What sorts of challenges, if any, did you come across when working on bringing the Dead Space universe into the multiplayer space?

From the very beginning we went out and looked at a lot of games that are competitive in the multiplayer space between games that had a franchise based on multiplayer versus games that are single player at their core and expanded into multiplayer. We did a lot of research on those games and how they built their franchise around multiplayer, how they integrated multiplayer from a single player type of game, so BioShock and Uncharted, and Call of Duty obviously. We sat down and said how can we bring the fiction and the core of Dead Space and not abandon the feeling of horror, the action, the terror, and everything that’s so great about the single player campaign, so the best way to approach this was we brainstormed a bunch of different ways and landed on the objective-based mode we have right now. The objective-based mode is core to what you would be doing in single player so all the maps are based within the universe, places where Isaac would’ve gone in the single player campaign. Each one of these is a unique multiplayer map, though not taken from the single player campaign. We built around the mechanics of the objectives in the maps and used those to feed into something that fits the core of the Dead Space franchise.

So if someone picks up Dead Space 2 and they wanted to jump into multiplayer first would it spoil the single player campaign in any way?

No. There are no spoilers in multiplayer, but there are ties back into the single player campaign, so as you move through the single player campaign you will have hints at the events and stories that unfold through the events of single-player that tell the story of multiplayer, but you won’t have any spoilers.

You previously mentioned BioShock and the core of the single player campaign is building fear around isolation and never really knowing what to expect, so when BioShock 2 was in development and multiplayer was announced, fans worried that this type of fear would be lost. How do you plan on maintaining fear in the multiplayer space since there aren’t any scripted moments to facilitate that?

In the multiplayer campaign you still have those scare and horror moments. We’ve been playing the game for over a year now and still have these moments because you have things like the paired attacks where the Pack can jump on your back out of nowhere, but it’s not that same scripted experience. What we found in multiplayer is we still have that action and horror, and that fear element because you never know what’s around the corner, you never know what can grab you from behind. It’s all those different mechanics of experiencing different types of gameplay in different ways to feel the horror because it’s not always the same scripted experience. You have a player jump on you, attack, rip your head off, and scare the hell out of you, but next time you run down that same hallway something different will happen.

As far as influences that you had previously mentioned, there have been a lot of comparisons to Left 4 Dead. Was this one of the games you looked at when working on the multiplayer component for Dead Space 2?

Absolutely. Left 4 Dead is a phenomenal game, a phenomenal franchise and that’s one of the games that inspired the multiplayer in Dead Space 2. There’s a plethora of games that we’ve taken from and that’s a compliment to be compared and put in the same category as Left 4 Dead, but again we’re specifically Dead Space 2 so it’s not a copy. We still want to build an experience that makes it feel like Dead Space and I think we’ve achieved that with what we’ve got now.

You can play as either humans or Necromorphs in Dead Space 2 multiplayer. Is there any incentive in choosing one side over another?

In multiplayer you’ll be able to play as both human and Necromorph. There’s two rounds to each match so essentially you’ll be put in a match against either friends or people you don’t know depending on who you’re playing with and then you’ll have the chance to play as a human during one round and a Necromorph during the other.

So how is the team planning on maintaining an even playing field? The human side have weapons and special powers like Stasis, whereas Necromorphs are more melee based. How is gameplay handled to keep things fair?

We looked at all the different Necromorphs in the entire franchise and asked what can we grab from these gameplay mechanics that these guys use and how can we build on different components to make each of these characters feel unique and still give them a chance against the humans. We’ve created four different Necromorphs that lend themselves to different playstyles so they each have core components that build into each of these playstyles and each one is unique. So we have the Pack, which are these baby guys who are short-ranged characters who build on paired attacks. The Lurker is a wall walker so you can go on walls and go on the ceiling, he’s got ranged attacks, melee attacks and can also gain paired attacks, but his main component is long range fire. Then you have the Spitter who’s a full-grown Necromorph female who spits toxic spit at humans. Finally there’s the Puker who also spits toxic puke at human players at a shorter distance, but at a greater power. You have all these different mechanics between short-ranged melee, short-ranged powerful puke, long range powerful spit, and you have characters like the Lurker where you can go wall walking all over parts of the map lending to that fear and terror because you never know where the Lurker is. It could be on the ceiling for all you know.

So we’ll probably see a lot of Necromorphs in multiplayer jumping out of vents.

In the single player campaign Necromorphs come from vents, so when we first started looking at  multiplayer and started looking at how spawn mechanics work we said Necromorphs need to come out of vents.

What sorts of weapons will humans have at their disposal?

There will be an entire metagame of level progression on both the human and the Necromorph side. On the human side they will unlock new weapons and new abilities for those weapons. You’ll see things like the Plasma Cutter, Pulse Rifle, and Line Gun. All of these favorite weapons in the single player game players will actually get to use in the multiplayer game. On the Necromorph side you’ll be able to build on those core components, so for the pack who dishes out melee and paired damage, as you level up you’ll increase damage.

What’s the max level cap?

We’re not getting into details about the actual max level cap, but it will have a cap, and there will be in-game rewards that we won’t get into either.

What can you tell me about character customization?

As the humans you have the ability to choose your loadout, the ability to change into different suits. On the Necromorph side you can unlock different abilities as you level up increasing attack damage.

How do you plan on drawing people into the multiplayer space that are more interested in Dead Space 2 single-player, and how do you plan on creating an engaging enough experience to keep them around long after launch?

If you look at games like Uncharted, the first game had an amazing single player campaign, and they ran into the same type of challenge with the second game in making sure the multiplayer doesn’t take away from the single player campaign. What they ended up with was great multiplayer that fit in well with the fiction. So we’re focused on the single player campaign, and we’re working to make the best single player campaign as we can and we will do that, and we’re focused on making the best multiplayer campaign we can without taking away from either side. We have things like fiction pieces that you’ll pick up throughout single-player that will be an incentive to bring people into multiplayer. There could potentially be some unlocks that crossover here and there that can pull people into multiplayer. We feel once you get a chance to experience multiplayer you won’t want to put it down.

So as far as unlocks, can you unlock new suits to be used in single player?

We’re not going into too many details about that, but I can confirm that.

Dead Space 2 releases on January 25, 2011.