It’s hard not to appreciate everything that the guys at EA are doing in regards to getting you into the universe of Dead Space. They really want you to know everything about the place these characters live in, to make it feel as believable and authentic as possible so that when the crazy shit happens in the game, you’re thrown for a loop.
Not only are the guys so convinced that their game is going to be a must-buy that they’ve got the comic book and animated film tie-ins on the way, but they’ve just launched NoKnownSurvivors.com, a new kind of video game site. Check the site out and snoop around- this ain’t no ARG- this is another way to introduce you to the people that used to live aboard the Ishimura, the ship that your character Isaac Clarke is sent to investigate after communications are lost.
Community managers and all around bad-ass human beings Andrew Green and Ben Swanson worked closely with the rest of the Dead Space team to find a new way to introduce some of the backstory of the game, and this website is what they came up with. Check it out and snoop around- try clicking on that severed leg on the front page. Every Monday from now till launch one of those floating body parts will start to mutate into a Necromorph (“re-animated, mutated corpses of fallen crew members”) part and be available to click on, and another story will unfold. The first one that’s available right now is “Misplaced Affection”, the twisted story of a doctor who performs organ replacements. Make sure to search around the room, there’s a few more goodies you can find there….
If you missed it, check out my hands-on impressions of the game and exclusive interview with Art Director Ian Milham.