We’re doing it to try to really just sell the idea that there are big consequences to failure in the game. The other interesting thing about it is we discovered on Dead Space 1 that failure sometimes became a reward.

Because the deaths were so entertaining at times, that when people died, it was one of the highest moments of entertainment for them. If you go on YouTube, there are dozens and dozens of little movies that people have made of all the death sequences in the game, which I think is a testament to how entertained they were.

Personally, I’d rather see more narrative games finding ways to lean less on trial-and-error mechanics, but I do have to agree that this approach does make horror games even more freaking terrifying.

As long as I’m commenting, I might as well also mention that the new Prince of Persia game did away with dying entirely. Your character is accompanied by a helper who rescues you from falling to your death, and being defeated by a enemy means getting revived instantly to fight a slightly healed enemy. (Eurogamer explains how this works, and notes, “For some the absence of death will be a step too far, but we agree with Ubisoft’s designers; having to try again is punishment enough, and the lighter the punishment the better.”)

And, while I’m yammering, I might as well note that I kind of like the death system in Left 4 Dead, in which you can die, but your friends can bring you back later by finding your character locked in a closet up ahead. Kind of makes no sense from a narrative perspective, but, like zombie movies themselves, that game feels is more focused on individual scenes and well-trod cliches than on an overarching plot.

I was very disappointed to have part of Shadow of the Colossus spoiled for me though, I’ve been playing it and am on the 11th colossus.