Dead Space
Going into the 2010s, there weren’t many who would have said Dead Space would meet its end by the end of the new decade.
Heralded as an outstanding new horror IP with the release of its first title, the series was riding a wave of momentum into the 2010s. It had managed to make a decidedly survival horror title as its contemporaries – namely Resident Evil and Silent Hill – were shifting ever further into the action adventure genre.
However, as time went on, it too found itself shifting away from the genre it was known for. While Dead Space 2 was positively received upon release in 2011, it saw a notable shift from horror into action, trading tension and fear for adrenaline-inducing set-pieces.
Dead Space 3 was even worse about this, throwing its horror elements almost entirely out the window in favor of a co-op third person shooter framework; and, in the process, abandoning much of what made the series special to begin with.
As a result, the series saw a downward trend in both critical reception and sales as the years went on. By 2013, reports emerged that the Dead Space series was being put on ice, and by 2017, the franchise’s developer Visceral Games had been shuttered, burying the hopes of fans who believed Dead Space might someday return to form.
