Crisis averted: Dead Space will let you pause after all

You might recall about a month ago when Nick Chester told us about the possibility of Dead Space completely 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 an interview 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 can 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.