Isaac Clarke and John Carver will have to fight with their inner demons in two very different ways. The developer discussed the hallucinations and insanity in the co-op mode.
Visceral Games’ senior production designer Ben Wanat explains that Isaac banished most of his demons in the last game and is now relatively untouchable by the Marker’s influence. His partner John Carver will become deeply troubled because he lost his wife and son to the Necromorphs. That's why he sees flashes of his family everywhere, they are projected on the environment, and on Isaac’s face, causing instability between the two characters.
“The dementia caused by the Markers has always been a staple of the Dead Space franchise. Just being near them is enough to induce personality shifts, insanity and hallucinations (all of which usually lead to death). But the Markers affect people differently and some characters in the series are more resilient than others.”
“In Dead Space 3, Isaac Clarke is much more resilient to the effects of Marker-induced dementia, having defeated his inner demons in Dead Space 2. His mind still has the secrets of the Markers crammed into it but it manifests more as an affinity for the Markers rather than a madness. This affinity has made him the closest thing there is to an expert on Markers and ultimately it’s why he’s pulled into this latest adventure.”
“In Dead Space 3, Carver drags himself through a number of punishing but revelatory ordeals. He knows he won’t like what he finds but he’s determined to face his past and atone for his sins. Isaac’s resilience to dementia allows him to act as a grounding element for Carver as he explores these waking nightmares.”, Wanat writes in a blog post.
