we kicked around with making the character slower, and found it mostly limiting, i was i think trying to aim for the 'little guy in a big world' feel but we didn't manage to get there in time, the main factors i believe (as art lead not design lead so take my feelings with a grain of salt) need to be changed/fixed is a) being caught needs to be a cutscene, the scientists and monster should stop in their tracks once they're in range. b) the timer should be removed all together since the energy system already puts you on a timer, c) i had wanted to put in shaders and alternate textures on items so the more you drain the ship the more everything distorts and turns strange, though we never ended up managing to get to that point of implementation.
I think you're right on the camera feedback, a more robust system would really make this pop, thanks so much for your input c: