Dead Space 3

As a huge fan of Dead Space 2, I was both excited and apprehensive going into Dead Space 3. The introduction of co-op play had me scratching my head-how could that possibly fit in with the isolated horror atmosphere of the series? And then there were the concerns about the new cover system and the inclusion of human enemies. To my dismay, most of those worries turned out to be valid.

Dead Space 3 is a strange one. There are moments that truly capture the essence of Dead Space, allowing Isaac to once again roam the dark hallways of an abandoned space station. The first few chapters were a breath of fresh air-classic Dead Space vibes mixed with that environmental horror that lingers in every shadow. However, the more I played, the clearer it became that the co-op mechanic overshadowed the intended single-player experience. Sure, you can play it solo, but everything feels forced when dual mechanics are at play. Your AI partner swoops in at crucial moments, and their presence feels a bit awkward when you're tackling the horrors of space alone. The emotional bond that the cutscenes try to convey just didn't resonate for me as a solo player.

The game's attempt to incorporate human enemies left much to be desired. Their introduction felt tacked on, and rather than delivering tense confrontations, it felt as if the game was scrambling to expand its arsenal of threats. I found it comical when my flamethrower barely fazed them-why did they crumple like paper instead of actually burning? While I enjoy cover shooters when executed well, it's distracting when the mechanics don't align with the core gameplay we've come to expect from the series.

One of the most intriguing additions was the weapon crafting system. The ability to create your own weapons was certainly a fresh take and allowed for some nostalgic nods to the previous titles. However, the workbench felt a bit off, and I can't recall all its intricacies. That said, I'm not particularly keen on the live service elements that allow for real-money purchases, but I managed to avoid that pitfall during my playthrough.

The game takes a detour to a frozen planet, which brings about some well-crafted boss fights, elevating the action compared to the survival aspects that we fondly remember from earlier titles. Indeed, Dead Space 3 skews more towards action than horror, which may appeal to some but left me longing for the spine-chilling scares of the past. Clocking in at around 20 hours, it's certainly longer than its predecessors, which gives you plenty of time to experience the unfolding story.

Speaking of the plot, it deals with heavier themes and provides an adequate look at the relationship between Isaac and a female protagonist introduced in Dead Space 2. The story is well-acted and almost gets a bit too bogged down in exposition, especially with its Cliffhanger ending if you include the DLC. In fact, it might be one of the most narrative-heavy entries in the franchise, diving into the origins of the Marker.

It's a real shame that the remake of Dead Space didn't perform as expected; I had such hopes that it would redeem the series after this installment. All in all, Dead Space 3 isn't a terrible game-it's just that the two that came before it set a high bar that this sequel struggles to reach. If you're willing to embrace the changes, you might have a decent time. If you were hoping for a return to form, you might end up feeling disappointed.

It's hard to imagine a single person would try to face cannibalistic limb-hacking acid-spewing Necromorphs for the third time whilst barely survived the first two encounters, then I saw his ex-girlfriend admirable physique, it's clear that the promise of beauty defeats the threat of beast. Isaac Clarke, now depressed, tries to mend his relationship, stay alive and save the world in one fell swoop. That means a destined reunion with the savage monsters once again, being scared, a little less this time, by paranoid-inducing sound and rearranging useful tools for homicidal purpose. Dead Space 3 is a solid game, although sadly not as good as the prequel.

Even though the settings are less riveting than previous ones, especially towards the latter half of the game, but it does have some breathtaking pieces. With most parts featuring either spaceships rustic interior or abandoned icy planet, it seems dull in comparison with Dead Space 2. The scare isn't prominent anymore, there are only a few creepy moments, and that's not nearly the level of previous ones. At some points, the game even looks like it's a B-rate sci-fi flick.

Visual and motion are good, it doesn't change much from practical no HUD display. Lighting in dark areas are accommodating for the fright as darker places must be aimed, thus forcing you to focus your attention elsewhere when the Necromorphs could assume their attack. They do so in religiously frantic fashion, more often sprinting right up to your face. This will be a problem since the camera is just as hectic in extreme close-up, not very accommodating for survival. Characters facial isn't that impressive as well, they look inconsistently and a bit rigid at several events.

Designs for enemies don't differ much, aside for the addition of more human-like foes. Players will most likely have reminiscence of the previous games, up until some corpses decide to pick up axes and try to be dangerously intimate. A minor issue comes in the form of weight detection mechanism, things and dead bodies often hover about like they possess little to no weight, and occasionally stuck in your feet as you try to squeeze last bit of ammo or health pack they had. There are also some glitches, such as Isaac trapped in a corner, fell to oblivion, items reappearing or characters disappearing.

Gameplay has diversified due to new weapon crafting system. Unlike the old days when you must content with pre-designed arsenal, you can now assemble your own weapons with frames, tools, circuits and more, creating a freedom of what combination of arsenal you will have. Frame decides what parts it could assemble into, light or heavy, and what addition stat it would carry. Lighter frames can't support heavy parts, so while having rocket launcher with plasma cutter is an amazing idea, unfortunately it's not physically possible.

It may sound complex compared with the old stick-power-node-in-it system, but give it some time. When you're familiar with it, the new system is very useful, and it simplifies the gameplay drastically as now you only have two slots, but up to four weapons in play. Ammo pack is now usable to every weapon correspondingly, for example, firings a few rounds from weapons with higher ammo capacity will use the same amount of one grenade in comparison.

Core of the game is unchanged, plow through hordes of Necromorphs until certain objectives are met. They are somewhat faster this time, though it's more of a frantic scare and less of frightening suspense. Limb chopping is still the key to survival, Telekinesis is as strong as ever and doesn't require ammo, but I often find myself unable to find some brooms, pipes of some sort of serendipitously placed items to throw at them, not to mention the axe-wielding bunch drop their axes in tight precarious positions.

Co-op doesn't dampen the single player experience, although there are few side missions that require a teammate to complete. The size of the game is larger than previous ones, more areas to explore, some side missions here and there and lengthier story. Boss battles are few but well done. Although even with these improvements, I can't help but noticing the lack of thrill, imposing atmosphere and that gripping terror that once decorated previous titles.

Sound department is doing their best to establish the scare, creaking noise of closed doors, unusual hums that might or might not be lurking hostiles, or blatant scream thirsts for your blood. It's just the setting doesn't invoke such ambiance, and after some time the effect wears off significantly.

Dubbing is solid, I especially like Ellie's and Danik's accent. Isaac sounds so tired, yet lingering hope for reconciliation remains. There's not much of dying message to increase the sense of danger though. Music is bare, nothing stands out too much, it does work for more subtle approach. Sound effect delivers the gore adequately, the sound of bone-crunching of your enemies' demise is utterly satisfying.

Playtime will take approximately twenty hours, multiple new game+ are available afterwards. Story isn't really up to par with the predecessors, at the latter part of the game just trudged with little expectation ahead. Dead Space 3 offers more diverse gameplay with crafting, all the basics are intact, but sadly it loses some of the horror allure.

Graph: Interesting graphic display in larger areas, good designs throughout, but some awkward glitches or motions dwindle the value.7.5/10 Sound : Voice actors deliver their performance well, eerie voices and sound effects are ever-present. 8/10 Gameplay: Great crafting addition, more varied resources and weapon usage while preserving the core of its fast action. 8.5/10 Presentation : Sadly it's only a low level of intimidating atmosphere. The new story offers longer experience but with less substance. 6/10 Overall 7.5

Ratcat - Reviewing your games for Performance in 3D! To start a game and be fully hooked within ten minutes is an aspiration many game developers would aim for and Dead Space 3 does it in spades. This review includes information for those wanting to know if this game is playable in 3D. first off the 3D was not great but playable. NVidia rate it as 'Fair' which is correct because the developers (lets call them 'Gods' at this point') despite creating a fabulous sojourn have obviously not put the added work in to make this game great in 3D. The problems are your normal smoke, shadows, light etc on the 2D plane making it difficult to work out where you are at. No problem ladies and Germs, the great and wonderful Helix has come to the rescue (again) with his 3D fix download. http://helixmod.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/game-list-full.html Once the 3D fix has been installed this game is absolutely brilliant in 3D. Isaacs head will come out of your screen at you to the centre of the keyboard at one stage if you have convergence and strength up high. You cant go all the way with convergence because you will just go cross-eyed! Now for the formal review. If you haven't played 1 or 2 for a long time then expect at least 20 minutes or more to become re-acquainted with the controls but if this is your first time playing Dead Space expect a bit of a learning curve although once that is all out of the way Dead Space 3 is fun and action! Intricate puzzles and objectives designed to keep you on the move and a decent story line keep you all the more captivated. This time there is a marked change of scenery but you do have the gradual upgrade to your armour, stasis and weapons as before. As with all my game reviews there is no need to go into great detail because they are rated on sheer enjoyment. If you are playing simply to say you have clocked a game you may play it all the way through just for the hell of it but in the case of Dead Space 3 well... its enjoyable all the way. Along with the side missions there are many hours of gameplay which is a refreshing change from the usual 6 - 8 hour bullet storm. Playing in full 3D is totally different from normal plane (plain) 2D and this release of the franchise is simply breathtaking. Don your spacesuit and go out into space and you really feel the vacuum and distance to objects and debris floating past your head. The development team deserve every cent they make for every scene has such detailed graphics. Of course graphics means something different for everyone so to expand on that well textures, object definition, physics... just about everything has been mastered. With excellent game dynamics and totally perfectly rendered environments one would have to assume that the people behind this awesome feat are highly intellectual - lets say University degree graphics designers, Engineers and Physics majors just for a start so its no surprise that the idea behind the tool construction bench is a little daunting only because for these highly creative minds they assume the average person can easily construct a weapon with a multitude of options - unfortunately this is not the case. Complaints have been noted and hopefully the next Dead Space in the franchise will be toned down just a tad. As a side note, enjoyment for some is different for others. If you play all the same genre of game IE: 3rd person shooters and nothing else you may find yourself a little tired of all the same thing so switch to a 1st person or point and click once in a while. You will find yourself pleasantly surprised and when you go back to your preferred game style you will be all the more happier. The majority of reviewers here are basing their decisions on previous instalments of the game but you would be well advised to leave at least a few months between play. How well do you remember Die hard 1? Die hard 2 was a totally different experience due to the amount of time that has passed. The average FPS gamer may find this game a little daunting with such an array of controls and puzzles to work out let alone the suit upgrade terminals so if you are at least a general PC user with a little tech knowledge you should find it a breeze. My hat goes off to the hard working team that has brought this masterpiece to the unforgiving public. 9 out of 10 rubber chickens. Spend your money on this game - that's an order soldier! If you want to know how well a game works in 3D send me an email at ratcat@live.com and I will review the title.

This is a phenomenal game, yes there are some differences from the second game, which was a masterpiece, but this is a brilliant game in its own right, the story is great, as are the graphics and gameplay.

I truly love the Dead Space games they are so much better than people give them credit.

I'd love it if visceral returned and created a sequel, I'd buy it.

Please don't listen to the extremely negative comment left by the other user. This is in no way awful.

Graphically it's very impressive and like its predecessors it upholds the atmosphere, the first 1/3 of the game its typical Dead Space through and through, with echos of being back on the ISHIMURA. Moving onto the Ice planet Tau Volantis, which has its ups and downs (can't decide whether I liked it or not). Game play wise it is more of the same, but if it's not broken, why fix it? It is more action orientated than what people may be used to, but it makes sense, if you put it into perspective you're on the marker home world there's definitely going to be a lot more nasties waiting to take your face home to their parents.

There seems to be few (and less impressive than DS2's) set pieces and a few new elements have been added to it, such as the vertical climbing, which was something critics moaned about. But I thought they were a nice touch and thankfully there isn't too many of them. And the additional quests although fun are slightly repetitive, I would have rather they just made them compulsory. But they do give more incite into what's going on. A couple were almost IDENTICAL in layout which I thought was lazy but there are a couple (country music and reapers, vague but you'll see what I mean) which were actually quite good.

The new bench and suit systems are a welcome addition, the bench system takes a few attempts to get your head around, but in no time you'll be making some both amazing and deadly combinations. Sadly though this does detract slightly from the atmosphere, I made a weapon relatively early on in the game that saw me through to the end. It was so powerful it took away the "edge" the game has. The suit system is slightly different, you wear whatever suit you like with no bonuses (like in DS2) but instead you upgrade your rig (armor, stasis, health etc) which works, you won't upgrade everything first time round, but with new game+ you can have some re-runs getting the best gear and fixing up the rig to maximum stats.

I can't really speak for CO-OP as I haven't really bothered with it, to me dead space is about isolation, atmosphere and fear. Sadly I feel this is lost with the aspect of CO-OP, and with this, the new addition to the game Carver seems like he's just an after thought. Whilst in single player he inexplicably turns up right next to you in certain cut scenes and it detracts from the flow of the story (where the hell did he come from). They should have worked it so he wasn't in it at all unless you played CO-OP adding to the story if you play it this way.

Overall, if you liked the previous Dead Space games you can't go wrong it's more of the same with a tad more action. The story is actually easier to get a grip of (in terms of the whole marker/unitology thing). Brilliant voice acting and motion capture Isaac is slightly more of a personality in this one with some one liners making me cringe. But anyway, the only thing this game is lacking is tension..but you have the choice to keep a crap weapon and keep the tension for yourself. 8.5/10

Also to clear up where someone (IGN I think) says Ellie miraculously has her eye back, you find a note at the VERY START of the game stating they found a new eye for her but a different colour as it was all they could afford. How a reviewer both criticised and overlooked the note I don't know.

Hope you found this helpful.