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.

I am a big Dead Space fan like most of you reading this. I speak from gaming experience and I typically know what makes a game good as I have been playing ever since I was in diapers, in the NES days.

That being said, I am writing this in-depth review for you — the customers — especially the ones thinking of buying this game. I think it's worth the price but I think Visceral and EA went in the wrong direction with storytelling in their new instalment.

When Electronic Arts and Visceral Games released their first two Dead Space games they received rave reviews for their Survival Horror series, it was a commercial success. When the studios announced Dead Space 3 was arriving, fans expected the best.

My play through of Dead Space 3 didn't feel like the classic Survival Horror; ammo and health is more plentiful in casual to hard difficulties, the necromorphs feel easier to dismember and kill in these difficulties, and the story doesn't seem to fit well with the rest of the series. I felt compelled to switch my difficulty from normal to impossible due to the sheer advantages in the prior difficulties, which I did. This would be a tough call for most average casual gamers as the impossible difficulty is pretty hard, even on Co-Op. So the typical causal gamer won't get a "fair" play through until they finished the game once, on any difficulty — I am referring to New Game+.

Secondly, the amount of action scenes compared to the original instalments of the Dead Space series is noticeable, being the atrocious ending, character death and boss scenes/fights, and more. Multiplayer has been removed in place of Co-Op which is a serious back-step in my opinion. Co-Op should have been an addition to the Multiplayer, not the only option — just my opinion. When Dead Space 2 introduced multiplayer to the series it was a great idea, it gave the game replay value, not only that but multiplayer was damn fun. Not that Dead Space 3 does not have replay value, indeed it does, in the form of new game modes, and co-op, which adds an additional 6 hours of gameplay which you would not get from single player.

My verdict: EA and Visceral have developed an excellent game, overall. It just may not be what they are saying it is. Those who are expecting vast changes will be disappointed, again. The introduction of micro-transactions in which time-sensitive players can pay real world money to further advance their character earlier in the game seems somewhat unnecessary, but is understandable as EA is doing this as means to gain additional income to meet their bottom line, just like any other company.

Though the story can be convoluted, Dead Space 3 has a beautiful environment, with an improved combat system, and improved gameplay. Dead Space 3 should not be ignored just because it does not hold up to its predecessors.

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.

I came into this game not knowing anything about it, heck I didn't even know the release date and was surprised when I saw it came out. Dead Space was my favourite, Dead Space 2 was easily the best, but Dead Space three is a big let down. The game takes under 10 hours to complete, and I felt everyone of those hours. Towards the end I just wanted it over with. I didn't hate the game, it just didn't do it for me.

The Game: Having played a couple of chapters of Dead Space 1 before playing this game, I must say the controls have come a long way. Isaac is fast and can turn on a dime, feels more fluent than DS 2. Now Isaac can crouch and barrel roll, what is this Gears of War or Uncharted, it sure feels like it. Which brings me to this point. The first game got it right, it was pure horror. The second game mixed horror and action. The third game is just action, are you kidding me, there was only one part that I found generally disturbing, I'll get into that latter. The game is relatively easy in the sense that you will never run out of ammo or health, at least on normal difficulty. The hardest part of the game, which resulted in 85 percent of my deaths was a part where you had to climb up a mountain and dodge falling debris. With the mixture of broken controls and Isaac having a mind of his own, this part frustrated me. And the new revamped bench and upgrade system took way to long to get a complete understanding of it, the first two games you look at it and you got it. There is one part where you link up with your group and you have to climb a ladder. My first thought knowing this franchise was the ladder is going to break, and guess what it did break. I was mildly amused and dumbfounded that they actually put that in the game, I mean come on. This game even has you fight the same boss three times, they probably just ran out of ideas. They even make you fight the hive mind again. There was one part that I felt a little disturbed by, I'm going to make this as detailed as possible.

Highlight: At one point in the game you hear an audio log that says people were locked in a underground base or something like that, and you have to go down there. You feel like you enter this long forgotten place, the you see wrapped up bodies hanging from a meat hook, so you know something is down there. You enter a dark room, walk around, stop once you hear this clicking noise, I then looked over to a lengthy slim figure with glowing eyes, just hunched over looking at me. You then fight them, but one thing caught my eye, there was a wall where someone was counting the days, there was a lot of days, and then I came to the conclusion what happened down there. Just thinking about it, makes me feel disgusted. Any way this was the only mildly scary but more so disturbing segment.

I could go one about this games flaws, but that will all be for another time. I really can't say anything good about this game, it offers nothing new and treads over old water. It feels dumbed down with all the action, and it doesn't have all the same horror qualities as previous entries. I honestly would rather just play the first two games, they both had great replay value and where pretty unique, but this one just feels like your typical action and shooter game. I don't think I will be playing through it another time. This game is just average, play it if you are interested.

Third time is not a charm for long-suffering spaceship engineer Issac Clarke. Since he escaped the Titan Sprawl his life has been on a downward spiral, Ellie has left him, his landlord is kicking him out of his New Horizons bedsit, and he's a broken man. Wouldn't you be after facing the Necromorph menace twice already? In the meantime EarthGov has fallen and the Unitologists, led by the odious Jacob Danik, are bombarding what is left of humanity. Issac is seized by the last EarthGov battalion and hurtled to the other side of the galaxy to Tau Volantis, a frozen planet orbited by 200-year-old wrecks of the Sovereign Colonies. Ellie, convinced she has found the Marker homeworld, is somewhere amid the wrecks and has assembled a ramshackle plan to destroy the Necromorphs once and for all.

After a slow start, the game is sort of split into two halves as Issac explores the decaying, orbiting wrecks and solves the mystery of the frozen planet below. The first half feels a lot like the familiar Dead Space formula while the second half feels like a generic shoot-em-up in the vain of COD. The relentless wave after wave of Necromorphs is mind-numbing. The overwhelming sense of dread and gut-wrenching anxiety that permeated every square inch of the first two games is largely gone. There are still shocks and scares, and the sound of elevators arriving are still frighteningly similar to the shrieks of the Necromorphs but it feels stale at this point. I felt like logic and sense took a back seat here. How did the Necromorphs end up on the New Horizons colony? How did they end up on the CMS Roanoke or Greely for that matter? It's never clearly explained. Why did the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces panic so easily and opt for mass- murder/suicide instead of pushing for further research into the alien machine? It seemed like such a mindless and heavy-handed reason to have Tau Volantis scattered with body parts.

It seems like it goes on forever, even if you ignore the optional side-quests. Upgrading your weapons and suits never feels like it has a noticeable effect but the weapons crafting feature can lead to some fun inventions. The co-op gameplay comes across like a last- minute addition (and it was) and it is not the kind of thing Dead Space fans want from this series. Online play is necessary for the Platinum Trophy but there's no way I can get it as the Hardcore trophy is just too difficult and time-consuming, especially since you cannot skip the cut-scenes.

Dead Space 3 was a best-seller, but not best enough for Electronic Arts who have put the series on hiatus, though they insist that Dead Space 4 WILL happen, we'll just have to wait and see. It is a shame that a groundbreaking horror experience has been reduced to a generic shoot-em-up bore. The amount of DLC offered on the PSN for this game is outrageous and proof that EA are only out to exploit the fanbase rather than give them their money's worth up-front.

DEAD SPACE 3: AWAKENED - 2/5

The "final chapter" DLC is over very quickly and gives us a confusing, though interesting, insight into what becomes of Issac and Carver after the climax of the main game. I know for a fact that Dead Space 4, when/if it ever happens, will retcon this stupid ultimate ending as "it was all a dream". Worth playing once just for curiosity though.