Dead Space 3 / Played On: PS3
Visceral Games / Electronic Arts / Playstation 3 – Xbox 360 – PC / Out Now / $99RRP
Dead Space 3 sees protagonist Isaac Clarke trying to get away from what he’s had to experience from in the previous two games. He couldn’t hide for too long however as he discovered that his ex-girlfriend Ellie was dragged into a mission to destroy yet another marker. The story see’s John Carver, Isaac Clarke and Ellie Langford head to the planet Tau Volantis in an effort to try and destroy the necomorphs once and for all. I felt like the story was a bit more forced than the other 2 games that come before it however, Visceral games have incorporated all the little quirks they’re not for to still make sure that all the scares are there.
Visually, Dead Space 3 is stunning. The frozen planet of Tau Volantis looks incredible. It doesn’t matter whether you’re trawling through the ice or creeping through the confined inside areas, it still looks amazing. The necromorphs look better than ever and the death sequences are more varied and still provide the excitement from the first 2 games.
The audio of Dead Space 3 has also stepped up a notch. In every room, you hear something completely different and this adds incredibly to the atmosphere. The voice acting is also extremely good which really makes the story believable and helps you associate with the characters.
Whilst most of Dead Space 3’s gameplay feels familiar, there are a few exceptions – some which work and some which don’t. We feel like the addition of human enemies wasn’t needed for this franchise and feels extremely dry. Luckily, these encounters are few and far between and you almost forget that they’re even in the game for most of it.
Dead space has always allowed you to upgrade your weapons but Dead Space 3 takes it to a whole new level. The game sees you collecting scraps and materials the whole way through. This allows you to customise your weapons more than ever. You can add different melee functions to your weapons or bring some of your favourite secondary fires to any weapon you’d like. This really adds freshness to the game however it makes it feel somewhat unbalanced. I feel like you can easily create a weapon not far into the game and really use it to your advantage, without really touching any of the others. You can also speed up the upgrade process with micro transactions. This really isn’t ever needed though as there is more than enough pickups to upgrade all the weapons you need to.
The biggest addition to the series is the new coop mode. One player can take the role of Isaac Clarke whilst the other plays along side him as John Carver. Whilst playing through co-op you encounter exclusive co-op side missions. Playing as John Carver lets you get to know him better than you would if you had never played single player. co-op can be played through drop in at anytime throughout the game. The new co-op feature really gives you more reason to replay the game as you will see things as John that you cannot see playing as Isaac. Overall, we really feel as if co-op is a welcomed addition and doesn’t hinder gameplay like games such as Resident Evil 5. Overall, it took me around 12 hours to see everything that I needed to see.
Dead Space 3 feels more complete than the previous games in the series. Fans had a lot of worries once they heard that the game would incorporate co-op and would feature micro transactions but majority of what has been added is extremely welcome in creating a more well rounded game. Visceral have added enough new puzzles and introduced new necromorphs at the right time to make the game feel fresh from start to finish. Even though I didn’t love the addition of human enemies (as it just isn’t as fun as cutting off Necromorphs limbs), I didn’t feel like it took away from the game at all. I didn’t find myself getting as scared as I did in the previous 2 games but I think that it’s just because I knew what to expect. The atmosphere is better than ever and thats what i’m after from the Dead Space series.
