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VengefulJedi
2o2p Game Review | Dead Space 3
Engineers are typically a nerdy bunch: they know how to use slide rules, love Linux, and use mechanical pencils. I’m sure if Isaac Clarke wasn’t so busy dismembering necromorphs he would sit down and bitch about how wasteful and slow Windows is, and show you his slide rule. Fortunately for fans of Visceral Games’ Dead Space series, Isaac is way too busy saving the universe to drag us down with his nerdiness.
Trouble at Home
Apparently Isaac hooked up with Ellie after the events in Dead Space 2, but as the new game opens Ellie is long gone and Isaac is playing her goodbye message for probably the hundredth time. I told you he was a nerd. Some gung-ho soldier boy busts in on Isaac’s little pity party in order to motivate Isaac into helping out with a space rescue mission involving his ex-girlfriend. This event coincides with a terrorist attack by members of the Church of Unitology, whom I call the Church of the Magic Marker, who attempt to assassinate Isaac and wreak havoc on Earth by unshielding a marker in the city. The city is soon overrun by necromorphs and it’s obviously time to leave.
Lifeboat in Space
Ellie’s last known position winds up being a graveyard for spaceships in the middle of a minefield. The mines take a heavy toll on soldier boy’s ship, forcing what’s left of the crew to seek refuge in some of the larger pieces of ancient derelict ships. It’s Isaac’s grim duty to gather enough parts from necromorph-infested ship chunks, fly a 200 year old shuttle out of the field to the planet below, and end the Necromorph menace once and for all. The ice planet was the site of a previous attempt to study the markers and find a way to deactivate them. Perhaps Isaac can survive the beasties, the Church of the Magic Marker, and survivor dissention long enough to save the day.
Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be
From a technical standpoint the game is nearly perfect. The game’s hellish environments are beautifully depicted and stand up well to HD scrutiny. I could almost believe that the space ship chunks were floating there, in orbit around Hoth’s Dead Space counterpart, for 200 years or so. The ships are rusty, dusty, and creaky...and those fucking air vents are everywhere. Necromorphs love air vents! The polish really shows on the sound effects: shots in space sound different than inside a ship, which sound different on the planet; snow crunches and necromorphs sound appropriately hideous, even from a distance.
I’m not one to go on about how many pixels are in a shot, what the framerate is, or how fucking Dolby the game sounds. However, all of these things come together to produce that signature dread-inspiring atmosphere that is the true star of the series. Dead Space fans always remember things like their first spacewalk aboard the Ishimura, the zero-g battles, the different ways in which they got Isaac killed, and the feeling that absolutely no place is safe. In Dead Space 3, almost every environment is hostile: booby traps, freezing temperatures, and deadly beasties with a disturbing fixation for Isaac all lie in wait to show players how many ways Isaac can die.
There are plenty of new necromorphs for players to face down: skeletal swarmers, replacement head necromorphs, regenerators, and a monstrous behemoth with a place inside just for Isaac....and I thought they smelled bad on the outside.
Isaac can finally put his engineering skills to deadly use. Workbenches now allow Isaac to create weapons and weapon blueprints, as well as upgrade them. Scavenge enough parts, like circuits, scrap metal, weapon frames, etc., and Isaac can craft hundreds of different death dealing options. My favorite weapon was an electrified shotgun with a built in grenade launcher. Other options include a flamethrower, submachine gun, revolver, frost-thrower, plasma cutter, and many more, all customizable and interchangeable.
Scavenger bots may also be utilized to do the legwork, just find a bench and make something cool. Isaac can also create ammunition, tungsten bars, used to access locked doors, and med kits. Isaac’s suit can also be upgraded to extend and strengthen his kinesis ability, armor, and hit points. Dead Space veterans also have access to Shepherd’s N7 suit, from Mass Effect.
Visceral included some nifty new death scenes for our nerdy protagonist to participate in...and you thought the eye thing was bad! I like Isaac but he dies more than any character I know, and every death shows me something new. I especially enjoyed setting Isaac on fire: he’s quite a dancer.
The single player campaign is satisfyingly lengthy. Dead Space 3 now features a co-op mode, which is fairly seamless in its implementation, and includes another stranded soul named Carver. It also features some Kinect interactivity, although that function was not tested in my playthrough, but it looked kind of dorky.
Nobody’s Perfect
While the weapon selection is great, Dead Space 3 limits players to only two weapons at a time. Remaining weapons must be stored in a safe. The atmosphere is spot-on but much of this game has been played before, as Dead Space 3 tends to rely heavily on it’s tried and true formula: start with a bang, brief respite, spacewalk, more action, dodge some shit while climbing or flying, fight a big necromorph and shoot the yellow spots, rinse, repeat. Nothing really new there. Another low-point was the interaction with the rest of the stranded crew, especially the little love triangle between Clarke, Ellie, and soldier boy. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it forced an unnatural, and unneeded, plot distraction. Foreshadowing is not Visceral’s forte, and I found myself being unsurprised at crucial plot twists. Stick to scaring the shit out of folks, Visceral, foreshadowing is not what you do best.
The Final Verdict
This game is not about plot development, it’s about intense confrontations, a palpable sense of tension, and getting Isaac killed over and over. There’s enough new stuff to make the game stand apart from its two predecessors. This is the most fluid, best looking, and scariest Dead Space to date. Dead Space is the premier survival-horror franchise, and this one is the best of the bunch. Just don’t expect to get much sleep.
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AcidSnow
Posted on Friday March 8, 2013 @ 11:18am
I really enjoyed the first game, it was new & fresh, scary & fun with some RPG elements... But my biggest problem with the first game was the fact that once you cleared an area - there was never a threat to be worried about if you had to backtrack, this made the game feel kinda one dimensional.
When the second game came out I didn't even buy it, I played a friends copy for maybe 2hrs and realized it was pretty much the exact same game. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, but I suppose the first game was a bit too repetitive for its own good, because I never went back to it.
And then I heard [the untrue?] rumor that there would be no Dead Space 4 due to poor reviews of the third game. When I heard that rumor I wasn't surprised, because -despite not playing the 3rd game- I doubt the development team was able to branch out the game enough to make it feel more fresh & new.
If someone has never played any previous Dead Space game, then I'd say play this for sure, because the atmosphere in the games has always been solid, and it's def a game worth experiencing. ...But for the seasoned dismember-er & head-smasher, I don't know that I could say the same.
plianides
Posted on Monday March 11, 2013 @ 11:52am
I have been a big fan of the Dead Space series, as an intense and solid 3P shooter. Albeit it is not for the faint of heart. In DS3, the weapons crafting is not as intuitive as it could be, but after some trial and error you get the basics. DS3 is somewhat longer than the other 2 installments, particularly if you do the option missions. The co-op mode in a nice addition. Actually, I am looking for a co-op partner to do Medic! achievement, if anyone is interested. GT: Aku 8
SarcasmoJones
Posted on Monday March 11, 2013 @ 12:15pm
I agree with everything you said....at least Visceral had the forethought of giving us the ability to dismantle weapons that didn't work and use the parts for something new. The optional missions were my favorites: I found them to be more challenging than most of the plotted missions, and ultimately more rewarding. Thanks for sharing.