Fuck the grapple, hacking and lack of horror. Other than that, surprisingly fun to play. I say surprisingly because horror games aren't meant to be fun.As an action game, it holds up though. It's a shame we don't really need anymore action games.
Dead Space 3 Review
Game Emblems
The Good
The Bad
Dead Space 3 offers closure in the Isaac Clark story, while stumbling with some new features and focusing on action.
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Dead Space 3 carries the series' standard admirably, thanks to deep weapon crafting and a wealth of exploratory possibilities.
No matter which enemies you're up against, Dead Space 3's combat is a brutally satisfying experience. It achieves the difficult task of equipping you with a powerful assortment of weapon parts that you can tailor to your own liking, while still making you feel tense and anxious about what sort of mutated beasts lie in wait around the next corner. The rate at which you find new upgrades for your weapons grows at an equal pace with the game's introduction of more and more twisted enemies, leading to a smooth difficulty curve that lets you enjoy each fight while rarely feeling any sort of frustration.
One decision that has a significant effect on how the combat feels is whether or not you choose to approach Dead Space 3's campaign as a solo endeavor. Gone is the competitive multiplayer of Dead Space 2, replaced by drop-in co-op that allows two players to journey through the entire story campaign side by side. The seamless transition to co-op play is aided by a few helpful changes.The game's puzzles (which tend toward simplistic and uninteresting) are tweaked to allow both players to work together, while both players are shown different instances of loot on their screens to avoid fighting over who gets what.
Isaac's new friend is an intensely grumpy fellow named John Carver, a character with a tragic backstory that's explored only in co-op. It's nice that the co-op mode gives you an extra bit of narrative context, but Carver rarely rises above the angry-soldier-with-family-issues archetype seen in video games countless times before. Carver's personal story of the marker's influence on his life ultimately rings hollow, and winds up feeling like one of the game's bigger missed opportunities.
Even though the combat mechanics remain the same, playing co-op makes for an altogether different experience. The tension is lessened with the comfort of a friend at your side (though disabling co-op revival can restore some of that feeling), while frequent conversation between Isaac and Carver obscures much of the game's creepy audio.
Yet at the same time, shredding your way through hordes of necromorphs with a buddy is great fun. The action here works quite well in a cooperative setting, like in those instances where one player is about to get pounced on by a necromorph and his buddy freezes that would-be killer at the last second with a well-timed stasis shot. On top of that, working with your partner to ensure you've assembled complementary weaponry is immensely satisfying from a strategic standpoint. So while co-op feels very different, it's by no means worse than a solo playthrough. It's simply a matter of taste.
That Dead Space 3 lets you choose between these different experiences is a theme echoed by the broad selection of optional side missions. These are treks into some of the most ravaged depths of each level--often feeling like a dungeon run in a role-playing game--where you can learn more about the people who inhabited these places before everything went to hell. (And collect some pretty sweet weapon parts to boot.) Some of these missions are unique to co-op, but most are available to solo players as well. Altogether, this side content can take a campaign that's roughly 15 hours long and extend it well north of 20 hours.
Dead Space 3 is a big, generous game, but it sometimes reaches too far for its own good. Peppered throughout the campaign are various gameplay sequences intended to give you a little break from the core combat. Some of these are fun palate cleansers, like a scene where you're piloting a rapidly failing spaceship through a minefield of debris. Others are simply tedious, like the clumsy ice-climbing sequences on Tau Volantis. These adventures in scaling sheer cliff faces aren't that fun to begin with thanks to the awkward and unresponsive way you maneuver around on your rope, and become exponentially less fun when the game starts throwing ever larger hazards at you.
Yet these issues make up a small portion of a much larger package. From its terrific weapon crafting system to its deep well of side content, Dead Space 3 is a massive game rich with options and personalization. Whether you choose to approach it with a friend or by your lonesome, using a plasma cutter or an acid grenade launcher, Dead Space 3 makes fighting for survival a delight.
By
Shaun McInnis, Editor
Shaun McInnis has always dreamed of an a open-world driving RPG based on Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Outside of video games, he enjoys photography and learning impractical coffee brewing techniques.
1251 comments
Gameplay. Well some of the combat felt that it was designed specifically more with co-op in mind then by standalone gameplay. E.g. enemies rushing you from behind and in vast numbers where in coop your buddy would be watching your back but in single mode was more irritating then scary. Co-op only side missions which in a few years will no longer be playable due to the online part of the game dying and achievements that are only co-op which will also be unachievable in the future when co-op will nigh be impossible. Online gaming dies but offline single player remains eternal and can outlast time.
Story: Glaring inconstancies such as the unitology drop ships being able to survive the minefield without a scratch and the leader conveniently not meeting an untimely ending via death from necromorph because he had the usual bad guy invincibility cloak. Plus the romance side where Clark who only recently lost his wife was in a winging mood over Ellie. More acting like a whining errand boy instead of emulating the bad ass he is and not taking shit from people who don?t appreciate his saving their asses time and time again. Plus characters dying in such predictable ways you could see coming from a mile away. That elevator death with the African American women, well for someone who seemed scared of the elevator you?d think she would run for the exit when it arrived which would have been a believably action? The story in the game is so inane in so many aspects but still a good story nonetheless.
Gameplay. Well some of the combat felt that it was designed specifically more with co-op in mind then by standalone gameplay. E.g. enemies rushing you from behind and in vast numbers where in coop your buddy would be watching your back but in single mode was more irritating then scary. Co-op only side missions which in a few years will no longer be playable due to the online part of the game dying and achievements that are only co-op which will also be unachievable in the future when co-op will nigh be impossible. Online gaming dies but offline single player remains eternal and can outlast time.
Necromorphs that in 200 years should have logically gone cannibal and eaten each other to death to stay alive or just froze due to the extreme cold. 200 years is a bloody long time to go without a food source and be in a hostile environment. Also space is cold, really cold so those necromorphs in space should have become frozen and with the briefest touch disintegrate into itty bitty pieces. WTF people? Also a mass force of that magnitude in reference to the massive fleet of ships over the planet would not have gone unnoticed by EarthGov. Thus the event could never logically have been a secret. Also I despise boss battles where the boss runs away and this scenario transpires another three times before end battle. It gets old. MY goodness how old those boss battles get...
The game is not as good as its predecessors and the survival elements are not there anymore but the fact that it took me +24 hours to beat it makes me think it should still be given it some credit. The new Tomb Raider took me about 5 hours to beat, Crysis 3 was less than 5 hours, the new DMC was 9 hours, and many other games that I played within the past few years were also short.
1 Like Have to say I'm enjoying it so far - started playing today and couldn't stop for 4 hours - a sign of a good game for me, a bit like a good book. A lot more reminiscent of the first game, but yes, of course, the formula is not shocking any more, even if it does still make you jump sometimes. It's now more of a straightforward sci-fi action game. I like it.
And....thats why i have a JTAG Xbox! I'm going to play the game without spendig a cent. You can blame the greedy milky cow for destroying a piece of art.
In the first dead you miss plausible explanation on the story, to add the drama that you soon discover on the second and that is a good thing. But in the third, the direction just trows it all in the garbage. And the worst is, many people are accepting it. After reading this article and seeing some reviews, i found that if the game has action then it is good?
The sense of completion is poorly narrated and interpretation have problems like they are trying to hide a good, but loose conception? From the problems of plot at the end of mass effect to the new simcity, what's wrong with EA anyway?
After playing for an hour or so i got bored and annoyed. The first two are great and i was excited for a third but the beginning is a mess and quite terrible.
dead space is one of my favorite works of sci-fi fiction, including the games, movies and comics. i was certain that EA was going to mangle up the series with this entry when i heard about the co-op and microtransactions, so i moved my pre-order over to bioshock. then, i found it on sale and picked it up. to my surprise, it is an excellent and worthwhile edition to the series. the stray from survival horror is the only stinky part. items are far too easy to come by. PS do not support microtransactions!
2 Like I enjoyed the entire experience. The story closes the series very well, one of the few games in which I liked the ending now a days. The gunplay was tight, good atmosphere (not as scary as DS1 though), and the guncrafting was simply awesome. It would get a nine from me from being just an overall great experience
@SirSka The fact that it isn't as scary as DS1 also gives the feel that your experienced in the field of necromorphs and that you and Isaac have came a long way, so it fits.
1 Like I've just finished the game in solo campaign and it is full of awesome. The graphics and the locations are really good, the story has a good development and the end is just appropiate for the whole trilogy. It is true there is action but actually not enough to make you feel it's not horror anymore. The fact that some (not all the game is like that) locations and maps are so repetitive that you get lost, gives you even more sense of danger because in the back of your head you keep repeating "I need to go back to the last bench, or to a safe place", especially in the side missions. In my opinion this game was as good as the first one and with the same level of horror (in solo campaign). The only con for me is the weapon crafting because makes you spend a lot of time at the bench but you can only carry 2 weapons so the game doesn't encorage you to use all the weapons you craft. I think this game deserves a higher score for sure... an 8 is not a fair score to this game.
"Great amount of environmental variety??" I don't think so. One of the things that's pissing me off more and more is the LACK of unique environments. Has anyone else noticed how many map areas are just copied over and over and over to a point where you get confused as to where you are and think you're just going in circles? How lazy can you get EA??? And IMHO the weapons crafting system is unnecessary and a complete bother... it does nothing but totally disrupts the flow of the game. I don't want to waste time fiddling with my weapons and spending all that time figuring out the lousy user interface for it all... I just want to play the game. This Dead Space is a huge disappointment. I blame EA Corporate Greed.
1 Like played it did not like how they went away from the horror and instead had people with guns now attacking you
@redbat41 My thoughts exactly. It was shit. Lets have a new horror game that is all about exploring, tension, atmosphere, suspense etc and make it an 18 rated game for mature adults only. Someone stop these companies from churning out watered down dull horror games that are more like action games. It's too lame.
boring game, without history, and the question:How is possible that a game that its name is dead space, during the 50% of the game you are in a planet?
@yusep01 Dead Space refers to the field the Markers emit which prevents Necromorphs from getting near them.
1 Like @yusep01 boring post, without volition, and the question:How is it possible not to know that planets exist in space?
2 Like If I have to see another person comment about how they buy a game for the story, and how the story is the most important thing, I'm going to puke. If you want a great story read a book or watch a movie. It's a video game, the most important thing in a video game is the gameplay. It's nice if they add a quality story to the game, but some of you people put way too much weight on the story of a game, when the gameplay is by far the most important element.
1 Like @Doobsac ...No...just no. I agree that game play is obviously a major part for a video game, but...just...wow. Video games fall into the entertainment category along with books and movies...thus they need a story to kind of survive. Even games without an emphasis on a story always have SOME kind of story. However, if you have amazing game play with a weak story...well then you get Kingdoms of Amalur. Terrible game, I sold it because I was bored with the STORY. So, person, I have to completely disagree with you. Metro 2033. Game play is rather mediocre, a pretty standard shooter, but the atmosphere and the story is so damn good it pushes you on. Thus, I think you're kind of what's wrong with the industry, you and other people like you that just want some shell of a thing that's barely a video game, and only is one because you push buttons to do something. There needs to be a balance between the two for a really good game, because games with one or the other don't make it far.
1 Like An 8 out of 10? That is way too generous a score for this game. I completed the campaign and for me this was the WORST Dead Space of the trilogy. Think Resident Evil 6, thats how bad this game is. The only good thing is the graphics. They ruined the game by making it an action game just like what happens to all the horror franchises. The human enemies were rubbish and so was the story. I really struggled to complete this game, not because it was hard but because it was just sooooo bad! I give it a 5 or a 6 out of 10 fools.
@el_mariarchi_01 I could not agree more. This DS3 just RUINED the series for me. Convoluted story, nonsense weapons crafting waste of time crap disrupting the game flow, map areas copied over and over and over to a point where I keep getting turned around, wondering if I'm going in circles... and have you guys seen the sheer amount of Pay As You Go DLC's?? OFF THE CHARTS with this game. We can all thank the greedy Corporate A$$holes at EA for ruining yet ANOTHER game because of their obsession with nothing but profit.
1 Like @Ezioprez9709 If that's all you care about, then you're what's wrong with the gaming industry. I have to say that because the games that come out nowadays are just...absolute trash with big explosions and some half-assed story. The game just makes you go "oooooo, aahhhhh" and not "wow, what an amazing plot twist, I didn't see that coming!" now to me, the latter sounds a bit more intelligent rather than sitting there and marveling the same explosions and ridiculous cut scenes that we've seen all of these years. Story is actually the most important thing, because if you think about it, you really base the entire game about what the game is ABOUT. Why are these people fighting in this tournament? We want a game with zombies, how did they get there? A war is about to break loose, we want a medieval game, it's all based on what the story will be. It's rather hard to find a game that isn't story based. Even if the story is weak, it's still there. Thus, you are wrong. It's not all about game play.
1 Like @Ezioprez9709 Games should be a marriage of story and gameplay, if anything. Just look at the Half Life series, the PoP Trilogy, Assassin's Creed 1, Spec Ops: The Line etc. Not to say that there could be some great games that focus solely on story (Monkey Island) or solely on gameplay (can't really think of any examples, all games tell a story of some sort). Anyway, a game with good gameplay, can be made so much better if it also has an engaging story. It's like saying that film should be all about cool visuals and not about the story that can be told through those visuals.
2 Like ive played this game for about 10 consecutive hours until now & i can say its holly awesome ,,,,
every one says its not scary ,,,, its not scary ,,, bla bla bla bla
i challenge u to mention one game scarier than dead space on this generation of consoles ??????
sorry for bad lang
@Jzagmen For those who say this game is not scary I call BS, especially if you are a veteran of the series. If you have beaten both DS and DS2 on zealot mode than there is no reason for anyone to attempt this game on hard on the first try. I played this game on hard straight out the box and found myself jumping more times than I can count (DS is made of 9 o'clock to midnite playing, no lights and turtle beaches on full blast). The story was good, my issue was with Carver i felt that all the cut-scenes on "Carver" mode should've been viewed from his point of view not from Issac single player POV (to clarify If I am Carver all cut-scenes should be from his POV). Also, I was hoping for more banter between the two during "Carver mode" aka co-op.
I think DS the original received a 9.0 or a 9.5 when it came out..if so then I would rank both DS 2 and Ds3 at an 8.5, I don't see much drop off from DS to DS3. The amount of enemies that Issac face in DS3 makes is relative to the story, you have a planet and 4 ships full of crew members who died an were turned to necromorphs, untouched for 200 years, with very little resistance to thin out their numbers. Co-op is very easy unless you play it on hardcore without the ability to pick you partner up when he goes down; playing it like that gives both players that authentic DS "i can die at anytime" feeling.
...WEAK STORY ,Less Scares , Dead Space 2 is better in this part too , when I play DS3 I've Waiting more :S
1 Like I finished the game just now. It's an epic way to end the game. Overall the game's like RE6's Leon's and Jake's campaign + a more down to earth Mass Effect. I piece together the first letter of each chapter like the first game, and it reads BROTHER MOONS ARE AWAKE. I'm expecting a sequel.
Too bad though, EA threatens to cancel it if the game doesn't sell more than 5 million copies.
4 Like This game feels like Dead Space to me and I'm running the solo mission. There is more action but not a ridiculous amount, and it still gets creepy. I'm only 15% through the game. Lots of snotty geeks are whining about this game, don't listen to them. Buy this game if you liked the other Dead Space games! Tons of futuristic sights and sounds packed into this one.
1 Like @dobpatYou will need to go to a site like PC Gamer. Gamespot has been catering to consoles for a long time now. Look how many times games get the same score across all three platforms (which ignores modds/graphics upgrades that many games get with the PC version). They seem to only dock points for bugs, but will not give any for better graphics or modd content (etc). For instance look at Skyrim. No one can deny that the PC version (with modded content, vastly improved graphics, and bug fixes) is far superior. Yet it gets the same score for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Some of which was not available during release (even though they could and should update their scores), but they specifically said they where going to stop focusing on better graphics getting better scores. That is just one example.
Ironic how the first Dead Space was reported To have A deep Engrossing Story. Yet, after the acquisition of Dead Space by EA, suddenly Dead Space 3 has a weak story.
Coincidence?
@Kravyn81 @unleasher123 Correct, the original was developed by EA Redwood Shores a.k.a. Visceral before it became an "independent" development studio.
1 Like Great game!! completed it 2 times but only things that I hate about this game is the stupid love triangle in the storyline
1 Like This game is great, not as great as the first game but better than the 2nd. Only things that I hate about this game is the stupid love triangle in the storyline, and the fact that there is no split-screen co-op.
Once I dive-rolled as Isaac, I knew what made DS great and original was dead. If you come in expecting a Dead Space experience, playing the first few minutes as Isaac are painful.
Machine pistol. Lots of shooting. Brain-dead AI with guns standing around waiting to be shot. Muddy visuals. The whole thing feels so calculated and bereft of any soul.
EA took an existing and profitable franchise, and min/maxed away the originality to gain more profit. And that's the real travesty here. They could of built a great DS game in the spirit of the original, and still turned a profit.
4 Like 8.0? dude you smoke a bowl and play this game you'll be telling your grand kids about the time *MINOR SPOILER* you piloted a shuttle through the atmosphere of Tau Volantis.
I swear to God gamespot's standards are raised when several games come out around the same time. If this game came out in like July, it would have got at least an 8.5.
2 Like Uninteresting complicated story? Where!? It sounds like Shaun had a predetermined story in his head. I thought the story was well told and appropriate given the previous installments. Nothing was out of place and all questions were answered throughout the entire experience.
Also, Shaun didn't mention that one play through is going to net somewhere close to 20 hours of game play - which is over twice the standard amount for shooters these days. Not only are there 19 chapters that are all 30-60 minutes average length, there are a collection of optional missions in each chapter, some locked for co-op, but most are open for a solo run. EA could EASILY have made two games out of this one, but out of character for them, they chose to reward the series followers with a huge game. I chose to reward them back by downloading all of the DLC at release date.
I'm not without criticism for it though. The game is jam packed with necromorphs, more so than the previous games. SO MUCH SO, that it took away from the storyline experience to have to be jumped by 5+ waves in more than half of the rooms. There were so many necromorphs in some areas that it took away from the game play sequencing. This isn't a big complaint, as the shooting gameplay is the core of the series, but when the player is rushed by a clear abundance of enemies, it gets old having to mash the 'A' button because you're being tackled so often. Also, to be fair, I didn't use the hydraulic drive for melee effect.
Having completed my first play through, I'm looking forward to going through again to soak the story a little deeper. It's not complicated, just very very long. Me thinks Shaun ought to take his ritalin and give it another go.
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Dead Space 3
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- Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
- Developer(s): Visceral Games
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: M
Dead Space 3 Navigation
