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15Feb 13

Dead Space 3 impressions

As soon as Dead Space 3 came out I finished Dead Space 2 and loved it. Dead Space 2 has a great blend of action and horror in my opinion and my personal favorite game in the series. Sure, it has a few problems like the last two or three chapters breaking the pace of the game and a few questionable enemies coming out of nowhere, but I still loved every minute of it.

 

So...Dead Space 3...yeah, A LOT of mixed feelings. The core game mechanics are there like the shooting, stomping, HUD less interface, and melee which is great...but not so much with an action game. See, Dead Space 3 is not a horror game, not in the least in my opinion. It is a straight up action game in every sense of the word. So what's the problem with this? Well, Dead Space should not be action.

 

I know, they announced it was going to be more action oriented before it even released, but I didn't expect this. I was fine with Resident Evil going into the action genre and out of the horror because it slowly moved into it. Resident Evil 4 was a nice blend, Resident Evil 5 had a few jumpscares but was mostly action, and then BAM Resident Evil 6 existed. I expected Dead Space to at least stay in the blend like Dead Space 2 is.

 

Story wise it's nowhere near as good as Dead Space 2. Dead Space 2 had Isaac struggling with his inner self a little bit. He was slowly going insane because he could not forgive himself over Nicole. It messed with his mind and while all of this was going on with him he never let anyone else know about him losing his sanity. I'm not going to spoil anymore of Dead Space 2 but it had a thought out story and it worked really well. Dead Space 3...well, it's decent, but you can just tell the story was put on the backburner a little bit. It's not as thought out, it's kinda cheesy, but I guess it's somewhat acceptable. If they could of scraped the multiplayer which I'm sure EA probably wanted them to throw in, it would of been better.

 

I've not got a chance to try out the multiplayer since most of my friends aren't Dead Space fans, but I've heard certain parts of the game are changed if you do not have a partner. I'm guessing that means not going through certain areas since it requires two people to navigate and get through. That doesn't bother me too much, but it is kind of a letdown. 

 

I'm not saying Dead Space 3 is bad, not at all. It just isn't up to snuff compared to the standards the series has set for itself. If it would of had a few more months of development it would of been better, or if they just put more effort into the story I would of been a little more happy then with it being more action oriented. 

 

Hopefully the next game in the series (if there is one) will be more like Dead Space 2 and less like 3.

16 comments
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fend_oblivion
fend_oblivion ranger

I'm at Chapter 7 and so far, I'm not that impressed with Dead Space 3 at all.

The thing is, till chapter 7 (excluding the intro), we're stuck in environments that have been done to death in Dead Space 1 and 2. Already the game feels like it is dragging at a snail's pace and the starting few chapters are nothing more than filler. 

As for the gameplay, where do I begin? Remember the methodical, precision dismembering of the previous games? Well, say goodbye to all that in this one. I'm playing Hard Mode and no matter what, I have to use both my primary fire and alt fire to take down enemies. They move too fast for me to get a clean shot at their limbs. 

And the way Visceral tells their stories are getting old. I tolerated it in the first game but it was pretty bad in the second installment. The third installment fairs no better with the same minimalistic storytelling, barely any character interaction despite having a "crew". I also "love" seeing John Carver pop out of no where and talk about things he has no idea about because he simply wasn't around when it happened.

I'm disappointed with the game already :\

Oh, and good to see you back again :)

travisstaggs
travisstaggs

@fend_oblivion That's one thing I didn't even notice until just how is the gunplay and enemy movement. You're right, they are too fast to get a good shot at, even on normal mode. I have found myself just shooting at the enemy like it's a bullet sponge instead of strategically planning my shots.

Thanks! Glad to be back. :D

kfjl
kfjl like.author.displayName 1 Like

I think I might skip this one, I loved Dead Space 1 but didn't like 2 and now it sounds like 3 has strayed way too far about what made 1 work. They say it's all about selling games, but I wonder if they would sell more games by carving out a niche, sticking to it and trying to make as good of a game within that niche as they can rather than trying to force the game into something it isn't and turning the game into something that the people who bought the originals won't want to buy.

travisstaggs
travisstaggs

@kfjl Exactly what I thought as soon as they said it was going to be more action oriented. I think the game would of sold just as well as a horror title. Dead Space 1 sold very well and a lot of people consider it the best in the series when it comes to atmosphere, tension, and how on edge the game kept you.

matastig
matastig like.author.displayName 1 Like

Oh and i just read your Street Cleaning Simulator review , great stuff haha

travisstaggs
travisstaggs like.author.displayName 1 Like

@matastig Haha, I did that back when a bunch of other people were just reviewing it like crazy. I think Gamespot did a video over how "great" it is back when it came out.

matastig
matastig like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Is it really you?? it's been a very long time man, how you've been and how's life?

i saw your update and review on Fuse , good to see one of the good ol folks back and blogging.

review recommended btw :)

travisstaggs
travisstaggs

@matastig Yup it's me! I've been good, just keeping busy with spending time with my girlfriend and college. I had a down time where I stopped gaming as much but with games like DmC and Dead Space 3 coming out I can't help but to start playing again!


How have you been? Anything new happen in your life?

matastig
matastig

Well same old, still gaming like crazy =P working as a sound designer now.
welcome back man, i hope we get to see more of you, keep gaming don;t listen to anyone! my Fiancee is the coolest she's not a gamer but she likes to talk about games , she plays from time to time but she cares more for the  Soundtracks and the Story , she just like to sit there and watch for hours , her favorite game is MGS 1^^

travisstaggs
travisstaggs

@matastig That's awesome! My girlfriend is a gamer! She loves Darksiders and I might end up buying Darksiders 2 for her soon as a surprise gift. 


I've been looking for a job for a while now and still no luck. My only way for income right now is my financial aid from school, and that is really about it.

ZanarkandTidus
ZanarkandTidus like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

I haven't seen you blog in a long time,it's nice to hear from you again.I've played a bit of Dead Space 2 and I thought it was kinda scary but I didn't have time to play more of it.Sucks to hear Dead Space 3 is more of an action game than horror.It sucks Capcom turned the RE series into an action series in the sense RE5 and 6 focus more on blasting your way through them instead of getting scared (although they did release RE Revelations recently and I liked it's creepy atmosphere and the fact it makes you be conservative with ammo makes it tense).

I can understand Capcom and Dead Space's developer worrying survival horror type gameplay(having to be conservative with ammo)isn't for everyone and casual gamers prefer to just blast anything they see,but they could still at least make the game scary to a great extent.

travisstaggs
travisstaggs

@ZanarkandTidus Yeah, it has been a while. I've been posting some in the forums but that is about it. I decided I should really start using this site again since I've had a bit of free time lately. It's nice to see you're around here! How have you been, man?


I understand the risk of developing a straight out horror game these days, but it's nice to see an actual real horror game come out! Seriously, as a huge horror fan it's sad to see these series shift genres.  I figured Visceral would of at least stick with the Dead Space 2 formula of having a good mix...but I thought the same about Capcom when Resident Evil 4 came out.

ZanarkandTidus
ZanarkandTidus

@travisstaggs I've been good for the most part.I finally got Thai citizenship so I can live in Thailand fulltime and by land in Thailand so I'm happy about that.The last time we talked I told you it seemed the girlfriend I had at the time was looking for reasons to break up with me,I let her go and met another girl who I was with from March 2012 until a month ago but I discovered she had been cheating on me with a man who's nearly twice her age(she is 22 and that man is 40)but the positives in my life still outweigh the negatives by far(having dual citizenship with Thailand and Australia means I don't have to deal with financial problems anymore).Good to hear you found a girlfriend and in college :)

travisstaggs
travisstaggs like.author.displayName 1 Like

@ZanarkandTidus @travisstaggs Really? A man that was 40? Wow. Glad to hear you're keeping your head up high, man. Never let anything get ya down, life is too short for that.

macrules_640
macrules_640 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

There have been a lot of mixed opnions on Dead Space 3, although I don't know if I'll buy the game since it's so expensive right now, but maybe once it comes down in price.

travisstaggs
travisstaggs

@macrules_640 Yeah, it's not worth the $60 in my opinion. If you like Dead Space then don't be afraid to give it a shot once it's down to at least $30.

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