Dead Space 3
Reviewed By Stephen Pastic
It has been said that in space, nobody can hear you scream. Presumably, nobody can hear you swear viciously as you struggle to survive against Necromorphs either. Visceral's newest installment of its action/horror franchise has finally arrived, and whilst the tone seems to have slightly shifted somewhat, fans of the series can rest assured that Dead Space 3 is far from lifeless. So much for keeping the reader in suspense, hey?
Picking up sometime after the events of Dead Space 2, players once again find themselves in the role of Isaac Clarke - who has since taken to becoming something of a "space bum" and isolated himself following his prior history with the Markers. As the game begins, Isaac is ambushed by some military types who have been searching for him right in the midst of a Unitologist (Dead Space's most prevalent "religious" group) raid.
The opening segment of the game progresses as at almost breakneck speed, and is almost reminiscent of an Uncharted title in its pacing - however, as opposed to the Necromorph threat players have become accustomed to, the start of the game primarily consists of eliminating Unitologists as they make their escape. Here, players will be introduced to a couple of the newer elements on show, such as use of cover and enemies packing firearms. You can rest easy though, there will be no shortage of Necromorphs (and the associated "strategic dismemberment") over the game's running time.
For potential newcomers to the series, Dead Space is a third person shooter where players make use of various weaponry to strategically tear apart their enemies piece by piece. Contrary to most titles of this ilk, players quickly learn that head shots are often not the optimal way to eliminate their opponents, and as such tearing off the arms or legs of an enemy to both slow their attacks and movement results in a more efficient method of putting them six feet under. Aside from Isaac's arsenal, players also have access to a standard melee attack, a telekinesis ability (which can be utilised to either throw objects, or impale enemies), as well as stasis - by aiming at an enemy and hitting triangle, Isaac will fire off a projectile which will slow aggressors allowing for more time to put them down, or alternatively as a method to get through some environmental obstacles.
On the audio/visual front, Dead Space 3 raises little concerns. For the most part, visuals are on par with current-gen heavyweights, and the sound design continues with series tradition to be a high point - save for a glitch I stumbled upon several times; Whereby performing a melee attack would trigger a 'crunch' sound, despite the fact I was swinging at dead air. Furthermore, for anyone who tried the demo and was unimpressed with the snow covered Tau Volantis landscape as a setting, it should be clarified that much of the game is more consistent with the derelict indoor environments fans have become accustomed to.
Dead Space 3 introduces quite a few gameplay 'shake ups' in contrast to its first two installments. First and foremost is its co-operative mode - for the most part, this plays out similarly to the solo offering with the second player controlling series newcomer John Carver, a member of the military force seeking Isaac at the game's opening. As players progress through the game, there are certain optional missions which can only be tackled in co-op, and Dead Space 3 often throws a spanner into the works in these segments via one player having hallucinations which are absent through the eyes of their co-op partner. Seeing your co-op buddy respond to something that you yourself do not see can make for some interesting sequences where both players find themselves going "what the hell?", only for divergent reasons.
In terms of other gameplay changes, players now have access to a weapon crafting system by collecting various component parts throughout the ordeal. By interacting with a workbench (which now doubles as a safe to store items), you can combine different frames, tips, engines and other assorted upgrades to craft weapons which best suit your play style and/or situation. For the most part, the system works surprisingly well, and it is both easy to understand and has quite a decent level of variance as far as what can be constructed.
Furthermore, zero gravity environments from Dead Space 2 make a return appearance - unlike most instances in its prior installment, often these will have the player moving around something of a miniature 'open world' environment either scavenging for items among space wreckage, or simply exploring to see what lies out there. In these sequences, Isaac can find oxygen canisters littered about in order to replenish his air supply if players insist on having a good look around.
On the whole, Dead Space 3 is a worthy successor to the franchise. Having said this, there are a couple of bugbears which warrant a mention. Primarily, I'm not entirely convinced that the combat design works as well as it did in the prior titles with regard to enemy behaviour. In the previous games, Isaac would occasionally stumble upon one or two enemies that were much faster than the average Necromorph - in these instances, it was often wise to temporarily suspend said enemy with the stasis ability whilst they engage in combat.
From about the midpoint in Dead Space 3, it seems that a much larger percentage of enemies behave as such, and this sometimes results in three or four speedy Necromorphs making a beeline for the player whilst they frustratingly wrestle with the controller in an effort to put some distance between them, given that Isaac's melee prowess is nigh useless while being swarmed with multiple opponents at close range. Whilst it should be said that Dead Space 3 also introduces something of a method to partially mitigate this (the combat roll), it is often of questionable use with numerous attackers. Furthermore, said combat roll is available to players from the early game, but as far as I could see it was only explicitly communicated much later on - despite the fact that myself (and more than a few other players) only discovered this mechanic via sheer accident to cries of "how the hell did you do that?"
Aside from that, (perhaps inevitably) it feels as though the game loses its feeling of isolation. For the most part, the prior titles often had the player feeling as though they were mainly alone in trying to survive - with both the addition of co-op, as well as the frequency of encountering the supporting cast in a solo game, it sometimes lacks much of the tension inherent in parts one and two. Whilst not a criticism per se, the amount of times Isaac regroups with the rest of the cast, only to be forcibly separated soon after by the game almost becomes laughable at some point.
Upon completion, players also have access to a "new game plus" mode, where they can start over with all of their weaponry and upgrades from the prior play through. Whilst this might not appeal to those who just plow through a game once, it must be said that for those who enjoyed the journey, repeat play throughs are an absolute blast with much of the tension removed via the acquisition of better equipment. Whilst this tends to make the game lean even heavier away from the 'horror' angle and more towards action, I am certain that many will find value in playing through multiple times.
To be just like an unsharpened pencil, and very blunt - Dead Space 3 is a good game. The slight shift towards more of an action centric game has done little to hurt the franchise, and despite the aforementioned potential quibbles with combat, it is hard to see a fan of the series feeling let down.
Game: Dead Space 3
System: PS3
Developer/Co-Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
