dead space 3
Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: EA
Release Date: 08/02/13
Format: PS3/XBOX360/PC
The burning questions when playing Dead Space 3 are
How does it compare to previous Dead Space games? Is it any good as a standalone game? And Is it too far removed from the horror survival genre to be considered as such?
In short, its OK, Yes and Yes.
If you have not played either of the games that came prior to DS3 then you will probably enjoy this. If you have played one or both of the games then you can enjoy this game, but you will more than likely come away feeling a little disappointed, with the feeling that it was good but it could have been so much more.
The first Dead Space was a masterpiece, everything just seemed to fit together seamlessly, it didn’t matter that the protagonist (Isaac Clarke) was silent, as the story was conveyed through the game-play and some brilliantly written dialogue in audio and written logs that the player collected through out the game. Also the levels were extremely claustrophobic and the monsters in the game were scary! A great survival horror game.
Dead Space 2 wanted to be the first game but a little bit more “Hollywood”, Isaac received an unnecessary voice, the layout of levels felt a little too big, but still enclosed enough to make it a heart pounding adventure. The story was a bit harder to follow with new antagonists added and new plot points that just seem to arrive out of nowhere, but it was a worthy sequel none the less.
Now we come to the main topic, Dead Space 3. It is not a Dead Space game as we know it; everything that was great in the first two games has been modified a little or changed completely in some way that just leaves a sour taste in your mouth. The story is half decent, if not a little difficult to follow at times. The survival aspects seem to have been altered to make it easier for new fans to get to grips, the design of levels when on the planer feels too open, if you want to you could just run past the enemies and not waste bullets on them and whilst on the ships some levels are blatantly copy and pasted over with a slightly different colour scheme and this comes off as very lazy from Visceral Games.
The mission structure and the objectives all feel very similar (for example: You need to get from Point A to Point B, but on the way you’re told to go to Point C to pick up Object D (usually a key of some sort) to open Point B, rinse and repeat.). Finally the enemies, they are no longer scary, in thefirst games they were used to shock you, you could go 5 minutes without firing a bullet, in DS3 it feels as though your reloading your weapon every 10 seconds. Sometimes they’re not even monsters there are human enemies you have to fight against now, which would be easy enough to kill if the control scheme was built to fight a target that is constantly trying to find cover rather than just trying to rip your face off.
Publisher: EA
Release Date: 08/02/13
Format: PS3/XBOX360/PC
The burning questions when playing Dead Space 3 are
How does it compare to previous Dead Space games? Is it any good as a standalone game? And Is it too far removed from the horror survival genre to be considered as such?
In short, its OK, Yes and Yes.
If you have not played either of the games that came prior to DS3 then you will probably enjoy this. If you have played one or both of the games then you can enjoy this game, but you will more than likely come away feeling a little disappointed, with the feeling that it was good but it could have been so much more.
The first Dead Space was a masterpiece, everything just seemed to fit together seamlessly, it didn’t matter that the protagonist (Isaac Clarke) was silent, as the story was conveyed through the game-play and some brilliantly written dialogue in audio and written logs that the player collected through out the game. Also the levels were extremely claustrophobic and the monsters in the game were scary! A great survival horror game.
Dead Space 2 wanted to be the first game but a little bit more “Hollywood”, Isaac received an unnecessary voice, the layout of levels felt a little too big, but still enclosed enough to make it a heart pounding adventure. The story was a bit harder to follow with new antagonists added and new plot points that just seem to arrive out of nowhere, but it was a worthy sequel none the less.
Now we come to the main topic, Dead Space 3. It is not a Dead Space game as we know it; everything that was great in the first two games has been modified a little or changed completely in some way that just leaves a sour taste in your mouth. The story is half decent, if not a little difficult to follow at times. The survival aspects seem to have been altered to make it easier for new fans to get to grips, the design of levels when on the planer feels too open, if you want to you could just run past the enemies and not waste bullets on them and whilst on the ships some levels are blatantly copy and pasted over with a slightly different colour scheme and this comes off as very lazy from Visceral Games.
The mission structure and the objectives all feel very similar (for example: You need to get from Point A to Point B, but on the way you’re told to go to Point C to pick up Object D (usually a key of some sort) to open Point B, rinse and repeat.). Finally the enemies, they are no longer scary, in thefirst games they were used to shock you, you could go 5 minutes without firing a bullet, in DS3 it feels as though your reloading your weapon every 10 seconds. Sometimes they’re not even monsters there are human enemies you have to fight against now, which would be easy enough to kill if the control scheme was built to fight a target that is constantly trying to find cover rather than just trying to rip your face off.
You now fight humans as well as Necromorphs.
|
Found ammo is now universal with all weapons, taking away the survival aspect of the game.
|
If not Survival Horror, then what?
It is now an action horror game, its survival elements have been watered down too much from previous entries that it sometimes feels like a completely different game. My biggest irk with this instalment was that every gun in the game uses the same ammunition, there was no worrying about whether to keep certain ammo for your line gun instead of your assault rifle just in case a particular enemy comes jumps out at you from around the next corner, the only problem you have is which gun to take with you, yes you can customise weapons and craft items, but this just seems to ruin any suspense that has built up when you spend 5 minutes crafting medi packs, ammo kits and new weapons. It lacked that sense of urgency that’s required with survival horror.
Dead Space 3 had some big shoes to fill when it was released and if you’re new to the series then it does a good job, if you’re a DS veteran then you will probably feel a little short changed and hoping, if there is a sequel, that Visceral Games pull something special out and bring the series back to the glory days.
Matty Roberts 7/10
It is now an action horror game, its survival elements have been watered down too much from previous entries that it sometimes feels like a completely different game. My biggest irk with this instalment was that every gun in the game uses the same ammunition, there was no worrying about whether to keep certain ammo for your line gun instead of your assault rifle just in case a particular enemy comes jumps out at you from around the next corner, the only problem you have is which gun to take with you, yes you can customise weapons and craft items, but this just seems to ruin any suspense that has built up when you spend 5 minutes crafting medi packs, ammo kits and new weapons. It lacked that sense of urgency that’s required with survival horror.
Dead Space 3 had some big shoes to fill when it was released and if you’re new to the series then it does a good job, if you’re a DS veteran then you will probably feel a little short changed and hoping, if there is a sequel, that Visceral Games pull something special out and bring the series back to the glory days.
Matty Roberts 7/10
get too scared, bring a friend and play the entire campaign cooperativly.
