I am not a fan of horror, in fact I have been quoted saying that I find it rather unpleasant as a genre, but I have always put on a brave face when it comes to Dead Space. When I heard that Visceral Games had a 3^rd game on the way I was excited to see what they were going to do with the story.

About the game:
A little background – Skip this paragraph if you already know what’s going on... Humans are running out of resources. A big helic type object (the Marker) is discovered that seems to be a limitless source of energy. It turns out that the Marker mutates the corpses of sentient beings into ‘Necromorphs’. Conveniently it also drives living sentient beings insane and convinces them to kill themselves. The government seals the Marker away, but a cult/religious group (the Unitoligists) believes that the Marker is holy and will unite all humanity, sometimes this is referred to as convergence or evolution. The Unitologists do what they can to restore the Marker whenever they can.

Dead Space 3 actually has an interesting setup ..story wise. If my memory serves me well, at the end of Dead Space 2 (I am going to try and not give anything away for anyone that hasn’t played it) you zoom off into space with a plan to destroy all the known markers in occupied space. Well, at the beginning of Dead Space 3 it seems that the plan to save the human race is long dead and gone and that Isaac has given up on the world and fellow protagonist ‘Ellie’. Earth Gov (the cause of the last Marker outbreak) then has to put a gun to his head and tell him that Ellie is in danger in order to get him on side. Sooo Dead Space 3 starts out as a rescue mission, just like the original, except this time there is actually someone to save. There are twists to this, again trying not to give anything away, but I will say that the Necromorphs are not going to be your only problem on this little trip.

What I liked:
In a word, variation. There is a lot of diversity in this game, especially when it is compared to its predecessors. When playing the game, brute force will not always get you through – it will however be required at times. Do you go down the “throw as many bullets as possible” route? or conserve ammo and make use of stasis, kinesis and accuracy? It is up to you as the player to decide when and how you manage a situation. You can also personalise your weapons at ‘Bench’ stations so you can make tools you have work with your style.

Along with the varied methods of ripping off necro-limbs, you will also find yourself faced with puzzles and “go fetch this item” missions. Which is refreshing break at times..and it allows you to check yourself to slow your heart rate.

What I didn’t like:
There were a few things I didn’t like about the game..This sounds a little shallow but I do not think that it was as good looking as Dead Space 2, Its way above the original but to be honest I expected more.

Second was the lack of actual story telling. This is hard one for me to put my finger on but I have had a look at the completion logs and it seems I have collected most of the artefacts in the game ..but it doesn’t feel as thorough as 1 and 2. I know what is happening but I don’t know when, how or why and I think these are aspects that should be covered in a Sci Fi type game. No one likes unanswered questions.

Maybe I am not being fair by comparing it to the games that came before it in a series, Visceral tried something slightly different and that’s fine! ..its better than letting the game play go stale.  

Overall:
I enjoyed this game! It ticked all the boxes I look for in a game. It isn’t as jumpy as 1 and 2 but this is a review and not a comparison. Its a solid game with a good story, plus it took me just over 14 hours to complete – in my eyes that means you get your monies worth.

I didn’t actually get a chance to try out the co-op which is why I haven’t mentioned it. It’s not that I don’t have friends...I just don’t have any that have the game (I don’t get on well with randoms that will just wander off)

Anyway it’s a great game, go buy it on Amazon NOW!

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