Dead Space 3 ditches its roots for a story geared more toward standard shoot-em-up action.
Dead Space 3 takes a big step back from the intense survival-horror themes of its past two installments and opts for an overall blander sci-fi adventure. Issac Clarke makes his triumphant return, along with his new girlfriend, Elle, but he doesn’t feel like the Average Joe everyman hero he was before. Dead Space 3 paints Issac as a “chosen one” of sorts, a destined warrior of great renown, which subtracts from its horror elements in a big way.
Visceral Games, the studio created after the success of the original Dead Space to oversee its growth, was censored to some degree by their publisher, EA, who wanted more of an action-oriented title. EA told the developers to scrap many of Dead Space 3’s more fear-inducing parts in place of good-old shooter sequences. The result takes the player out of Issac’s head, making them an outside observer instead of an active participant in his ever-worsening mental illness.
It makes Dead Space 3 more of an interactive horror movie than an actual survival title. The experience still has plenty of guns, gore and scares to keep you entertained. But coming off the traumatic story of Dead Space 2, the 3rd title certainly feels like a black sheep. And it just may be what halted the series’ development square in its tracks.
Story and concept
What made Dead Space 1 and 2 so lasting in a player’s mind wasn’t the fear or panic it induced; it was the phenomenal story and characters it followed. By keeping their cast small, developers made characters feel intimate; they made their fear more significant. The first two games knew their goal and stayed focused on it: produce fear. Period.
Dead Space 3 features a story that feels like a step down from the quality of the previous games in the series. It tries to accomplish too much. The plot is free of holes, and the pacing is solid–you won’t be bored at any point in the main story–but that doesn’t mean it’s an enjoyable ride.
For one, the characters are certifiably hatable. They have nothing redeemable about them. Character growth involves meeting a character when they’re a jerk and watching as they grow to become, well, not a jerk. None of the characters in Dead Space 3 grow. They’re just assholes from start to finish.
The story of Dead Space 3 picks up several years after the ending of Dead Space 2. Issac Clarke is still very much crazy, but at least he has a chance to live a normal life, well, sort of.
But before we even get to our plucky protagonist, we play through a prologue that takes place 200 years before the events of Dead Space 1. The prologue fills in some context for the Markers and how humanity got to where it is today.
After we complete the prologue, we meet Issac in his crappy apartment as he struggles with his crappy life. He is quickly picked up by some Earth Gov agents who say they need his help in stopping the coming wave of necromorph outbreaks. Because apparently, Unitologists have just been building Markers all over the universe on every colony in existence with no one to stop them.
Now it’s up to Issac and Issac alone–the chosen one–to travel to the necromorph home planet, find the original Marker, and stop the galaxy-wide convergence. Piece of cake. Except for many times throughout the story, Issac feels less like an engineer pushed to the limits of his sanity. More like Lara Croft in space. With really cool guns. And he is surrounded by people who are professional jerks. Oh, and lots of suicidal religious zealots, too.
Like I said. Piece of cake.
Graphics
Dead Space 3 is by far the prettiest game in the series. We found ourselves standing on frozen Tau Volantis, captivated by snow swirls in the wind, oblivious to the enemies charging us.
The overwhelming visuals as you orbit a planet and weave your way through its debris field are no less than stunning. We stopped just to take screenshots more than once during our playthrough of Dead Space 3.
It is a sight to enjoy.
Sound and atmosphere
Following its predecessors’ footsteps, Dead Space 3 employs top-notch audio design from start to finish. However, since the game takes a step back from its survival-horror roots, the sound design feels lacking.
It’s still masterfully executed, but there are fewer opportunities to shine. In previous titles, the sound was designed to induce paranoia, fear, and panic and created with the intent to make you look back often and wonder if you were alone. With far fewer situations like that, the sound design feels the same as any other.
The atmosphere of Dead Space 3 is whole, more so than in the past two titles. The developers had plenty of time to build scenery, craft elaborate settings, and place subtle details throughout Issac’s journey. We felt like we were in a whole new universe that could one day rival the goliaths like Star Wars and Star Trek.
There are cultural factions and religious feuds, and there are different cultures and thousands of years of unique history. That level of attention and care can be seen everywhere in Dead Space 3. Just look at the posters on the walls, in the shouts of people you pass on the streets, in the graffiti-tagged all-over buildings.
Gameplay
Dead Space 3 manages to continue innovation in many ways and add fresh, new mechanics and puzzles to gameplay. In other ways, Dead Space 3 has almost too much innovation. Dead Space 1 and 2 were focused on their delivery of gameplay: survive. They didn’t try to add any more mechanics than that. And with enemies that stalked you like prey, surviving meant different things at different times.
Since Dead Space 3 is less about survival, the gameplay reverts to classic EA shooter titles real quick. Sure, shooting off the enemy’s limbs still works, but now you’ll hardly be facing necromorphs at all.
The enemy of choice in Dead Space 3 are militaristic Unitologists who all have their guns. Or grenades. Or gunships. Kinesis, stasis, and many classic weapons return in Dead Space 3. But there are fewer chances to get creative and use them. The game seems to force you into standard hide-and-shoot mechanics to survive. Which is a drastic difference from the scavenge, conserve, upgrade system of the past.
One of the best new features of Dead Space 3 is the weapon customization workbench. In previous titles, players could upgrade their weapons with power nodes. But in Dead Space 3, players can collect weapon frames, scopes, stocks, and barrels to create the murder machine of their dreams. It’s a feature that we can’t believe wasn’t added to the game earlier, as it feels like a natural fit.
Replay value
Unfortunately, Dead Space 3 has a lower replay value than any other title in the Dead Space series. While the scares and traumatic experiences are at an all-time low, making the game much easier to explore, the story and crappy characters make it not worth later playthroughs. After letting it sit for a while, we were immediately reminded of everything we disliked about the game.
Final thoughts on Dead Space 3
What Dead Space 3 does well, it does well. Weapon customization, a plethora of varied enemies, and a journey that spans the galaxy are all pretty damn awesome.
But it’s the detraction from everything that made Dead Space iconic which makes the latest title feel wildly out of place. Again, it felt more than a reskinned action title that had Dead Space slapped on the cover than an actual sequel to the previous two games.
That’s not to say it’s a bad game. Its visuals are gorgeous, its acting is award-winning, and you’ll customize weapons all day. It’s not a bad game. But it’s not what it could be, either in many ways.
At the end of it all, it’s a shame that EA was allowed to strong-arm Visceral Games the way they did. Had they just let the pros do what they do best, the Dead Space series would’ve continued gloriously. Instead, Dead Space 3 arrives late to the party thanks to some gross corporate oversight like that friend who’s always making excuses. Disappointing.
