I’ve counted the days, my friends. Easily my favorite video game franchise of all time, the third installment in the Dead Space series is finally here. Sure, it hasn’t exactly been that long since the last one, but for those of us who finished the second one and had to wait all this time, it was excruciating. But now it’s here. I got my copy at midnight and immediately started playing. Now I give you my review of the latest trials of Isaac Clark as he battles to defeat the Necromorphs for good.
Like many fans of the franchise, I have been wary of how the game would be affected by the addition of co-op multiplayer mode. And as I suspected, it has its ups and downs. It seems, like so many other games out there, that the story took a beating in order for the gameplay to appeal to guys who wear their hats backwards and bro-fist all the time. Which pisses me off almost as much as when Lara Croft became a household name when she was intended to be a dreamgirl for PC gamers. But I digress…
Dead Space 3 puts us in the shoes of Isaac Clark for the third time. He’s now off to find his girlfriend Ellie, who saved his ass at the end of DS2. This time you are joined by a playable co-op character known as John Carver. Not to be confused with John Carter, the Disney movie.
The first thing I noticed was the improvement in graphics in this one. Dead Space has a noted attention to detail, and Visceral Games left nothing to the imagination when they designed this latest game in the series. The deepest voids of space look real enough to just reach out and touch. It feels as though it could really go on for billions of light-years in all directions. Visceral used their Godfather engine to render everything, and it all comes to life in a detail that can only be described as “horrifyingly real”. That may seem like an overstatement, but I think I could still play this game if there was no real gameplay involved. Just walking around, exploring.
The next thing I noticed was the sound quality. And yes, I do mean that every single kick, step, slam, and shot is brought to life in crisp detail. But the music is another thing that adds depth to gameplay, and all too often it gets overlooked by reviewers and gamers alike. During my interview with Olivier Derivier (here), the composer on Alone In The Dark, he told me that it takes months to compose and time music so that it has the exact intended effect at the proper time. James Graves and Jason Hannigan, the composers for Dead Space 3, are also in the club of composers who pull no punches. The soundtrack is amazing, and works flawlessly with the vast “world” you’ve been given to explore.
I went into this game honestly expecting the worst and hoping for the best. I expected things to be a little glitchy and sluggish in co-op, but I was happily proven wrong. And while co-op mode takes away some of the horror of knowing you are alone in a place as terrifying as it is, it adds a little something to the experience. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it seemed like it was something not unlike security. Knowing that someone has your back and that you aren’t fighting this fight alone, as you did the previous two times. And believe me, there are times when you’re glad that your partner is there. And there is the added bonus of alternative dialogue and side missions that you two can work together to complete. Still not interested in playing co-op? You can still play through in single-player and enjoy the game as well.
Now for the part that most look forward to. The weapons. Stasis and kinesis are still very much a part of the game. You still have the Plasma guns, the Ripper, and all the other lovely toys that Isaac used to kill and slaughter in the previous games. But the guys at Visceral have taken things a little further in this one by building on Isaac’s engineering background. You can now craft customized weapons at workbenches found throughout the game, as well as add new uses for old weapons. What’s cooler than sending a blade from the Ripper tearing through a Necromorph? Sending one with the Acid Bath mod added. Or modify the Galvanizer or Force gun with Stasis to slow enemies to a crawl with every shot. Even better, enhance the Ripper to provide electrical damage as well as blades. And with Universal Ammo, you can have a steady supply of firepower for ANY gun in your arsenal. No need to leave a gun behind due to lack of ammo.
You can also craft tools that will help you throughout the campaign. Create a helpful tool that will allow you to unlock doors. Collect all kinds of items and weapons throughout the game, combine them at a workbench, and use your final products to kill and survive. Make your own medpacks. Best of all, when you create something new, you can save the blueprints and share them online with your friends.
If that’s not enough to get you playing, there’s New Game+ Mode. In order to unlock New Game+ and it’s many variations, you have to be the game at least once. This can be done on any difficulty. If you want a little bit of variety in your second play through you can choose from the following NG+ Variants:
Classic
Playing Classic NG+ changes the look and feel of the game slightly to call back to the original Dead Space game. Difficulty increased and in-world aiming is turned on. Necromorphs do increased damage.
This mode unlocks the Devil Horns.
Pure Survival
Pure Survival turns your NG+ into an episode of one of those survival shows on the Discovery channel. You will find no health, ammo, or stasis packs in the world, only raw resources. If you want a health pack, you better dig for the material to craft one.
This mode unlocks the MK-II Overclocked Parts Set and Mega Resources Deposit.
Hardcore Mode
This is the hardest difficulty mode in Dead Space 3. It’s Impossible Difficulty and you cannot die. Not once. Because of Dead Space 3‘s auto-save, they’ve done anyway with any save limitations and just said flat out that you’ll be sent back to the beginning if you die.
If you’re looking to just play the game by yourself the first time and have no intention of looking for every extra item and mission, you can make it through in around 8 hours. If you have a partner, you can cut it down to around 6 hours. If you decide to do the missions and find each and every hidden item, you’re looking at closer to 20 hours of gameplay.
Now for the storyline. As I figured, it took a hit. Isaac has turned his back on everyone and everything. He stopped caring about fighting the Necromorphs. He stopped talking to his woman. He became a shut-in and wanted nothing more than to drink space beer, watch Letterman, and dig intergalactic lint out of his belly button. He ignores every attempt at contact from his estranged girlfriend. Then, during a call from her for help, he decides that this is the perfect time to throw on his suit and get back to fighting? It’s weak storytelling at best.
Worse than that, the whole tie-in of the plot comes together with so many holes and weak links you would thing that Stephanie Meyer had a hand in the writing. And even worse than worse, it’s all just repetition from the first two games. Kill this, get to there. Oops, you need this, go there and get it. Come back, use it. Now you have to go here. Mini games, traipses back and forth through places you’ve been to get crap you need. All of this leading up to the big revelation of the series, which falls flat and listless on the ground. It would be okay, if it wasn’t a repeat of the first two games with a crap ending as the big payoff.
It’s sad to think that with a more imaginative writer, this game could have been the end-all be-all of the Dead Space series. But like so many franchises before it, it fell to the whim of people who think that shooting stuff is more interesting than having a reason for it all. Visceral seems to have forgotten why many of us played the games to begin with. Scares, action, and crafty storytelling working in harmony. And Dead Space 3 is lacking seriously lacking here.
But what it lacks in storytelling, it more than makes up for in action and replayability thanks to added modes, new crafting modes, upgraded weapons systems, and the ability to play it all with a friend. Despite what it tries to do to itself, it’s still a damned good game, and I can see myself playing it through more than twice.