Story
This game takes place after the events of Dead Space 2, where Isaac and Ellie escaped the destruction of the Titan Station. Isaac is under the weather after the events of Titan Station, such as Ellie broke up with him, and his hesitance to fight the Necromorphs. However, two unknown men stormed Isaac's apartment, and told him that Ellie is in danger. Needless to say, Isaac went and followed them to save her, inadvertently also trying to end the threat of Necromorphs in their journey.
The story is pretty much well-done, with good plot twists. Character developments are pretty good, and I pretty much like all characters in the game, whether they are good or bad people. Isaac is still the main reason why this game's story is good, and I felt that other characters also supplement his development with good sub-plots, such the love triangle sub-plot between three characters in the game. You may also find find various logs that tell the game's additional background story, such as how certain Necromorphs are created. The only thing I had complaint with the game's storyline is the pacing and unnecessary certain sub-plots.
Gameplay
This game plays like previous Dead Space games, which is still a third person shooter and survival horror game. As always, you need to dismember enemy limbs to kill them faster. Body shots or headshots do not work effectively as shooting enemies' limbs. You can also use melee attacks to attack enemies when you are in close proximity with the enemies, such as bashing attack to knock them back, or stomping enemies on the ground. You can also use Stasis to slowdown enemies or obstacles, or use Kinesis to lift items or to solve puzzles. Isaac now also can dodge to any direction, by tapping the Run button to any direction, or crouch to take cover and avoid damage from gunfire by human enemies. It is useful to avoid dangerous attacks. You may also opt to play co-op with a friend, although the co-op mode can only be played online.
This time, you will fight human enemies in certain Chapters, as well as fighting alien enemies called Necromorphs. Unlike the Necromorphs, they fight more strategically and will use firearms to kill you. Also, headshots work well against them like other third person shooter games. Occasionally you will fighting three way battles against humans and Necromorphs, which require you to take more strategic approach to fight them.
There are a variety of Necromorphs, such as Slashers, the regular Necromorph encountered throughout in the game, or Leapers, the scorpion-like Necromorphs. Each type of Necromorph requires different approach to fight, such as using fast-hitting weapons to fight off hordes of Slashers, or use more powerful weapons like shotgun to kill a Leaper instantly.
Another new feature available in this game is Crafting. Crafting allows you to create new weapons, Circuits, ammo, and items by spending resources. Resources can be obtained by killing enemies, breaking item boxes, and uses the Scavenger Bots to search for resources. By spending enough resources, you can create almost anything in the game.
Unlike the previous Dead Space games, you can only equip two weapon sets, but each weapon set may have one or two different weapon functions. For example, your first weapon has both Plasma Cutter and Force Gun functions. To create a new weapon, you need to start from a weapon frame, and attach it with different weapon parts such as Plasma Core and Military Engine. You may also attach different parts to the weapon set to enhance it's abilities, such as attaching circuits or a tip to change the weapon into an Assault Rifle. There is a variety of weapon combinations to be experimented in the game, thus it is advisable to experiment each weapon to see which one suit your style and different situations in the game better. You may also find weapon parts while exploring, or you can craft them by spending resources. You may also upgrade your RIG to improve your chances of survival, such as Armour, Stasis Duration, and other stats. This time, ammo is universal in this game, thus all weapons share the same type of ammo.
To progress in the game, you need to reach to your Objective Marker in the game, fight enemies on the way, as well as solving puzzles. There are variety of puzzles in this game this time, and it keeps you from getting boring easily throughout the game. You also need to use both Kinesis and Stasis to progress, as some puzzles in the game require you to use them. There are also Optional Missions to
be completed, as it will give you additional backstory of the game's events as well as rewarding you some benefits, such as new weapon parts.
There are few boss fights in this game, which requires specific strategies to beat them. You also will engage into QTE sequences in the game while progressing. You may also find collectibles in the game such as audio logs, relics, artifacts and etc. Finding them will reward you bonuses such as new Suits. Unlike the first and second games, Suits do not offer additional benefits such as increased defense, and all Suits are purely cosmetic.
The game has solid gameplay, but with some flaws that decrease the game's overall quality. First of all, too many battles take place in a chapter. Personally, a survival horror game should have a balance of pacing between fighting and exploring. Unfortunately, there are too many battles to be fought in this game, and oftenly you will groups of Necromorphs at the same time. Secondly, redundant Optional Missions objectives. The objectives for these missions are redundant, and lacked variety. There are some Optional Missions that require co-op play, and I think these co-op missions are much better implemented. Also, boss fights are pretty much lacking. Regardless, this game still have good gameplay due to it's improved combat, interesting Crafting system, and more challenging.
Graphics
Dead Space games always have impressive graphics that match or looks better than other games when it is released. Dead Space 3 has very impressive graphics, with extremely well-done environments such as the space exploration area, ships, buildings, and etc. Characters also look well-designed, such as Isaac, Ellie, as well as other human characters and the Necromorphs designs.
There isn't much bugs or glitches that I noticed in the game, and I find that the framerate performance is consistent throughout the game.
Sound
The voice acting is pretty good, with great voice actors such as Gunner Wright, Simon Templeman, Sonita Henry, and many more. As always, I find that Gunner Wright's performance as Isaac Clarke is consistently good, and other voice actors did good job on complementing each other roles.
Replay Value
There is a good replay value in the game, where you can collect missing collectibles in Chapters that you have played previously, tackle any uncompleted Optional Missions, play the game again in different difficulty modes, or try the co-op with a friend. The game is pretty much more longer than both Dead Space and Dead Space 2, thus making the game pretty much lengthy with additional things to do.
Dead Space is a great survival horror game. Dead Space 2 is pretty much an improvement to Dead Space despite minor additions and flaws. Unfortunately for Dead Space 3, there are things have improved since Dead Space 2, and there are things did not. Although Dead Space 3 benefits with improved combat, good Crafting system as well as other good features, I felt that Dead Space 3 is not as good as previous two games. Although the horror element in this game is toned down slightly, I felt that the game is still scary. I highly advise all interested players to try out the demo before buying the game, since there are many changes in the game that Dead Space or survival horror fans may not like. Regardless, I think this is a good game, but not as good as previous Dead Space games. At the very least, I think that this game is much better than Resident Evil 6, in many ways.
Score
Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Final Score: 8.5/10
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Interesting main storyline.
- Great characters, especially Isaac.
- Improved combat.
- Great Crafting system.
- Variety of Necromorphs to be fought.
- Variety of fun puzzles to be solved.
- More challenging compared to previous Dead Space games.
- Many immersive and intense gameplay sequences.
- Excellent and great graphics.
- No noticeable bugs or glitches.
- Excellent sound effects and atmosphere.
- Great music.
- Convincing and good voice acting.
- Lengthier gameplay time compared to previous Dead Space games.
Cons
- Some unnecessary and poor story elements.
- Poor balance of pacing between action and exploration.
- Very few boss fights.
- Redundant Optional Missions objectives.
- Decrease of horror element.
End the threat of Necromorphs at their icy home planet, Tau Volantis.
This game takes place after the events of Dead Space 2, where Isaac and Ellie escaped the destruction of the Titan Station. Isaac is under the weather after the events of Titan Station, such as Ellie broke up with him, and his hesitance to fight the Necromorphs. However, two unknown men stormed Isaac's apartment, and told him that Ellie is in danger. Needless to say, Isaac went and followed them to save her, inadvertently also trying to end the threat of Necromorphs in their journey.
The story is pretty much well-done, with good plot twists. Character developments are pretty good, and I pretty much like all characters in the game, whether they are good or bad people. Isaac is still the main reason why this game's story is good, and I felt that other characters also supplement his development with good sub-plots, such the love triangle sub-plot between three characters in the game. You may also find find various logs that tell the game's additional background story, such as how certain Necromorphs are created. The only thing I had complaint with the game's storyline is the pacing and unnecessary certain sub-plots.
Gameplay
New and old enemies are present in this game.
This game plays like previous Dead Space games, which is still a third person shooter and survival horror game. As always, you need to dismember enemy limbs to kill them faster. Body shots or headshots do not work effectively as shooting enemies' limbs. You can also use melee attacks to attack enemies when you are in close proximity with the enemies, such as bashing attack to knock them back, or stomping enemies on the ground. You can also use Stasis to slowdown enemies or obstacles, or use Kinesis to lift items or to solve puzzles. Isaac now also can dodge to any direction, by tapping the Run button to any direction, or crouch to take cover and avoid damage from gunfire by human enemies. It is useful to avoid dangerous attacks. You may also opt to play co-op with a friend, although the co-op mode can only be played online.
This time, you will fight human enemies in certain Chapters, as well as fighting alien enemies called Necromorphs. Unlike the Necromorphs, they fight more strategically and will use firearms to kill you. Also, headshots work well against them like other third person shooter games. Occasionally you will fighting three way battles against humans and Necromorphs, which require you to take more strategic approach to fight them.
There are a variety of Necromorphs, such as Slashers, the regular Necromorph encountered throughout in the game, or Leapers, the scorpion-like Necromorphs. Each type of Necromorph requires different approach to fight, such as using fast-hitting weapons to fight off hordes of Slashers, or use more powerful weapons like shotgun to kill a Leaper instantly.
Craft new types of weapons to defeat enemies efficiently.
Another new feature available in this game is Crafting. Crafting allows you to create new weapons, Circuits, ammo, and items by spending resources. Resources can be obtained by killing enemies, breaking item boxes, and uses the Scavenger Bots to search for resources. By spending enough resources, you can create almost anything in the game.
Unlike the previous Dead Space games, you can only equip two weapon sets, but each weapon set may have one or two different weapon functions. For example, your first weapon has both Plasma Cutter and Force Gun functions. To create a new weapon, you need to start from a weapon frame, and attach it with different weapon parts such as Plasma Core and Military Engine. You may also attach different parts to the weapon set to enhance it's abilities, such as attaching circuits or a tip to change the weapon into an Assault Rifle. There is a variety of weapon combinations to be experimented in the game, thus it is advisable to experiment each weapon to see which one suit your style and different situations in the game better. You may also find weapon parts while exploring, or you can craft them by spending resources. You may also upgrade your RIG to improve your chances of survival, such as Armour, Stasis Duration, and other stats. This time, ammo is universal in this game, thus all weapons share the same type of ammo.
Solve a variety of puzzles to progress, as well as play some of the intense and immersive gameplay sequences.
To progress in the game, you need to reach to your Objective Marker in the game, fight enemies on the way, as well as solving puzzles. There are variety of puzzles in this game this time, and it keeps you from getting boring easily throughout the game. You also need to use both Kinesis and Stasis to progress, as some puzzles in the game require you to use them. There are also Optional Missions to
be completed, as it will give you additional backstory of the game's events as well as rewarding you some benefits, such as new weapon parts.
There are few boss fights in this game, which requires specific strategies to beat them. You also will engage into QTE sequences in the game while progressing. You may also find collectibles in the game such as audio logs, relics, artifacts and etc. Finding them will reward you bonuses such as new Suits. Unlike the first and second games, Suits do not offer additional benefits such as increased defense, and all Suits are purely cosmetic.
The game has solid gameplay, but with some flaws that decrease the game's overall quality. First of all, too many battles take place in a chapter. Personally, a survival horror game should have a balance of pacing between fighting and exploring. Unfortunately, there are too many battles to be fought in this game, and oftenly you will groups of Necromorphs at the same time. Secondly, redundant Optional Missions objectives. The objectives for these missions are redundant, and lacked variety. There are some Optional Missions that require co-op play, and I think these co-op missions are much better implemented. Also, boss fights are pretty much lacking. Regardless, this game still have good gameplay due to it's improved combat, interesting Crafting system, and more challenging.
Graphics
Impressive current-generation graphics.
Dead Space games always have impressive graphics that match or looks better than other games when it is released. Dead Space 3 has very impressive graphics, with extremely well-done environments such as the space exploration area, ships, buildings, and etc. Characters also look well-designed, such as Isaac, Ellie, as well as other human characters and the Necromorphs designs.
There isn't much bugs or glitches that I noticed in the game, and I find that the framerate performance is consistent throughout the game.
Sound
Excellent soundtrack and great voice acting.
This time, there are two composers in the game, which are Jason Graves and James Hannigan. Jason Graves is a veteran composer that has scored various games like the previous Dead Space games, whereas James Hannigan has composed music for the Harry Potter games. Their work in this game is sublime, where Jason Graves focused on scoring ambient and horror orchestral pieces, whereas James Hannigan focused on scoring more epic and action-like orchestral pieces. This unique combination of music from two different composers is great, like the recent Resident Evil games' music where they feature similar type of music.The voice acting is pretty good, with great voice actors such as Gunner Wright, Simon Templeman, Sonita Henry, and many more. As always, I find that Gunner Wright's performance as Isaac Clarke is consistently good, and other voice actors did good job on complementing each other roles.
Replay Value
Good replay value.
There is a good replay value in the game, where you can collect missing collectibles in Chapters that you have played previously, tackle any uncompleted Optional Missions, play the game again in different difficulty modes, or try the co-op with a friend. The game is pretty much more longer than both Dead Space and Dead Space 2, thus making the game pretty much lengthy with additional things to do.
Conclusion
A solid survival horror game, with some flaws.
Dead Space is a great survival horror game. Dead Space 2 is pretty much an improvement to Dead Space despite minor additions and flaws. Unfortunately for Dead Space 3, there are things have improved since Dead Space 2, and there are things did not. Although Dead Space 3 benefits with improved combat, good Crafting system as well as other good features, I felt that Dead Space 3 is not as good as previous two games. Although the horror element in this game is toned down slightly, I felt that the game is still scary. I highly advise all interested players to try out the demo before buying the game, since there are many changes in the game that Dead Space or survival horror fans may not like. Regardless, I think this is a good game, but not as good as previous Dead Space games. At the very least, I think that this game is much better than Resident Evil 6, in many ways.
Score
Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Final Score: 8.5/10
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Interesting main storyline.
- Great characters, especially Isaac.
- Improved combat.
- Great Crafting system.
- Variety of Necromorphs to be fought.
- Variety of fun puzzles to be solved.
- More challenging compared to previous Dead Space games.
- Many immersive and intense gameplay sequences.
- Excellent and great graphics.
- No noticeable bugs or glitches.
- Excellent sound effects and atmosphere.
- Great music.
- Convincing and good voice acting.
- Lengthier gameplay time compared to previous Dead Space games.
Cons
- Some unnecessary and poor story elements.
- Poor balance of pacing between action and exploration.
- Very few boss fights.
- Redundant Optional Missions objectives.
- Decrease of horror element.
