FireCylinder3
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Dead Freezer 3
My review of Dead Space 3.
After 2 years of waiting and playing other games to fill the void, Dead Space 3 has arrived. And heads are gonna roll….and torsos…and arms….and legs. This time, we landed in the Hoth system and the Necromorphs are badder and deadlier than ever. Isaac Clarke is back as well and this time he has a buddy. If you want. It seems this game has followed the route of Resident Evil 5 and 6 and introduced Co-op to the game. At first many fans of the previous two games (Dead Space, not Resident Evil though I’m sure they feel the same) said they didn’t want Co-op and threatened to slice off limbs with their plasma cutters whilst screaming ‘Make us whole!’ but they did it anyway and it looks great. In most games that have co-op, the partner always sticks close unless there’s a scripted event. In this game however, if you play the main campaign by yourself, your partner is just part of the background. He’ll occasionally pop up and interact with your character through dialogue. But if you play the co-op, your partner will constantly be by your side and will even change the cutscenes or create new ones entirely.
Isaac’s buddy through this romp through the graveyard is Sergeant John Carter….sorry, Carver. Heh. What a pun. He fills the role of the soldier with a death wish. Ellie Langford, the one eyed pilot from the previous game, also returns and is missing for most of the game. Another character that pops up at the beginning of the game is Captain Robert Norton who keeps trying to recruit Isaac into his brother’s Fight Club. Another new aspect of the game is the ability to build guns from the ground up and there’s no limit to what you can build with the exception of the parts you have on hand. You can also use these spare parts to upgrade your RIG, your kinesis (Telekinesis) and your stasis (Freeze ray) just as long as you have the proper amount of parts. Keep this in mind, try to save as much Tungsten as you can because it is REALLY hard to come by.
I should also note that this review is based on doing the solo campaign by myself.
Okay, to start this thing off. Gameplay and controls are familiar with the addition of some new abilities. You can now roll across the ground by pressing the LB button twice. I didn’t find this out until Chapter 10 when it popped up as an onscreen hint. Think of how many health packs I would’ve saved if I had been told that EARLIER! While we’re on the subject, I played this on Easy because it’s been a while since I played Dead Space and Good God, I’ve never received so many health packs in a game! In fact, I got more health packs then I got ammo! You can also crouch down by pressing the Right thumb stick but it doesn’t really seem useful until you run into the Unitologist guys. Speaking of Unitology, this has got to be the craziest religion I’ve ever heard of since Scientology. So, their whole deal is that they commit suicide and are reborn as the most horrific looking creature you’ve ever seen. If given the choice, I’d rather be a Scientologist.
As far as story goes, it seemed pretty straight forward and easy to follow as one would expect from a survival horror game. However, I had some thoughts and well…. Just a quick warning. Spoilers ahead. Mind your head. It’s a low overpass. The game start 200 years before the either of the two previous games and you play a soldier (or two, if you’re playing co-op.) that finds a mysterious codex and tries to deliver it with horrific results. Flash forward 200 years to Isaac Clarke who is being driven slowly insane by thoughts of the Marker (That which is responsible for making the space zombies). Ellie has left Isaac months ago, breaking off their relationship and stated that he didn’t care about the Markers anymore and she went off to look for them. Wait. She broke up with a guy who couldn’t get them out of his head to go look for more of them?! Okay. I’ll let that slide.
Then Isaac’s door opens to reveal…nobody. Isaac, in a panic, draws his gun…err…mining tool and investigates. Then literally out of the blue or in this case, Isaac’s bathroom charges your co-op partner: Sergeant John Carver who beats the crap out of Isaac then points a gun at his head. Great way to start a relationship. Captain Robert Norton, formally of EarthGov’s Earth Defense Force, enters and asks Isaac for help. Really? This is how you recruit people to help? Barge in, beat them up then ask them for help? Anyway. Norton states that Ellie went to check out a planet then disappeared. He figures it’s something to do with the Marker and since Isaac’s the only known and quite frankly sane expert about Markers, he wants his help. Isaac reluctantly joins him just as they are attacked by Unitologist soldiers. After an entire chapter of evading the Uni’s, Isaac meets their leader. Jacob Danik. Danik plans to kill Isaac (Since he destroyed two Markers and has knowledge on them) and turn all humans into Necromorphs because….it’s part of a prophecy. Yeah. That never ends well. Isaac escapes and meets up with Norton and Carver.
I have to say, Carver is a real ASSHOLE. To Isaac anyway. In a scene where Isaac was a mere inches from death, Carver grabs him and pulls him up. Isaac sincerely thanks him and Carver flat out tells him to save himself next time. Um….okay? And Norton is no better. When they finally meet up with Ellie, Norton openly hugs and kisses her right in front of Isaac. Her ex-boyfriend. Wow. That killed the mood. We find out that Isaac is still upset that Ellie left him but is willing to help her. Norton then calls Isaac on a private channel and in a moment of psychotic boyfriend syndrome, Norton tells Isaac that he will stay “the hell away from Ellie! She’s with me NOT YOU!” Right. Got it. Norton continues to go delusional as he listens in on one of Ellie’s calls to Isaac later on and demands to know what they’re talking about. How Norton became the captain of anything with this kind of attitude is beyond me. Anyway.
Isaac and company land on the ice planet and get separated. Isaac, after dismembering monsters and jumping from hut to hut so he won’t freeze to death, catches up to them. By the way. This puzzled me. Isaac is wearing a space suit. That’s designed to protect him from the vacuum of space and coldness of space as well. So why is he freezing to death on an ice planet? Anyway. After jumping down into the frozen body of a Necromorph whose body size rivals that of the Chrysler building then fighting the same creature and allowing it to swallow Isaac whole who then proceeds to destroy it from the inside in the worst case of indigestion in the world. After scaling the side of a mountain which made me question why Isaac doesn’t use the boosters on his suit but I guess they only work in space, Isaac finds a research facility where it turns out the Necromorph problem is worse than they thought.
All in all, the game isn’t bad. Yes there are some plot holes and the final boss encounter is both interesting and yet completely illogical at the same time. The weapon crafting is a large step in the direction of what makes this game great. The ability to tailor a weapon best suited to your needs and having an arena where players can test out what combination works best for them. The creatures themselves also interest me. One in particular I was curious to learn more about were the Feeders. The Feeders are former colonists that after losing a majority of their food they proceed to eat the dead flesh of the Necromorphs. My question is, at what point do you look at a creature that used to be a coworker or best friend and think to yourself “Yeah, I could eat him."
There was one moment of stupidity on my part during this game and I blame both the designers and the first Dead Space for this moment. I was fixing a shuttle midway through the game and I had a moment of nostalgia from the first game where you have to kill a creature that you are unable to kill using conventional means. I had previously encountered such a creature in this game, two in fact, and I had a feeling that history would be repeating itself very soon. Needless to say, the moment arrived and I prepared myself. I lured the first creature into position, froze him in place with stasis and waited. Then, to my horror, NOTHING HAPPENED! The flames from the shuttle washed over the creature as the stasis wore off and he continued to come towards me, the flames having no effect whatsoever. So I managed to get past him then I saw another area where the flames of the shuttle where blasting through a vent in the wall and hitting a spot that seemed more like the appropriate spot. Again, I lured him to the spot and repeated the previous actions. Again, NOTHING HAPPENED! So, I did what any panicky noob would do: I ran out of the room. This seemed to be the solution.
The largest problem I had with the game was the surprise element that the previous two had. The previous two games relied on jump scares that would frighten players or elements that made us uncomfortable whereas this game had very few. Sure there were moments in the game where you would feel uncomfortable such as the various ships in orbit around the planet. Another problem I had and this one is mainly a personal preference is the lack of survivors. I know that story wise there wouldn’t be any survivors because all of the died 200 years previous but what really interested me in the previous two game were encountering survivors and I would wonder what their story was, how they got there and what happened to them? In this game, the best you get is audio and text logs. While a few are interesting, most don’t get my attention.
But as I said before, this game is an excellent installment for the series and I’ve heard talk that they plan to continue the series although it remains to be seen if Isaac will be the main character if they do but I am hopeful. In short, on a scale of 1 to 10, I give this game an 8 and a half. Gameplay is great, weapon crafting is awesome but the story could use a little work.
Now, I have to go. I hear something in the air vent.
My review of Dead Space 3.
After 2 years of waiting and playing other games to fill the void, Dead Space 3 has arrived. And heads are gonna roll….and torsos…and arms….and legs. This time, we landed in the Hoth system and the Necromorphs are badder and deadlier than ever. Isaac Clarke is back as well and this time he has a buddy. If you want. It seems this game has followed the route of Resident Evil 5 and 6 and introduced Co-op to the game. At first many fans of the previous two games (Dead Space, not Resident Evil though I’m sure they feel the same) said they didn’t want Co-op and threatened to slice off limbs with their plasma cutters whilst screaming ‘Make us whole!’ but they did it anyway and it looks great. In most games that have co-op, the partner always sticks close unless there’s a scripted event. In this game however, if you play the main campaign by yourself, your partner is just part of the background. He’ll occasionally pop up and interact with your character through dialogue. But if you play the co-op, your partner will constantly be by your side and will even change the cutscenes or create new ones entirely.
Isaac’s buddy through this romp through the graveyard is Sergeant John Carter….sorry, Carver. Heh. What a pun. He fills the role of the soldier with a death wish. Ellie Langford, the one eyed pilot from the previous game, also returns and is missing for most of the game. Another character that pops up at the beginning of the game is Captain Robert Norton who keeps trying to recruit Isaac into his brother’s Fight Club. Another new aspect of the game is the ability to build guns from the ground up and there’s no limit to what you can build with the exception of the parts you have on hand. You can also use these spare parts to upgrade your RIG, your kinesis (Telekinesis) and your stasis (Freeze ray) just as long as you have the proper amount of parts. Keep this in mind, try to save as much Tungsten as you can because it is REALLY hard to come by.
I should also note that this review is based on doing the solo campaign by myself.
Okay, to start this thing off. Gameplay and controls are familiar with the addition of some new abilities. You can now roll across the ground by pressing the LB button twice. I didn’t find this out until Chapter 10 when it popped up as an onscreen hint. Think of how many health packs I would’ve saved if I had been told that EARLIER! While we’re on the subject, I played this on Easy because it’s been a while since I played Dead Space and Good God, I’ve never received so many health packs in a game! In fact, I got more health packs then I got ammo! You can also crouch down by pressing the Right thumb stick but it doesn’t really seem useful until you run into the Unitologist guys. Speaking of Unitology, this has got to be the craziest religion I’ve ever heard of since Scientology. So, their whole deal is that they commit suicide and are reborn as the most horrific looking creature you’ve ever seen. If given the choice, I’d rather be a Scientologist.
As far as story goes, it seemed pretty straight forward and easy to follow as one would expect from a survival horror game. However, I had some thoughts and well…. Just a quick warning. Spoilers ahead. Mind your head. It’s a low overpass. The game start 200 years before the either of the two previous games and you play a soldier (or two, if you’re playing co-op.) that finds a mysterious codex and tries to deliver it with horrific results. Flash forward 200 years to Isaac Clarke who is being driven slowly insane by thoughts of the Marker (That which is responsible for making the space zombies). Ellie has left Isaac months ago, breaking off their relationship and stated that he didn’t care about the Markers anymore and she went off to look for them. Wait. She broke up with a guy who couldn’t get them out of his head to go look for more of them?! Okay. I’ll let that slide.
Then Isaac’s door opens to reveal…nobody. Isaac, in a panic, draws his gun…err…mining tool and investigates. Then literally out of the blue or in this case, Isaac’s bathroom charges your co-op partner: Sergeant John Carver who beats the crap out of Isaac then points a gun at his head. Great way to start a relationship. Captain Robert Norton, formally of EarthGov’s Earth Defense Force, enters and asks Isaac for help. Really? This is how you recruit people to help? Barge in, beat them up then ask them for help? Anyway. Norton states that Ellie went to check out a planet then disappeared. He figures it’s something to do with the Marker and since Isaac’s the only known and quite frankly sane expert about Markers, he wants his help. Isaac reluctantly joins him just as they are attacked by Unitologist soldiers. After an entire chapter of evading the Uni’s, Isaac meets their leader. Jacob Danik. Danik plans to kill Isaac (Since he destroyed two Markers and has knowledge on them) and turn all humans into Necromorphs because….it’s part of a prophecy. Yeah. That never ends well. Isaac escapes and meets up with Norton and Carver.
I have to say, Carver is a real ASSHOLE. To Isaac anyway. In a scene where Isaac was a mere inches from death, Carver grabs him and pulls him up. Isaac sincerely thanks him and Carver flat out tells him to save himself next time. Um….okay? And Norton is no better. When they finally meet up with Ellie, Norton openly hugs and kisses her right in front of Isaac. Her ex-boyfriend. Wow. That killed the mood. We find out that Isaac is still upset that Ellie left him but is willing to help her. Norton then calls Isaac on a private channel and in a moment of psychotic boyfriend syndrome, Norton tells Isaac that he will stay “the hell away from Ellie! She’s with me NOT YOU!” Right. Got it. Norton continues to go delusional as he listens in on one of Ellie’s calls to Isaac later on and demands to know what they’re talking about. How Norton became the captain of anything with this kind of attitude is beyond me. Anyway.
Isaac and company land on the ice planet and get separated. Isaac, after dismembering monsters and jumping from hut to hut so he won’t freeze to death, catches up to them. By the way. This puzzled me. Isaac is wearing a space suit. That’s designed to protect him from the vacuum of space and coldness of space as well. So why is he freezing to death on an ice planet? Anyway. After jumping down into the frozen body of a Necromorph whose body size rivals that of the Chrysler building then fighting the same creature and allowing it to swallow Isaac whole who then proceeds to destroy it from the inside in the worst case of indigestion in the world. After scaling the side of a mountain which made me question why Isaac doesn’t use the boosters on his suit but I guess they only work in space, Isaac finds a research facility where it turns out the Necromorph problem is worse than they thought.
All in all, the game isn’t bad. Yes there are some plot holes and the final boss encounter is both interesting and yet completely illogical at the same time. The weapon crafting is a large step in the direction of what makes this game great. The ability to tailor a weapon best suited to your needs and having an arena where players can test out what combination works best for them. The creatures themselves also interest me. One in particular I was curious to learn more about were the Feeders. The Feeders are former colonists that after losing a majority of their food they proceed to eat the dead flesh of the Necromorphs. My question is, at what point do you look at a creature that used to be a coworker or best friend and think to yourself “Yeah, I could eat him."
There was one moment of stupidity on my part during this game and I blame both the designers and the first Dead Space for this moment. I was fixing a shuttle midway through the game and I had a moment of nostalgia from the first game where you have to kill a creature that you are unable to kill using conventional means. I had previously encountered such a creature in this game, two in fact, and I had a feeling that history would be repeating itself very soon. Needless to say, the moment arrived and I prepared myself. I lured the first creature into position, froze him in place with stasis and waited. Then, to my horror, NOTHING HAPPENED! The flames from the shuttle washed over the creature as the stasis wore off and he continued to come towards me, the flames having no effect whatsoever. So I managed to get past him then I saw another area where the flames of the shuttle where blasting through a vent in the wall and hitting a spot that seemed more like the appropriate spot. Again, I lured him to the spot and repeated the previous actions. Again, NOTHING HAPPENED! So, I did what any panicky noob would do: I ran out of the room. This seemed to be the solution.
The largest problem I had with the game was the surprise element that the previous two had. The previous two games relied on jump scares that would frighten players or elements that made us uncomfortable whereas this game had very few. Sure there were moments in the game where you would feel uncomfortable such as the various ships in orbit around the planet. Another problem I had and this one is mainly a personal preference is the lack of survivors. I know that story wise there wouldn’t be any survivors because all of the died 200 years previous but what really interested me in the previous two game were encountering survivors and I would wonder what their story was, how they got there and what happened to them? In this game, the best you get is audio and text logs. While a few are interesting, most don’t get my attention.
But as I said before, this game is an excellent installment for the series and I’ve heard talk that they plan to continue the series although it remains to be seen if Isaac will be the main character if they do but I am hopeful. In short, on a scale of 1 to 10, I give this game an 8 and a half. Gameplay is great, weapon crafting is awesome but the story could use a little work.
Now, I have to go. I hear something in the air vent.
