There was supposed to be a text update to head off the "well it wasn't scary anyways" people at the pass. Unfortunately it wasn't ready in time. Here's a rough version.
Isaac?s fondness for impromptu line dancing has been a fixture of the Dead Space series since its inception, but the feature (and it really is a feature) really only comes into its own with the addition of a partner/witness in Dead Space 3. Upon realizing they can effectively dance enemies to death, players are almost supernaturally compelled to do so at every opportunity. Forget that Phil Collins [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U356b_x0_4U] knock-off, this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baFlfAH2KQQ] should be the tune for the game?s launch trailer.
A lot of fans have been making a stink about the co-op mode, apparently out of fear that it?ll destroy the series? already tenuous horror elements. Personally, I?m not so sure. I generally make it a rule not to denigrate a game for optional features (with a few exceptions which I?ll go into later), which is why you don?t see me grousing about Kinect support, people asking for an easy mode in Dark Souls, multiplayer in [previously single player game of choice] or Mass Effect 3?s experiments with simplifying previously mandatory game elements. It strikes me as kind of silly, kind of like complaining about a game having subtitles.
I do, of course, make an exception for optional features that inform the game?s basic design. I?ve got no problem with the concept of an in-game auction house, real money or otherwise, but the action house in Diablo 3 was ruinous. It was quite clear the game?s loot mechanics, integral though they were to the gameplay?s appeal, were designed with a supposedly ?optional? feature in mind. And that, boys and girls, is bullshit.
Back to horror in Dead Space 3: Personally, I?m looking forward to playing through the game in co-op. Yes, it might negate the game?s tension somewhat, but that only matters if you thought the series was ?scary? in the first place. I don?t think it is. Dead Space 2 is, in my opinion, the best third person shooter to date (though I do have a soft spot for the purity of Shadows of the Damned), and it?s my favourite game of this generation, but is it a good ?horror game?? No. Not at all. Like a lot of modern games, it wears the trappings of horror as a mask and uses the visual shorthand of the genre to spice up what would otherwise be a bland sci-fi universe. In essence, complaining that co-op will ruin the horror atmosphere of Dead Space is like arguing co-op undermined the expert story-telling of Double Dragon.
I am, however, very worried about the clunky cover shooting and the appalling, money grabbing, soul-sucking, cash-squeezing microtransactions. Again, I have no particular gripe with microtransactions. I generally don?t use them, but they?re a nice alternative to the straight-up $60 model. I don?t even mind them in full-priced games, if some people want to pay to get ahead in single-player then that their prerogative, but then it becomes a matter of trust. You have to trust that the developer can implement microtransactions without tweaking the main game to make those microtransactions more appealing.
And, if I?m honest, I wouldn?t trust EA to not fuck my dead grandmother for pennies.
