Zero Punctuation: Dead Space 3

[shrekfan246]

The game was okay, but it was the worst of the three, and it's a shame because it had a lot of potential. Take Dead Space 1, add both 2 and 3's freedom of movement in Zero G, add in Dead Space 2's ability to get enemies sucked out into space die to vacuums, add 3's crafting and and that's a perfect Dead Space game.

That's kinda how I feel about it. I certainly enjoyed it, but after landing on Tau Volantis it just feels like they were trying to remember what Dead Space actually was. Not to mention that even with the game's belief that "difficulty" meant throwing more and more Necromorphs at you in tiny enclosed spaces, on "Hard" it was still as easy as Dead Space 2's "Normal" difficulty.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

All horror games seem to head this direction when faced with a continuing story line. It seems to be the only way that game developers know how to show that the stakes have been risen. I think Silent Hill hasn't gone this direction because the series keeps getting rebooted, or has various stories because Silent Hill is different for each of the people that end up there (or it should be). Of course Silent Hill: Book of Memories isn't scary at all, despite being a fun game.

It's a shame that no one wants to make a game for that niche horror audience that wants something truly terrifying. I'll never get a non-hacked version of Fatal Frame 4 and I suspect Koei Tecmo has given up on that franchise, or at least that's what Spirit Camera would suggest.

 

[JoaoJatoba]

I think survivor horror co-op COULD work if you and your buddy were not all the time together in the same room, but solving puzzles that require simultaneity and only join forces in key moments, like running like hell from big bad boss...

 

[1nfinite_Cros5]

The thing is, I never considered the series to fall in the horror genre because it never scared me once. It was a shooter from the beginning. No question, no mistake. But I still had a damn fun time with them because they still play really well.

It's the Resident Evil 4 of this generation of consoles: lacking in any scares but a helluva great shooty experience. But I share the sympathies of people who wish there were more horror games in the industry.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Great vid Yahtzee, had a few more than usual laughs on this one.

With that said, I didn't mind for this third game of the Dead Space franchise taking the more action`y side and I quite enjoyed it. They could of just implemented at least a level with actual horror and tension like that one chapter in Dead Space 2 (you know which one).

The Co-Op was completely pointless for me since I had no one to play it with, but it was intrusive at all besides the points where Carver pops up all of a sudden in the cutscenes.

 

[Trishbot]

As someone who has played all the Dead Space games and spin-offs, I think Dead Space 3 is, well, par for the course of the series. Yes, it screws up in many places, but it DOES have many strong points as well, and it ultimately balances out to a middle-of-the-road Dead Space game. There are somethings I love, some things I dislike. More than anything, I'm annoyed that my habitual Navigator locator signal must be held down, because I instinctively tap it and crouch like a moron, which is only useful for, what, four or five encounters total?

But when it's working, and the game is firing on all cylinders, it's great. Playing solo and taking your time is just as atmospheric and tense as in prior games. Yeah, I loathe the universal ammo, the look of the suits, the limit to just 2 weapons (kinda), the human enemies, and the annoying co-op focused stuff (what's that? I can't unlock new stuff unless I completely ALL the missions, including the co-op ones? Screw you!).

The game has some great ideas, some executed well and others missing the ball, but they tried a few things I appreciated.

For the inevitable sequel, I would, however, like the return to more traditional horror, less non-stop action, and a massive de-emphasis on co-op. As Yahtzee pointed out, solo-only missions work better.

 

[franksands]

So does this means that Dead Space is now Spunk-Gargle-Wee-Wee?

 

[GabeZhul]

I have to partially agree with Yathzee.
I never considered the series as horror, it was always more of an action-thriller for me with a few horror-elements sprinkled on top. I mean, jump scares are not horror. It doesn't make you afraid or horrified, it just startles the shit out of you for a small adrenaline-burst! REAL horror is something like the Amnesia or the early Silent Hill games, when it is all about the atmosphere and suspense. The most the Dead Space series had in this regard was only a very few moments in the game when you wandered through the devastated civilian areas in the game, and even then it wasn't oppressive because you were afraid a scary monster would jump at you, but because you looked around in the blood-stained bedrooms and cradles and stopped for a moment to imagine what has happened there. Actually, I would say the game only had any horror to it when you stopped playing and instead just let the atmosphere soak in. Otherwise it was just a shooter with scary monsters and jump-scares.

That said, Dead Space 3 is not exactly a good game even of you look at it as an action game. It is just too damn long, the weapon customization is fun but mostly unnecessary (about 80% of all weapons are either very situational or completely useless), the story is just dumb, like the ridiculously contrived love-triangle "subplot" which got resolved in the dumbest way possible and, well, if I would have to point at the biggest problem in the game, it would be Danik.

That guy is supposed to be our main antagonist for practically the entirety of the game, and yet he is the most unintentionally incompetent bad guy I have ever seen. He has Isaac and co. at gunpoint no less than THREE times, yet every single time he just monologues instead of doing anything more logical, like shooting, and so Isaac gets away in the last second. He is also supposed to be the leader of the Unitologists, yet he is not only in the middle of the damn battlefield, but he doesn't even wear any armor, and he is played up as this really menacing opponent, but in reality the only reason he ever poses a challenge is because in the cut-scenes Isaac is weaker than a little girl and gets beaten up by everyone even though he wrestles with huge-ass necromorphs on a daily basis. Not to mention, Danik suffers from the same ridiculous under-characterization as the rest of the cast, which made some scenes kind of hilarious, when the scene played things up like a character dying was a huge tragedy, but all I could think of was "Who the hell was this guy again? Why is this important? Whatever, let's move on."

Finally, the sound design of the game is also horrible. I actually had to turn the volume on my machine down quite a bit because the constant scare-chords and growling got old really fast.

On the other hand, I liked the first third of the game, navigating in space was surprisingly fun, gathering the history of the ships and the base on the planet from audio- and text-logs was engaging and there were a lot of elements that broke up the monotonicity of the sooting. In the end I would say it is not a bad game, but it it just too damn long and too damn dumb to be really great.

 

[IronMit]

I have sworn off EA....but I want to play Dead Space 1 now. I need to find it preowned

 

[Mahoshonen]

I was expecting a alien colonial marine review since every critic and their dog are currently tearing this game apart.

It?s a shame that ea will probably ax dead space when this game fails to meet the 5 million sales quota I know you?re not exactly a fan but I know people who really like the franchise.

Expect it next week. Yahtzee typically has about a two week delay between a game coming out and him reviewing it. Longer if several big titles come out and/or Australian release shenanigans

 

[Abomination]

I just finished Dead Space 2 and didn't find it scary so much as occasionally uncomfortable. The story was solid, the few characters were interesting and the combat was reliable and challenging.

I didn't find the necromorphs scary so much as bastards that could be annoying if they got the drop on you. I did talk a lot more during the game than I do most of the time, mostly phrases such as "Fuck you and fuck the limbs you crawled in on" as I shore them away. It was quite satisfying to kill them, actually, I haven't felt that in awhile for enemies.

Dead Space 3 is still going for a silly amount in my country and the idea of needing co-op to experience the whole story and micro-transactions are seriously putting me off trying it.

 

[TheSchaef]

Is it just me or does that Dracula mask near the end vaguely resemble Rowan Atkinson?

 

[xPixelatedx]

Yeah that's the problem when you try to be awesome at everything, you don't do anything particularly well. I hope this franchise can finally go off and die and peace now before it gets even worse.

 

[Catfood220]

I have played through quite a lot of Dead Space 3 now on Normal, which is the level I start everything on and it is ridiculously easy. Ok, I thought the beginning of the game, escaping from the colony and exploring the derelic ships was quite atmospheric and scary and quite hard in places, I died loads of times trying to to escape from 2 regenerators and fire from the ship at the same time.

But as soon as I got to Tau Volantis, it wasn't so bad as I was trying to keep my body temperature up. But after your suit gets fixed, all challenge goes out of the window. The game throws ammo and medium med packs at you, I've got a fucking safe full of those med packs because I keep thinking there is going to be some super hard boss to fight. But it never comes. Plus you level the armour and HP on your rig and you become almost unkillable.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the game, but it really isn't as good as Dead Space 1 or 2. Maybe I need to play it on a harder setting. And there are side missions for the single player, its just that they give you nothing but more ammo and health kits.

 

[HappypantsLT]

Is it just me or Dead space 2 had solid ending that could have ended the series? And then suddenly EA pulled third game out of their arse?

 

[Elyxard]

Yup that's EA in a nutshell. Their games are written, designed, tested, and constructed by the most cynical of marketing departments.

I never cared for the franchise, but for the sake of the people that do I really hate to see yet another game get EA'd. Artistic integrity seems to mean nothing to the upper management of that corporation, and I'm glad to hear more people call them out on it.

 

[duchaked]

oh hey an online pass required for co-op since co-op can only be done online lol...but of course EA