Dead Space 3 Review

Hey guys and gals for this review we are going into space...dead space that is.Dead Space 3, as you can guess it is the 3rd installment of the Dead Space franchise which is known for its action/horror style gameplay. The iconic hero that is Isaac Clarke or the marker killer as he is known as returns to kick some Necromorph butt in a variety of ways such as dismembering limbs and throwing them back at the attackers with interesting results. So is Dead Space 3 a waste of space? read the review below and find out.

As you would expect Dead Space 3 left off where Dead Space 2 ended...sort of you start 200 years before the original Dead Space as Tim Kaufman a solder in the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces (S.C.A.F.). Your mission is collect an object called the Codex that will play a supremely important when you are playing as Isaac Clarke 200 years latter.

The vast amount of time you will spend doing in Dead Space 3 is collecting ammo, heath packs and resources to upgrade your RIG/suit. Depending on your level of difficulty the frequency of finding these items range scattered around the place to having to conserve your ammo and hope that there is an ammo pack in the next room. You are not alone when it comes to collecting resources for the game gives you scavenger bots which are the best thing since sliced bread for not only do they automatically collect resources they also collect rations which can be used as a type of currency to purchase micro-transactions for more powerful chips to upgrade your weapons.   

Collecting resources is a vital component to Dead Space because for the first time in the series you can craft your own weapon with dozen of unique bonuses for example every time you shoot a round into your enemy a small amount of stasis also hits them which slows them down to attachments that help your partner in co-op missions. I found this extremely helpful towards the end of the game where combat is a bit frantic, I will explain more about that further on. 

Customizing your weapon allows you to help your co-op partner or deal some real damage

 As soon as you start playing Dead Space 3 the first thing you will hear is the amazing music that plays throughout your journey, it can be soft and calm when you're traveling though space or suddenly a quartet of violins descend upon you and you know that you are in trouble. The music in Dead Space 3 adds to what already is a dark atmosphere that will make you question if a shadow is that of a Necromorph waiting to strike or a stack of boxes. While playing I have felt my heart pounding at the thought of a Necromorph running towards me with its arms flailing ready to kill me while another waits around the corner where I nearly jumped out of my seat. So Dead Space is one of the best games that can scare the life out of me thanks to its focus on the impressive atmosphere that really draws the player in. 

However the problem that I found with Dead Space 3 was its combat don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of Dead Space 1&2 but the combat in Dead Space 3 is less tactical then the previous installments. The main enemies in the Dead Space series are the Necromorphs these can be killed by plain shooting them or to cause maximum damage you can shoot off their limbs. This in previous Dead Space games was a fun and enjoyable thing to do but in Dead Space 3 there is literally no time to catch your  breath for you are constantly surrounded by multiple Necromorphs that even when targeting their limbs take forever to die. After I played Dead Space 3 for a number of hours killing the Necromorphs stopped being fun and started to become a chore if anything and if you actually manage to dismember a limb an throw it back at the owner via TK then that doesn't do much damage but that's if you even get a chance with about 6 or 7 Necromorphs breathing down your neck.       

Fighting Necromorphs becomes a chore after a while

Also new to the Dead Space series is the feature of co-op missions these are missions in game that can only be accessed if you are playing with a friend or a random person. When I play games that have a drop in/out system and I want to play the campaign in solo mode I switch it off, in Dead Spaces case I felt like I was being penalized for doing so for if I wanted to go back play those missions with a friend we would have to play though the entire chapter just to play the one co-op mission. After this little nuisance the co-op was generally fun, I think if there was a dedicated co-op campaign that spun off from the Dead Space 3 story it would have worked better rather than penalizing people who like to play their games solo.

All in all Dead Space 3 was a little bit disappointing for me because of the choice to drift towards the style of an action game rather than stick to the horror side that made Dead Space 1&2 hugely popular. That being said Dead Space 3 does have its good side, the fact that you are able to scavenge for resources to build new weapons and up grade them is a huge thumps up for me because I really like the ability to customize items that give you in-game bonuses. So would I recommend this game? Yes I would because although it's not the best in the series it's still worth a playthough if you have a few hours to kill.