Dead Space 3 - The Sequel Conundrum

Hey Everybody,

Image from - en.wikipedia.org

I recently finished Dead Space 3 so this week I figured I would do a review. I want to start this off by mentioning I love the Dead Space series. I've played Dead Space 1 enough times that I could tell you where enemies would appear by instinct. The psychological aspects of that game to this day give me shivers, and not being a big fan of horror games or movies, I feel like this is an accomplishment. I also loved Dead Space 2, the logical continuation of events the good blend of game play, environments and new enemies was great. I especially loved the way that the story progressed. And it even kept the feel and style of Dead Space 1. This being said I have some feelings I would like to express for Dead Space 3.

I'm not mad, or disappointed, just a bit confused. Having noted that the previous Dead Space titles were drenched in psychological horror, I felt like I was playing a different series. The previous Dead Space's I couldn't keep ammo in my inventory on hard and it was a concern if my health was even at half, not to mention I needed to strategically shoot just to make an impact. Then Dead Space 3 gives me more ammo and health than I can use. That's not a statement where I'm trying to be dramatic, I spent the last 2 hours trying to burn through full inventory's of ammo shooting with reckless abandonment. I maybe got rid of a quarter of it. And while barely aiming I seemed to bring my enemies down with the same haste as well placed shots. Having spent plenty of time in this series mindset I was confused as to why this was happening. It seemed like the game play turned to dramatic action in lieu of any serious story or psychological horror. There also seemed to be a lot less story unless I read any and all text logs I could find. From what I've been told by others the coop game play has a great story line, that's really cool, but the games around 18 hours long and that's a lot of time to play with another person. Another thing I found hilarious but moderately interesting was that the other characters in the game seemed to never have a problem with the ridiculous amount of monsters around us. This seemed really unrealistic compared to the previous games where other characters seemed frightened and unnerved by the events surrounding them.

Image from - pcgamer.com

But that's enough negative, lets move onto the positive. Dead Space 3 isn't necessarily a great tried and true Dead Space series game, but its a very good action title. It had enough plot to keep the story moving and you motivated, and plenty of action and cool environments to keep where and what your shooting feel interesting. There were numerous times where I was kicking my legs trying to get away from enemies and dozens of scenarios that had me shouting at a TV while I was running out of air. A healthy amount of scares and a good dose of game play related puzzles kept this game continually fresh and fun. Tie these factors to what I felt was a satisfying ending. And I count this as a good game.

Game on,

            Duane