Much like one of the franchise's own Necromorphs, Dead Space 3's appeal has snuck up on me. When I glimpsed it in the distance, I was vaguely disgusted by the new, well-lit (albeit heavily snowed-under) setting and the presence of Action Man features like co-op and weapon customisation. But Visceral's brainchild has closed the distance - the game releases on 8th February - and it's a promising monstrosity at proximity.
Dead Space's enduring strength is its world, a dense, threatening web of sci-fi Gothic which compensates for derivativeness via sheer intensity of execution. The combat isn't always worth the trouble, once you've mastered the trick of freezing enemies with stasis blasts in order to prune away their limbs, and while the series generally aims to scare, it seldom actually makes you drop the pad in terror. But few games can rival this one's sense of place, and few bridge the gap between illusion and mechanics so elegantly, with "gamey" elements like HUDs accounted for in the fiction.
I'm heading off to a review event this afternoon, and plan to spend much of the playtime combing environments for hints as to the wider universe. Hopefully, Dead Space 3's new world will be just as well-articulated and suggestive as those of its predecessors. Beyond that, though, I could use a few pointers. Is there anything in particular you'd like to know about Visceral's latest? Bung us a question via the comments thread, and I'll do my best to address it either in our Dead Space 3 review itself or a follow-up Q&A.;
Dead Space 3's seven scariest moments so far, scored out of 10
Dead Space 3 interview: sticky cover, Marker mysteries and why co-op won't ruin it
12 comments so far...
CunningSmile on 17 Jan '13 said:
Obvious question I think most of us want answered is; Is this a Dead Space style action-horror or just Gears of War with the DS name?
Also with the repeated emphasis on co-op in DS3's previews how does the game play SP? Does it revert back to a more traditional Dead Space style game or do you spend the whole time noticing the change?
FishyGinger on 17 Jan '13 said:
Someone on cvg said it wasn't anything like gears of war from the demo.
What I'd like to know is do the new features like weapon crafting and cover feel out of place and like they've been shoehorned in or do they feel right as though they should always have been there?
SkinnerChinner on 17 Jan '13 said:
Your thoughts on this would be appriciated
I haven't had a chance to play the demo in co-op yet, but it's something I'm cautious about - the single player story & campaign suffering because bits have been deliberately left out to make co-op more appealing.
Plamsa wing on 17 Jan '13 said:
If it's any good, that's all I need.
I want to know that as well, I'll probably just play in singleplayer, but if I'm missing out on story because of that, well that's just a piss take.
Bubblebeard JS on 17 Jan '13 said:
id like to know if it carries the same sense of fear/suspence as the original did, because i felt the second one kind of lost a bit of that.
AllusiveTurtle on 17 Jan '13 said:
There are a few things that I'd like to know, but I'll try to stick to the ones that most concern me:
1. How much story is missing from the single-player, so as to 'force' players to play in co-op in order to get the full story?
2. Just how much do human enemies with guns feature in the game?
3. How much does having universal ammo erode the tension by allowing you to continue using a favoured weapon, rather than being forced to use a weapon that you would rather not use because you had run out of ammo for your favourite weapon?
4. Is there an achievement for completing the game solo on the hardest difficulty (like Halo) or is it simply going to be a case of breezing through it (like Gears 3) and then not being able to tell who took the hard route, and those that copped out?
5. How does the Hard-Core achievement work? A set number of saves both on solo or co-op? And does being able to play in co-op mean that Hard-Core will become relatively easy because one player ‘dying’ or ‘going down but not out’ will not end the play-through.
Lots more thoughts and questions remain, but I guess that's enough to be getting on with!
ipsofacto on 17 Jan '13 said:
Literally only if it's scary. I was terrified by the first one, the second not as much but it still scared the life out of me numerous times. I'd like something similar
fracturedrich on 17 Jan '13 said:
I want to no if you drew that short straw,because if that demo is anything to go by,the co op is worse than single player,i spent most of the time waiting for my co op partner to ruin his weapons.
Metalrodent on 17 Jan '13 said:
Does the game punish you for playing on your own?
Most games with any form of coop nowadays seems to punish those without friends to play with (ie. me)
ChillieBonBon on 17 Jan '13 said:
I never got into the dead space series, mainly because I am a total wimp when it comes to scary stuff (my face through The Shining was like this
)!
What I want to know is is the co-op or the single player best, and why.
Metalrodent on 17 Jan '13 said:
You'll be fine there then
SkinnerChinner on 18 Jan '13 said:
To be fair, Jack Nicholson was one f***ing creepy dude through the entire film!