Let's begin by putting a few of Dead Space 3's nastier pre-release demons to rest. That cover system everybody threw their Plasma Cutters out of the pram about last year? It's barely a system at all - a mere afterthought, designed to streamline a handful of human-on-human shoot-outs which swallow up around half-an-hour in total. The implementation's also unobtrusive to the point of unnoticeable - simply crouch while nudging up against an object, and you'll pop your head over it when you aim. Long story short, Dead Space is still distinguishable at a glance from Gears of War.
That ice planet, Tau Volantis? With its starkly-lit exteriors and ostensible shortage of hiding spots for gristly killing machines? It wouldn't be our first choice of survival horror environment, true, though white-outs and caches of deep-frozen Necromorph lend the surface a certain John Carpenter-esque thrill. But to reach the benighted world, you'll have to travel through an enormous spaceship graveyard - an orbital frosting of undead-ridden debris several miles thick, that harbours a good four to five hours' worth of quarantine zones, dodgy generators, smashed-up laboratories and bloodied elevators.
Once you do go planetside, you'll find that Tau Volantis isn't all icicles and dramatic cloud formations. The pulse-deadening Arctic trappings quickly give way to a series of brutalised interiors that are every bit as pregnant with threat as those drifting through the void, hundreds of miles above. Dead Space's appendage-fixated combat loses nothing for the change of scene, either - as ever, scything away limbs results in faster kills and a diminished likelihood of getting scythed in turn.
Despite a shortage of new blood, the game's enemies remain delightfully unsportsmanlike, rushing under your shots unless doused in time-slowing Stasis. There's nothing quite as satisfying (or economical) as pinning one to a wall with its own, telekinetically propelled arm. Unless it's tearing that arm off in the first place, of course.
Two's company
Co-op can't be ignored entirely - those who brave the horrors of Tau Volantis in pairs will glean new insights on both Clarke and Carver, via a handful of co-op-only side missions and some jarring character-specific hallucinations. All in all, however, Visceral has made good on its promise not to let the feature scupper the franchise's trademark claustrophobia - that soul-withering awareness that the environment itself wants your head on a prong. Much as with the cover system, you need never know it's there.
48 comments so far...
Rewave Acid on 5 Feb '13 said:
Can't even express my disappointment. I was annoyed enough by Bioware's unnecessary barbie doll Ashley in ME3, and now Ellie's been turned into some kind of objectified pin-up too? It's as though EA think all we want is to masturbate intensely to their games. No handle on the market, unbelievably disappointed with how this game's turned out, will not be buying despite loving 1 & 2. All I needed to see was 'Abysmal Plot' frankly- do developers not realise how important a good story is?!
Just another studio whose hand was forced by their bullshit publisher and their demands, but they will be the ones taking the flack and threatened with closure if this doesn't do well. Sickening.
OXM ETboy on 5 Feb '13 said:
This picture kind of says it all where Ellie's concerned. Hardly a space-worthy choice of top, right?
http://cdn.medialib.oxm.co.uk/promo/promo_1757.jpg
ItchyRash on 5 Feb '13 said:
Seems like a very fair review. Thanks guys. Disappointed that I won't get the full experience without playing co-op. How much time do these co-op only missions take up and is it glaringly obvious in single player that you've missed certain sections? Was a big fan of the first two but I'll only pick this up when things are quiet and it's a lot cheaper if only to get some closure on the story. Even if the plot is rubbish.
It was the little details that really made the game stand out. The sounds were crisp, it was visually great and the little details like holographic inventory and no HUD were great. Are all these details still present?
OXM ETboy on 5 Feb '13 said:
Around 1-2 hours, and: there are doors with "Co-Op" written on them. Which is a bit of a crap way of going about it, in hindsight...
The environmental detailing, holograms and sound design are much as they were in previous games, yes.
Clanger67 on 5 Feb '13 said:
I was quite pleased when i read that the shootouts and the cover system don't intrude that much into the game.But as has been said the naff plot dashed the few hopes i had we would get another dead space 1.Soon to be released games all my hopes hang onto Aliens being pretty good now.
Also a bit disappointed that despite only being a handful you will miss out sp on the co-op missions.
ItchyRash on 5 Feb '13 said:
Hahaha. Oh dear. Not great design there. And disappointing to know I'll probably miss out on 1-2 hours of this game as It's unlikely I'd bother with co-op. Ah well. Hopefully EA will learn when their sales are effected
SidTheSloth on 5 Feb '13 said:
Sure i read something on this very site not two days since that said you'd be better backing this in a straight fight between the two - which isn't encouraging to say the least...
As for DS3, sounds like its lost its way somewhat, it's not a game i'm a fan of anyway, but i do sympathise with those who were fans of the original and 2 (albeit to a lesser extent).
Seems no franchise is safe from being diluted nowadays, although something tells me this'll still sell well somehow...?
OXM ETboy on 5 Feb '13 said:
It's not really dilution. The things Dead Space 3 does that are new are reasonably well-implemented. It's more that the franchise has spun on too long, with too little to keep the basic premise fresh.
Clanger67 on 5 Feb '13 said:
Ah well Sid if Aliens is even naffer at least i can get through some back log,lol.Plus have missed out on a few from earlier like Xcom and want to get Hitman HD.
SidTheSloth on 5 Feb '13 said:
Is that not what dilution means? Stretched out/watered down? Rinse/repeat of the same old stuff?
And Clanger, far be it from me to tell you where to spend your beer tokens, but XCOM would be my shout for you!
Should add that 7 is still a good score gents, and sounds like there is some fun to be garnered from it? >sips quietly from half-full glass<
OXM ETboy on 5 Feb '13 said:
By sipping from your glass you have made it less than half-full. You have brought about your own undoing, sir!
Dilution for me would be them stuffing in new things which make the franchise blander, less distinctive. Fortunately, they haven't. Unfortunately, they spend pretty much the entire game not quite demonstrating the need for another Dead Space game.
Ack, I suspect I'm just muddying the waters.
Droidsbane on 5 Feb '13 said:
from the start i never had any intention of playing DS3 but is the 1st or 2nd entry still worth a playthrough?
oh and X-COM is definatly worth playing, which reminds me I should playthrough more of it when i get enough time.
OXM ETboy on 5 Feb '13 said:
Play the first, then see how you feel. It's a fine horror-inflected action game, with a great setting.
PCG The_B on 5 Feb '13 said:
Feel free to just say "spoilers" if it is too spoilery Ed, but after that picture you've posted I'm curious - didn't Ellie lose an eye in DS2, and do they ever explain how the hell she got it back for three?
OXM ETboy on 5 Feb '13 said:
She gets a bionic one. It's all in the prologue - no real mystery there.
PCG The_B on 5 Feb '13 said:
Well at least there's minor justification - was worried it was just a case of handwaving to make her "sexier" - which I suppose to a degree it still is - but at least bionics has at least some justified consistency with the series.
CunningSmile on 5 Feb '13 said:
Maybe she got bionic boobs at the same time as the eye? No I don't buy that rather weak explanation either.
FishyGinger on 5 Feb '13 said:
Clearly never seen him drink. He's a dribbler, more generally comes out than goes in. I've seen it before but only in the over 90s.
Well pretty much expected after the demo, decent enough but doesn't stand well against the others. Should hopefully drop in price fairly swiftly.
So, between you and me (and anyone else with eyes around here, bionic or otherwise), is Aliens not very good? You can write in code so your masters don't find out, just write down a number 1 to 10 as to whether it is or not with 10 being amazing and 1 being rubbish.
OXM ETboy on 5 Feb '13 said:
I can tell you nothing save that the review embargo isn't till release day.
Incidentally, EA's PR for Dead Space 3 is utterly filthy. There's a press release doing the rounds which includes the following:
Dead Space 3 is an International hit having received a 9.0 from Multiplayer.it in Italy, 9.0 from AusGamers in Australia, 8.8 from 3DJuegos.com in Spain and a 9.75 from Game Informer magazine in North America. As a result of these four, the game is launching with an average score of 91, and being raved by Game Informer magazine who said Dead Space 3, “ one of the best games of this generation.”
AFAIK, all those scores were early regional exclusives. The game's been on sale since midnight last night, but our embargo wasn't till 2pm. Blatant.
ipsofacto on 5 Feb '13 said:
wow, that's a disappointment. I'll pick it up for about 7 quid at the end of the year...
Maverick_McCool on 5 Feb '13 said:
No doubt this will drop in price pretty fast if the previous two are anything to go by. The first one was about a fiver pre-owned after about a month. The second on was twenty quid brand new after a week.
Following that logic I could probably buy it for a few quid pre-owned in a few days , but of course this being EA , I'll probably end up with a naked Issac running around half a level with a plasma cutter with one round in the clip.
I'll be giving this a miss , although a mention of the Templemeister did tempt me a little.
FishyGinger on 5 Feb '13 said:
That is rather slimy. Given their own super amazing powers of deduction and sales that I'd imagine would at least reach the same as 2, will they do another dead space?
On a separate yet related note, if you add up all the numbers in your post and take the average it comes out at 5.965, so that's a 6 overall for Aliens. You heard it here first.
Plamsa wing on 5 Feb '13 said:
I've not pre-ordered it, got Aliens and Crysis 3 on the go instead. Haven't finished Dead Space 2 yet either, I've had it since it came out... think I'm on around chapter 5-6.
If I don't play the co-op, does that mean I wont get the full story then? That's a bit shit if it does.
What's the time between Dead Space 2 and 3? Surely an operation like that would take some time to do. Maybe it's just tissue paper? Then again who goes out of their way to look pretty in the middle of a alien zombie horror? It looks like she make-up on as well. Hmm.
Wow that's a bit of a sneaky attempt to garner a few more sales.
Also this: http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news ... Month.html
Yea sure talk about DLC, but at least do it when the game has been out for more than two months.
baggieal on 5 Feb '13 said:
For me personally, im not too worried about the score, having loved the first and second one i was always going to buy this one regardless of the final score, the only thing that worries me is the fact the plot seems a bit iffy, i can handle it being more actioney, i can handle a new setting ( in fact i think the new setting might freshen things up a bit, theres only so much abandonend spacecrafts you can explore really...) but if theyve made the plot a pile of c**p, then we've got a problem
Either way EA (very rare i ever have sympathy for them) was screwed with this though, if it had kept everything the same as number 1 and 2 then everyone would moan its the same old game, but now theyve tried to add a new few things, people are moaning saying its not the same old Dead Space we know and love, get the feeling this might be the last one in the series sadly.
Ive enjoyed the previous two games and hopefully ill enjoy this one as much with a good ending to boot hopefully, even though that seems unlikely by accounts of this review, but we shall see!
Anyways, it cant be as bad as bloody Resident Evil 6's attempt to be a "horror game", at least Dead Space still has the ability to make you jump every now and then
CunningSmile on 5 Feb '13 said:
That is such a sneaky thing to do. And thanks for an insight into just how some companies go about getting the box quotes and PR B.S. that they put on trailers for bad games. You know how much us regulars enjoy seeing the otherside of the industry
Metalrodent on 5 Feb '13 said:
better not be like single player F3AR, where you partner takes up most of the cutscenes yet buggers off for the entire gameplay, really put broke the immersion
Metalrodent on 5 Feb '13 said:
also just read that some missions and content (including secrets and plot lines) are only avaliable in coop - is this true? Because if it is no matter how fun it is It'll always irritate me - excluding content from people without ease of access to coop is a horrible thing
Grummy on 5 Feb '13 said:
For that reason alone I'm making a point of only buying this 2nd hand when it costs next to nothing.
battfink83 on 5 Feb '13 said:
im getting this, but only because i have more money than sense (and a few nutjob friends on live who will make me laugh in co op when they are tbagging a necro dog)
if i was a little more sensible i would only be getting aliens, seems like the (much) better option out of the two for single player
ChillieBonBon on 5 Feb '13 said:
I agree with you on that point and by what I've heard, I think it is true. I would expect something like that to happen on a game that's massive in multiplayer (BF3, COD) but when it comes down to games that specialize in single player, it can just ruin completely ruin the experience.
Blokey219 on 5 Feb '13 said:
That word. Repetition. If you want to see repetition, look at MW2 up to BO2. That's repetition. Exactly the same gameplay with some different elements thrown in, such as the Strike Force Missions in BO2, or the boat fight near the end of MW2. The multiplayer never changes, always "level up, unlock items, and then prestige and do it all again". Please mention this when you come to review the next annual COD.
Anyway, rant over.
I went into GAME the other day to see what I could pick up, and they were selling Dead Space 2 for nine quid. Bargain. However, I didn't get it as I made 9 pound from trading in Skyrim, in which I had racked up over 100 hours. I bought Just Cause 2 instead, as my original copy got laser burn. I'm going to make sure the next game I purchase will indeed be Dead Space 2.
The demo for DS3 was very good, loving the way that you now fight humans AND Necromorphs, and liking the new cover system (insert Gears comment here). Very intense when I got to the drill bit, had absolutely no idea what I was doing to stop it, and that was funny. Then I realised what I had to shoot. Very, very good, and I am going to put this on my Must Buy list.
PS- if the next annual COD gets a better review than this, I'll be absolutely amazed.
FishyGinger on 5 Feb '13 said:
Well that came out of nowhere
battfink83 on 5 Feb '13 said:
'tis funny aint it, i dont recall the word repetition used once in the BO2 review, after 19 cod games all doing the same thing, with the same engine, on the samey, handfull of maps and with the same mechanics, dead space 3 gets 'repetitive' on the third outing....hmmmmm
fracturedrich on 5 Feb '13 said:
Dress it up as you like guys but a 7 for triple a is a real slap in the face.
OXM ETboy on 5 Feb '13 said:
Our reviews are written by different people, chaps, and believe it or not, those people often come to different conclusions
That said, the idea that all the Call of Duties are carbon copies of one another doesn't wash with me - if the latest instalment offers "exactly the same gameplay with some different elements thrown in" then it doesn't offer exactly the same gameplay, surely? I'm not saying each one's a complete rewrite, but the gap between Black Ops 1 and 2 is much, much bigger than the gap between Dead Space 2 and 3, for instance.
RetroDad on 6 Feb '13 said:
I'm just a bit gutted really. I bloody love the Dead Space franchise. The first instalment had me walking around the Ishimura, plasma cutter ready aimed, crapping myself. Present day, playing the demo with a friend on co-op and we're pissing ourselves laughing. Trying to melee each other, groaning at obvious traps / vents / shock tactics. "This doesn't look much like a quick time event!" Unsettled fear has turned into a game of who can stomp containers first. Our fault for playing that way granted, but the experience has changed for me now.
Ed, thank you for your honesty. You saved me foolish fan boy pre-order money and pointless weaponry. I will indeed pick up DS3 down the line at a price I can justify for a 7/10 rating. Isaac deserved better.
msbhvn on 6 Feb '13 said:
Seems like EA have taken a page out of Activision's "you can have an exclusive review as long as it's at least 9/10" book. That said, my opinion of EA can't get any lower. GameInformer's fawning review led to predictable allegations of money changing hands.
I'm currently transitioning to PC as my main gaming platform, and EA's recent games not being available on Steam is no big loss to me, other than maybe ME3.
Might snap up the original Dead Space in the next Steam sale, if I can bring myself to play that stupid asteroid mini-game again.
fracturedrich on 6 Feb '13 said:
I am going to see it through then trade it for cysis 3,I read enough here to make me want to play it.
Metalrodent on 6 Feb '13 said:
Traitor
FishyGinger on 6 Feb '13 said:
7 is still good isn't it? We aren't on an exponential scale where 0-7 is crap, 8 ok, 9 good, 10 to infinity and beyoooooooond. Plus as you can see from their own PR it's getting 90% of there abouts and they wouldn't lie, right? Right?
fracturedrich on 6 Feb '13 said:
I don't rant often guys but ive got to say gamers are spoilt,i come from a day where you was happy with anything,my first computer was a 1k spectrum,it did not even have a tape,it come with a book of 40 games and if you wanted to play one of them,you had to spend three hours to type the program in.The first console was my beloved atari and pac man was as good as it gets, and if you wanted a follow up they give you ms. pac man.As good as pac man in a dress was guys,i doubt very much it would have got a seven,i see good in most games for this reason,i think you should swap your 360 for the old atari for a month,then buy dead space 3 and see if you dont like it,its a fact that follow ups are never as good, but i think the surprise thing has something to do with it.I think pitfall would have got a seven, and pitfall 2 for that matter.
ItchyRash on 6 Feb '13 said:
I don't think gamers have become spoilt, we just expect more for our money. Sure, Dead Space 3 is better and more technical than Pac Man or whatever games you started off playing. That doesn't mean I feel obliged to go out and buy every modern game just because it's better than they were 20 years ago. As technology improves so do our expectations. For me Dead Space 3 doesn't meet the expectations I have for it so I won't buy it. We are allowed to expect more and become fussier as things improve
Plamsa wing on 6 Feb '13 said:
Hilariously, looks like EA may have taken a kick to their bank balls with this glitch.
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news ... tions.html
fracturedrich on 6 Feb '13 said:
. We are allowed to expect more and become fussier as things improve
I understand that.
battfink83 on 6 Feb '13 said:
really? what exactly is it you think BO2 does thats so different from BO1?
if you ask me, BO2 is BO1, with a few fancy MP options and a slight variation on zombies, your still playing the same set piece ridden, short single player, the same matchbox sized MP maps with the same gameplay, on the same engine, and the same zombies, but thats just my opinion of course.
just find it a little weird that you say COD games are not carbon copies of each other, yet repetition quickly sets in on the third outing of DS... maybe your just not into this genre as much as FPS?
fracturedrich on 6 Feb '13 said:
Believe it or not guys ,i knew bo2 was going to be like the first, thats why i bought it.That aside polygon gave this a 9.5 saying it was the best game in years,is that right,is dead space 3 better than dark souls or gta.
battfink83 on 7 Feb '13 said:
"That I've been able to talk this much about Dead Space 3 without speaking to the introduction of co-op to the series is to Visceral's credit. If you were to ignore co-op completely, you would never know it was there. Dead Space 3 doesn't fall prey to the trap of co-op design. It doesn't feel like something is missing when you're playing by yourself — there's no computer-controlled partner with you all the time to make sure the game functions properly. The only time you'd even notice that you could play the game with a partner is when you come across one of a few co-op-only side missions that can't otherwise be accessed."
when reviewers come up with contrdictions such as this, i wouldnt read too much into their final scores........
OXM ETboy on 7 Feb '13 said:
Well, Black Ops 2 added Pick 10, open world Zombies, multiple endings, RTS missions, new eSports features and new multiplayer modes, among other things. With Dead Space 3 you're getting: optional areas, a micro-transaction system, co-op and weapon crafting. Like I said, neither game is the most unconventional game in the world, but Call of Duty is the more original of the pair.