Dead Space 3 Review - Is It Good or Bad?

Updated:

27 Jun 2021

Dead Space 3 Review - Is It Good or Bad?

Before we start with the review, I want to preface it by saying that I have no reason to be biased towards praising or bashing this game. I am not sponsored by the developers or publishers of the game, nor do I see video games like that; RDR2 is my favorite game of all time. I still had expressed many complaints about it because that's just how I review games, what it does right and wrong, and how those two sides balance each other to give a final score.

I) What is Dead Space 3?

Dead space 3 is the latest installment in the Dead Space franchise. It's a survival horror action where you play as Issac Clarke, aiming to end the threat caused by an Alien technology called the Marker, while still trying to look fantastic and collected where in reality you're terrified to go into any room.

Released in February 2013 after being developed by Visceral Games and published by EA, DS3 was well received and an impressive debut month, selling 605.000 copies in North America and becoming the top-selling game of that month. Beating even Crysis 3.

Although it had a successful launch, it still didn't match EA's expectations, selling at least 5 million copies. Dead space 2 showed potential, but it too didn't do well on the numbers side, so Dead space 4 was canceled, and we might never see another Dead Space game.

II) Dead space 3’s Story:

This installment continues the Story of Isaac, who's arguably the unluckiest engineer in the universe in his quest to end the existence of Necromorphs by destroying the Marker located in the ice-covered planet Tau Volantis.

The living nightmare of this installment begins when Clark goes to rescue Ellie, his girlfriend, whom he lost in the last part and who he barely remembers.

As the events get crazier more and more, Isaac is joined by a new friend, John Carver, so we get to see with our eyes the first cooperative character inside the series since its first title.

Honestly, the Story isn't fully understood, and it gets confusing for no reason, sometimes. They just introduce a new element that they then try to tie to the Story of the old installments, and it doesn't fit in all that well. Overall the Story isn't terrible but not great either; it still does a decent job at driving the gameplay further.

III) Dead space 3 gameplay:

Dead Space 3 still has you playing Issac as the main protagonist; however, this instalment also has another player character named John Carver which you can play as during Co-op missions or side missions.

Combat

In Dead Space 3, you will find battles and clashes dominate most of what happens; unlike the first two parts, where the focus was more on delivering a scary experience, this third title leans more towards action.

That action isn't bad; it's just not what you go into expecting to experience if you come from the first two titles.

Even if you have experienced the last two parts, Dead Space 3 remains the best and most exciting part of the intense battles. Still, dead space 2 remains the best overall.

Players have many means to get rid of their enemies, most notably the limb cutting system that slows down your enemies and makes killing them easier than hitting them with a gunshot to the skull, in addition to a group of other innovative ways that appear for the first time inside The game.

The new weapon crafting and development system increase your combat experience. It makes you constantly search for new resources to build a deadly weapon or modify the weapon you prefer in a way that makes it more powerful and accurate or modify the spacesuit that Isaac wears in more than one way.

In short, this new system is excellent and more immersive as you sort through priorities. Do I start with developing weapons that help me enter closed rooms or think about medical supplies? Should I make a sandwich? It's all questions you have to ask yourself.

Movement

The character's movement when you're playing is still the same; you don't feel 100% in control, it's a little slow, and it gives a weird feeling every time you play the game.

You know when you're in a dream trying to run away from something, but you can't go fast, and it feels weird that you don't. That's how it feels here but to a lesser degree.

It's not game-breaking or anything of the sort. I might even find myself arguing that it fits the game, seeing how it's a scary game, and you can't feel like you have things under control. Still, since Dead Space 3 leaned more towards action, they could have made some changes to the agility and the feel of the character's movement.

Missions

The missions start ell since the first chapters are essentially just about surviving across multiple locations; it never feels like you're doing the same thing; however, this can not be said about the middle till the end of the game.

After a while, you feel that the game's missions are following one pattern, you reach a place where you receive a call about something being broken, and you must fix it. Still, the pieces are distributed in other locations; look for the pieces, fix the problem, reach the second area, find something else broken, and repeat the same steps.

Sometimes you feel like they're padding the game time of these missions with repetitive activities in a boring way, such as climbing or descending from mountains.

What adds to this problem is that the climbing system has many issues; for example, in a climbing stage where you die ten times from things you don't expect to die from Or, the character does not respond and does not move as you wish.

Still, the game doesn't leave you playing for too long without throwing something exciting at you. Those moments are what drive the missions ultimately. However, they still could have made the content different, basically making the premise and the punchline different every time.

Playtime

Suppose you're playing slowly, methodically, and searching for all the artifacts and hidden items. In that case, it will take you about 15 to 20 hours to finish the game, including all sub-quests, but if you start trying the game again with modified weapons, And prior knowledge of what you will do, you can finish it in 8 to 10 hours, and the same applies to cooperative play.

IV) Visuals and Sound

The graphics are impressive for that time and they still stand the test of time, the world is detailed and well made, it doesn’t feel dated or bad but actually eye-pleasing.

I can’t think of a game published by EA that didn’t have great graphics.

Sound design is top-notch, especially the weapons, sometimes just from the sound a weapon makes when fired you can tell the alien being aimed at is going to regret waking up that morning.

The score is excellent, Between the classical music composed by Brian May and James Horner, and the loud and powerful voices worked by the méster Hans Zimmer.

The vocal performance is of high quality most of the time, although it is a little stereotypical at certain moments.

The graphics are impressive for that time, and they still stand the test of time; the world is detailed and well made; it doesn't feel dated or wrong but actually eye-pleasing.

I can't think of a game published by EA that didn't have great graphics.

Sound design is top-notch, especially the weapons; sometimes, just from the sound a gun makes when fired, you can tell the alien being aimed at is going to regret waking up that morning.

The score is excellent, Between the classical music composed by Brian May and James Horner, and the loud and powerful voices worked by the méster Hans Zimmer.

The vocal performance is of high quality most of the time, although it is a little stereotypical at certain moments.

V) Should you get it?

The entire game is 19.99$ on steam, XBOX360, and Play station 2, and you can get the "awakening" for 9.99$.

The battle system and the virtual environment that Visceral Studio worked on are impeccable. Game lovers need to try the New Game+ mode after completing it for the first time to feel the actual value of the title.

That requires ignoring the bad Story and the missions, and that's where you will find the charming face of the game. You spend a lot of time equipping Clark with the most powerful weapons and gear available.

If that sounds fine with you, go get it.

VI) Final Score :

8/10

VII) Summary in Pros and cons

Pros:

-Diversity and creativity in the design of stages that are matched with great graphics and visuals

-The sound effects are generally excellent, but what caught my attention were the sounds of the different weapons

-The system of collecting resources and pieces adds the feeling of "RPG" games to feel the desire to collect everything and search all the corners.

-Weapons making system after assembling the parts is excellent at giving players the freedom to invent a weapon from scratch in a way that suits their needs

-Each armor has different features and places where they give you the most advantages leaving you to manage that and its upgrades.

-The combat system is one of the most exciting game factors because you have to fight the enemies tactically.

-The co-op is Fun and elaborated

-The optional side missions are enjoyable, through which you get to know more about "John" and his history and Story, and you will often get important pieces to upgrade your weapons

Cons:

-The Story in this part is difficult to understand, the narration of the events is complex, and you do not know how to connect them, and many things do not come out.

-It can get repetitive at times, and it gets tedious with most missions being the same.

-Voice acting and dialogue are generic at times.