 Yep, still dead. The Unitologists have started to release the Markers onto human colonies. Now Isaac and his new ally Carver have to find the Marker home world and shut down the Necromorph signal for good.
1. Gameplay
I read recently that horror is the most difficult genre to write. If you make something too “scary”, it comes off as being unrealistically cheesy. If you don’t make it scary enough, it’s boring. The problem is that you can never tell if it’s scary or not, since the fear comes in not knowing what is going to happen. Dead Space 3 is well written and a lot of fun, but I was never scared while playing it. I can see where some younger gamers might find it suspenseful, but the “fear” element just didn’t translate well for me.  Been there, done that. Isaac Clarke, the main character in the Dead Space series, has had a long run. One of his girlfriends was killed by the necromorphs and he had to go through two games being haunted by her. Then, after he finally managed to let go of her, he found a new girlfriend. Somehow something went horribly wrong and she ended up with some other guy, who practically forces Isaac to go on another doomed quest to end the necromorph problem once and for all.  Hopefully. When I first found out that Dead Space 3 was going to include a fully cooperative campaign, I was skeptical. Co-op can be horrible if done incorrectly. Fortunately, the developers did an excellent job of making the cooperative game fit well into the story. Instead of simply having a second character that’s completely ignored in the cutscenes or having an AI character run around with you during the single-player campaign, the developers tweaked the game to take into account whether or not the player was playing with a human partner. If the player plays alone, the “partner” will have his own story and the player will be left alone. If the player plays cooperatively, the two partners will work together to complete the objectives. All of the conversations and cutscenes will change to reflect the second player, which is definitely an awesome twist.  You've got a friend in me. A lot of what I loved about the first Dead Space has been lost, but that doesn’t mean that Dead Space 3 is a failure. It is definitely an awesome game and worth playing at least one (twice if you have a friend to play it with). I’m hoping that the upward trend in that Dead Space 3 represents continues and that the next game is even more amazing.  Welcome to Hoth.
It took me around 14 hours to complete the campaign. While it seemed a bit brief considering there is no multiplayer, the developers did an excellent job of adding replayability. First, the game does include a “New Game+” option where the player can take items from his first playthrough and use them during a second playthrough. This definitely adds to the incentive of playing the campaign a second time, since I can play it on a harder difficulty level without feeling completely outmatched. Second, and more importantly, the campaign is fully cooperative and there’s enough differences that playing through with a friend can be an entirely different experience. Aside from the differing cutscenes and conversations, there are certain areas that can only be explored cooperatively. So there is definitely incentive for players to grab a friend and try things out together.
For the most part the game was fairly straightforward. Grab a gun, maneuver carefully, make sure your enemies are dead, and keep going. There are some occasions when things can get a bit frustrating. For example, there is one type of enemy that can’t be killed. No matter what weapon the player uses, no matter what situation the player is in, this enemy can only be slowed down. This was a bit counter-intuitive for me in some places. For example, there are places where engines will spout huge jets of flame that will incinerate anything that gets in the way. Anything, that is, except these enemies, who remain completely unaffected by the flames. Players can waste a lot of time and resources trying to take these things out before learning to turn and run. This, and other situations, are made even more complicated when playing cooperatively. The levels aren’t exactly huge, so space can be very limited. This is fine when battling normal enemies, since it forces them to bunch up in corridors, but makes moving around quickly a chore. It’s also frustrating for certain specific sections where players have to react quickly. I am specifically referring to the sections where the player has to climb up a cliff with huge rocks falling down. Even by myself, I had a difficult time learning the mechanics of the climb enough to keep from getting splattered. I watched some friends attempt the cliff climb and was both amused and horrified at how difficult it was for them to accomplish. I ended up having to give them tips on how to successfully ascend (since I had already run into half of the problems they had before). The problem was that if either of them failed, they both failed. It was an unforgiving system that seemed slightly unnecessary. The gaming community would likely get upset if I didn't mention the "microtransaction" policy that has been put in place with Dead Space 3. If you didn't preorder this game, you will have a significantly more difficult time moving forward. Preorders granted the player extra weapons that are by far the most powerful in the game. If the player did not preorder the game, he can pay extra money to obtain better weapons that will make the overall experience much simpler. It's an unfair policy that encourages players to pay extra money on top of what they paid for the game. I didn't directly experience this, but it's definitely something that most players will run into. 2. Parental Notices
Violence is a serious factor in Dead Space 3. The player will use a wide variety of firearms to kill enemies. Most of these weapons will have similar effects. If a weapon is designed to work like a rifle, it will fire rounds that will cause a spurt of blood to burst from enemies. If it is a shotgun, the round will cause a large amount of blood and enemies will likely be forced back onto the ground.  If it doesn't kill them, it definitely gives you some room to breathe. Unless you're in space. The true violence comes in how the player is supposed to kill enemies. Hitting them in the center mass is not effective. Unlike “traditional” zombies, though, these enemies can’t be killed via headshots. Instead, the most effective means of taking down the enemies is for the player to sever the enemy’s limbs. While shooting off a single limb will simply slow an enemy down, shooting off multiple limbs will kill the enemy much more effectively than any amount of shots in the body.  Well that's going to slow him down. This naturally leads to a significant amount of blood and gore. The player will be attacked by dozens of enemies. The only reason why the aftermath of battle isn’t even bloodier is because the bodies of enemies disappear after a very short time. The game only seemed to allow two bodies to be on the ground at any one time. By the time the battle is over, the player can forget about much of the gore.  But not all of it. The game also encourages the player to stomp on downed and dead enemies. The stomping action no only kills enemies that are wounded, but also severs the enemy's limbs. This effectively prevents the enemies from getting back up. Some enemies will pretend to be dead, only to jump back up after the player leaves. Stomping the enemies prevents this, but also causes a lot of blood to fly everywhere.  It's like that musical, but messier. There are some weapons that cause different types of damage that can increase the violence or gore. For example, the player can build a flamethrower that lights enemies on fire. It can be an effective weapon, especially on smaller enemies, but I hardly ever used it.  I like my necromorphs like I like my toast: Immobile. Evidence of brutal violence can also be found frequently in different locations. These don't always seem to involve the necromorphs.  Well that's not good.
Sexuality is not a factor in this game.
The only real notable substance in the game are the “health vials” that the player will find and use frequently over the course of the campaign. These are simply white cylinders with a greenish light. There is no animation for consumption. The player simply selects the item from his inventory and uses it (or hits the appropriate “heal” hotkey). The item is removed and the player is healed.  This is about it. At the very beginning of the game, Isaac can be seen drinking himself into a stupor over his now ex-girlfriend. However, this scene is very brief and is the only time alcohol is ever seen being consumed. There may be bottles of alcohol elsewhere in the campaign, but they’re lost in the general chaos and disorder.  Eh, he's not really drunk.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
While there is no traditional “religion” present in the game, the religion of “Unitology” is referenced numerous times. The main antagonist is a leader within Unitology. The Unitologists believe that the “Markers” and the necromorphs are the next stage in human evolution. Their job is to forcibly bring that evolution upon humanity, even at the inevitable cost of their own lives.  L. Ron Hubbard in the digital flesh. While much of the specifics of the religion of Unitology aren’t explained in the game, the religion is used as motivation for all of the antagonist’s actions. This includes the Unitologists’ murderous hatred for Isaac, who has been single-handedly able to destroy every marker he has come across. Since the markers are the means by which the “evolution” happens, the Unitologists see him as a direct threat to their religious beliefs.
Since there is no law enforcement presence anywhere in this game, anti-law is not a factor.
Technically this game can be played online with a partner, but I played the co-op with a friend. I expect that most co-op players will do the same. Even if this isn’t the case, co-op partners must always work together, so a measure of teamwork cooperation can naturally be expected. As a result, the online community is not a factor in this game.
Most of Dead Space 3 will be a slow, careful walk through metal hallways or snowy ground. There are a few exceptions though. The first is the space that the player must travel through in order to get from ship to ship. I don’t mean space as in “empty rooms”, I mean literal zero-gravity space. And the player isn’t always floating on a fixed axis. The player will have to manage their pitch, roll, and yaw as he moves from ship to ship, fighting necromorphs along the way.  It's quiet in space. There will be a few occasions when the player will have to boost his way through open space, avoiding enemies and debris (which can severely damage or even kill the player instantly).  That's a lot of debris. The player will also have to deal with rappelling up and down steep cliffs. Going up is usually a slow, careful process. The player will have to occasionally jump gaps in order to continue upward progression, but it’s not a very exciting climb. The player will occasionally have to avoid large rocks that can crush him instantly, but these only seem to happen on one or two occasions.  I'm glad there weren't too many of these. Going down is an entirely different experience. For example, towards the end of the game the player will have to race down a wall in order to catch a descending elevator. The player will have to run at full speed while shooting enemies and avoiding obstacles. At times it got even more complicated than it sounds, especially when large enemies acted as both obstacles and potential sources of severe injury.  Running at the speed of gravity.
The “markers” that cause people to turn into necromorphs are clearly designed to be magical in nature. The engraving on the stone of the marker itself, as well as the “signal” that the markers relay, all seem deeply based in magic and ritual.  It's maaaagic. Other than this, magic is not a factor in this game.
Scary Images While Dead Space 3 is more of an action game than a horror game, it still has images, enemies, and situations that are designed to scare the player. This is especially relevant if the player goes through the game alone, since he can rely on a partner when playing cooperatively. The amount of fear that each player experiences will vary, but this definitely isn’t the kind of game that an 8-year-old with a phobia of small furry animals should play before bed on a school night.  Where are the eyes? Suicide Suicide is a definite factor in this game. There are numerous times when the player will either hear about or actually see people committing suicide. The most obvious example of this, and the most critical to the storyline, are the soldiers who were instructed to kill themselves in order to prevent the release of the necromorphs onto humanity. It is implied that potentially hundreds of soldiers all killed themselves after they believed their mission was accomplished.  Well when you put it like that... The Unitologists have a nasty habit of committing suicide for no reason as well. While most of the Unitologist soldiers would rather try to kill Isaac, there was at least one that I encountered who killed himself with a shotgun blast to the head. What was also slightly odd is that by leaving the area and returning he would reappear and kill himself again.  I'm not sure why these guys killed themselves. Execution Before the soldiers mentioned previously killed themselves, they had been instructed to round up all those who were less willing and to execute them. The trip to the necromorph homeworld was designed to be a one-way trip, so those who couldn’t be trusted to kill themselves had to be executed first.  "Assist"? I don't think that means "do it for them". Human Disfigurement
Most if not all of the necromorphs were clearly designed to be human at some point. While many lack any real human features, a number have human heads and limbs. There are even some, shaped like human heads with tentacles for legs, which can jump from corpse to corpse and take control of the corpse. This is one of the main reasons why the player is encouraged to stomp on the bodies of enemies on the ground. Removing the limbs from a body prevents it from being reanimated by the severed head necromorphs.
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