Dead Space 3 is in stores today, which means it's time for you, dear gamer, to make that all-important choice:
"Do I buy this game today or not?"
We're going to make things a little easier for you. The popular consensus among game reviewers seems to be that if you've been on the fence regarding whether or not to dive back into the gaming's pre-eminant action-horror franchise, then there's a good chance you're going to enjoy this game.
Though the Dead Space franchise had begun to pivot from a slower survival-horror pace to more active third-person shooter, Dead Space 3 takes a dramatic step towards action by giving protagonist Issac Clarke, and the player, a drop-in, drop-out co-op partner. Though the step may have appeared as a bad omen for series purists, Polygon reviewer Arthur Gies, who gave Dead Space 3 a 9.5 out of 10, argues that the co-op adds to the intensity of the game's combat without detracting from puzzle segments. "Dead Space 3's co-op combat also often reaches that sort of optimal level of bad-assery that you want when you're playing with your friend, where you become a tight unit that works in tandem to neutralize threats, all of which is further assisted by weapon modification that specifically aids cooperative players," says Gies.
Of course, the fluidity of co-op wouldn't matter if the gameplay weren't compelling enough on its own. Everyone agrees that Dead Space 3 is the most action-packed game in the series to date. Game Informer's Tim Turi, giving the game an enthusiastic 9.75 out of 10, calls the combat "thrilling," and Joystiq reviewer Ludwig Kietzmann, which gave the gave 4.5 stars, applauds the fact that "Dead Space 3 doesn't have to apologize for being a well-designed action game that rewards quick aiming and resourcefulness under pressure." Both the Polygon and Game Informer reviews remarked that a wider variety of enemy-types helps make the shooting, which makes up the lion's share of the gameplay, feel fresh and varied throughout.
Of course, not everyone had such nice things to say about Dead Space 3. Kotaku's Tina Amini is quite blunt in her assessment; "Dead Space 3 is boring." Where some reviews praise the game's nuanced approach to combat, others felt that there was simply not enough variety to break up hours and hours of frantic necromorph-dismantling. Gamesradar's Ryan Taljonick, giving the game 3.5 stars, notes that "the endless onslaught of enemies quickly becomes tiresome when solo," which is always a danger in games with an emphasis on co-op play.
Similarly, note reviewers also felt the game's story falls flat compared to the first two entries in the series. Despite giving the game a "solid" 7.8, IGN's Casey Lynch calls Dead Space 3's story "forced," and noted that the game felt bloated at times due to tedious sidequests: "Anything bad that can possibly happen does, and the solution is almost always finding some lost thing in a building on the other side of wherever you are."
Those complaints are indicative of a deeper problem, one that some reviewers have more of a problem with than others, Dead Space 3 is not the same as Dead Space or Dead Space 2. There's a lot more action and, while there are certainly tense moments, this game does not try nearly as hard to scare players as its predecessors. Some call this "ambitious," while others feel the game flat. In the end, though, it seems that most reviewers agree that fans of shooters, action, and intense co-op play should definite pick up Dead Space 3.