Dead Space 3… Oh It’s Dead Alright
Once upon a time ago in the mid 90′s came along a game by the name of Resident Evil. Many consider it be the game that started off survival horror but in reality it was simply the game that popularised it, let’s be honest here survival horror wasn’t really a “thing” until Resident Evil showed up on the scene.
As the years went on by Resident Evil started to become progressively less scary and more dated so series creator Shinji Mikami decided to reinvent the series with Resident Evil 4. The survival horror elements were largely toned down in favour of action but at the very least the game was DAMN GOOD at what it did.
Around the time of the impending Resident Evil 5 launch I had already decided that the game would end up being the final nail in the coffin for fans of survival horror and it truly was. Without Shinji Mikami at the helm, Resident Evil 5 was nothing more than a poor man’s attempt to replicate Resident Evil 4′s success. Not only was survival horror dead, so was Resident Evil and things would only get worse with Resident Evil 6.
Sometime after the release of Resident Evil 5 I had a friend of mine show me Dead Space on the PlayStation 3. I originally ignored the game’s release due to it being an EA title and up until that point, SSX was pretty much the only EA game that I truly enjoyed. Never the less a group of us sat down, dimmed the lights and turned up the surround sound. Later that night I found myself on Amazon looking for a copy of Dead Space, it was that good.
What made the original Dead Space so good was that it came at just the right time as Resident Evil was “selling out” and going “commercial” on us. Capcom give me the middle finger with Resident Evil 5 and in turn I gave EA my wallet for Dead Space. It was basically Resident Evil in space with some Metroid Prime like touches sprinkled throughout.
Whilst Dead Space wasn’t the kind of seller EA were hoping for, it did go on to sell well enough to warrant a sequel and in early 2011 we got Dead Space 2. The survival horror elements were toned down and the action increased but it managed to find a nice balance between the two so I was fairly content. Some would even say Dead Space 2 is a better game than the original, an opinion I don’t share but I enjoyed it and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
After Dead Space 2 I was expecting to see the series take a rest for a while but to my surprise, Dead Space 3 was already in development. I figured why not, might as well close out the series this generation with a nice trilogy and then perhaps take the series in a new direction sometime in the future.
Unfortunately my issues with Dead Space 3 started right from when I first saw the debut gameplay demo at E3 2012. In fact I can narrow it down to the exact point where Dead Space 3 “sold out” and “Resident Evil’d us”. The time frame I’m specifically referring to is 3:30 on the video embedded below.
It was at this point that I decided I wanted no part of Dead Space 3 and purposely paid no attention to it right up until it’s release whereby I casually ignored it. Eventually as I worked through my backlog of games to finish I found a cheap used copy of Dead Space 3. EA by this point had announced that all it’s stupid online passes would be done away with so buying a used copy would be no different to buying a new one and so I decided to jump into Dead Space 3 with miminal expectations.
I have spent a few days playing Dead Space 3 and some 12 hours later, I’ve reached the game’s conclusion. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement and whilst I don’t think Dead Space 3 is a terrible game outright, it is a terrible Dead Space game. It’s Resident Evil 5 all over again and survival horror fans have been slapped in the face. Being a survival horror fan these days is like being in an abusive relationship, I don’t even know why we bother anymore.
For this feature I’ve decided just SOME of the things that bothered me about Dead Space 3.
Issac, Shut The Fuck Up
When you think about it, it’s actually quite incredible. In the first Dead Space Issac was nothing more than a random engineer who found himself onboard the Necromorph infested USG Ishimura, he did what he could to survive and outside some battle cries, he didn’t speak nor he didn’t have to.
Part of what made Issac Clarke so intriguing was the idea that he never spoke, it added a sense of mystery to him and we only had minimal looks at his face. Now he’s constantly talking to everyone over the radio, anytime he falls over he swears, he swears when someone screws him over and he swears when he sees something. Oddly enough he doesn’t swear when he gets shot right at the beginning of the game.
This admittedly is an issue that started with Dead Space 2 when they gave him a voice but in Dead Space 3 they should’ve toned it down, instead they’ve made Issac even more annoying than ever. Dude, TURN OFF YOUR RADIO. Actions speak louder than words, I don’t need you to point out everything for me. There’s simply too much chatter in Dead Space 3, Issac and the rest of his team.
Stupid Love Triangle
Those of you who played Dead Space 2 will remember a Ellie Langford, Issac Clarke’s new girlfriend who likely filled the void that Nicole left in Issac after her death. Well sometime between Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3 she decided to start a relationship with someone else, her and Issac just weren’t seeing eye to eye (no pun intended Ellie fans) after Dead Space 2.
Now I understand that Issac still has feelings for Ellie and he’s pissed to see her with someone else but man does the game make a big deal out of this. The once legendary Issac Clarke is now reduced to screaming Ellie’s name over and over again during the course of the campaign. It makes him look weak and pathetic, it retro actively RUINS Issac Clarke.
Also why is Issac so bothered about Ellie anyway, they’ve been apart for a while now. The only reason why Dead Space 3 even happens is because they put a gun to Issac head and essentially demanded his assistance. He wasn’t really bothered about Ellie before yet the plot demands he care about her so he starts screaming Ellie’s name soon enough. There’s no gradual “falls in love with her again”, Issac just rolls with whatever the writers demand.
Speaking Of Ellie…
Who the hell would wear this when you’ve got Necromorphs running around everywhere?
Oh yeah, sex appeal = SALES!!!1111
… except Dead Space 3 is easily the worst selling game in the trilogy.
Make Every Bullet Count… Just Kidding 
Sometimes when you ask someone to describe what survival horror is they’ll basically tell you it’s about jump scares. They’re not wrong to an extent but that only describes the horror aspect of survival horror, we’ve still got the survival part to explain. To me the survival part of survival horror is just as the name implies, it’s not about kicking ass but rather it’s about just barely making it to the next room. It’s about running away when things are looking bad so you can try a new tactic but Dead Space 3 says to hell with all that.
If there’s one thing bigger than Ellie’s breasts in Dead Space 3 it’s the ammo count for your weapons. If your played the prior two games then you’ll be SHOCKED by just how much ammo Dead Space 3 has lying around, enemies bleed more ammo than they do blood. Even more pathetic is that now all the ammo is universal, it’s not longer specific to any one weapon meaning you might as well stick with one weapon for the whole game. In fact I did, a powered up plasma cutter is all I ever needed.
My playtime in Dead Space 3 lasted around 12 hours and I think I ran out of ammo like twice. Forget about strategically dismembering specific limbs on a Necromorph because you want all your bullets to be effective, just mash that shoot button. You’ll have to anyway as some of the new enemies are super quick and attack in hordes so using stasis to freeze just two of them is useless.
Everyone Likes Crafting Right?
The problem with doing sequels is that you don’t always have enough new ideas to justify a sequel and Dead Space 3 tries to hide this with it’s crafting system. For whatever reason the developers have decided to do away with the perfectly good “shop” system from prior games and now we have the opportunity to craft out own unique weapons. Sounds pretty good but in reality it doesn’t suit Dead Space in my opinion even though Issac is an engineer.
In the past the Dead Space games used a “shop” system whereby you find a terminal and using the funds you currently had, you could purchase or sell items. It was a quick system that didn’t take waste your time or kill the game’s pacing. The crafting system featured in Dead Space 3 is anything but as expertly implemented. Confusing menu layout and a million different weapon variations add un-needed layers of “depth” to a game that only seems to want you to use one weapon anyway.
I spent two games playing using the shop system and not once did I think it needed to be changed, why the hell do I have to worry about how big the gun handle is or the difference between upper/lower attachments including THE TIP? Just give me a selection of weapons and tell me what they do, I’ll pick what I find the most interesting and roll with it.
It’s worth mentioning that there is a blueprints menu which has some pre-existing weapons to pick from. It’s hardly a problem solver as you still need the required resources to piece it all together. What?, I can’t build a shotgun because I have enough fairy dust but not enough unicorns? WHO CARES? Just give me the shop system back.
In Space, No One Can Hear You $$$ KA-CING $$$
Why Am I Shooting Humans?
The whole point of Dead Space is that it’s about humans trying to survive against Necromorphs with the big ass Marker being a dick to you along the way. Naturally you’re going to bump into some corrupt humans along the way and some betrayals are bound to occur. All of this is perfectly fine but the problems start when the game decides to send hordes of humans enemies your way.
Within the context of the game, it doesn’t make any sense why Issac can take down a small army of soldiers by himself. Him taking on a horde of Necromorphs is far more believable considering the more “minor” ones are skinny and fragile. The idea that a human can outsmart and outgun a Necromorph is viable. Shooting human enemies as they just stand there in the open eating your bullets just looks wrong and your mind knows it. Seeing a “stupid” Necromorph with “bad” AI is fine, swap the model around for a human and suddenly it all falls apart.
Fails As An Action Game, Fails As A Survival Horror Game
Finally the biggest problem Dead Space 3 has is that it can’t decide what it wants to be, actually it knows what it wants to be but ends up failing at both. No matter how hard developers try, they will one day understand (or never as the trend seems to implies) that an action game and a survival horror game just don’t mesh well together. They are two completely different genres with different ideologies supporting them, what makes each one great is that it’s nothing like the other. By having a game try to be both you’re not pleasing either one and it’s better to have a game excel at something rather than be average at both.
As a survival horror game Dead Space 3 fails not because it lacks scary moment but rather because it lacks atmosphere and tension. There’s ammo everywhere, health everywhere, characters who won’t stop talking and too many enemies attacking in hordes. The whole point of survival horror is that you’re not a one man army, any one enemy is a legit threat, ammo is limited and running away isn’t a cowardly tactic but a smart one.
The basic idea behind survival horror is that you’re fucked, no one is coming to help you. That right there should be tattooed into the hands of everyone who worked on Dead Space 3.
As an action game Dead Space 3 fails yet again since it started off life as a SURVIVAL HORROR GAME, that means the mechanics were all designed with survival horror in mind. Now look what happens when the development team tries to cram the game full of enemies and implement a truly horrendous cover system. Everything that suddenly worked before now causes frustration and the only solution to the problem is to start over, you simply can’t tweak something like Dead Space to be something it’s not.
When it’s all said and done, Dead Space 3 is a major disappointment to fans of the series thus far. It originally started off an a fresh take on the survival horror genre and has now slowly morphed into just another dude bro shooter. There’s still plenty to praise in Dead Space 3, the sound design in particular is still as incredible as ever and the lack of loading screens is always welcomed. The way the game constantly transitions from gameplay to cut-scene without switching camera angles is amazing, the film 2013 Gravity did it for the first few minutes but Dead Space 3 basically does it for 12 hours. It’s all one seamless experience that can only be achieved by both a the game medium itself and a talented team behind it.
Many of the things that made Dead Space great are still here but they’ve been cast aside in favour of meaningless action. EA & Visceral Games, you have some of the best sound designers in the industry working on your game, would it kill you to not have portion of the game where nothing happens for a while. Let the sound team do their thing and help create tension for the player instead of thinking “If we don’t have action, the player will get bored“. If someone does think like that then fuck them, that’s not your target audience.
AIM the game at your target audience, once that’s done THEN look at how you can reach a wider audience WITHOUT losing the loyalists. Dead Space 3 “sold out” and yet the sales figures show that it did anything but “sell out“. In the end we have just another example of what happens when a publisher decides to tell a group of talented developers how to do their job, I refuse to believe Visceral Games would ever stoop this low.
Maybe some day in the future EA & Visceral Games will team up to bring us another Dead Space game, one that uses the original as a base and builds on that. Until that day arrives, I’m better off pretending that Dead Space 3 never happened. If anyone asks “Hey Xav, didn’t they make three Dead Space games?” I’ll simply reply, “Yeah, Dead Space 1/2 and Extraction“.
