Modern Games Beaten
Nov 8, 2019 16:25:10 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2019 16:25:10 GMT -5
Dead Space 3 [PC/2013]
The longest - clocking around 20 hours - and most bang bang pew pew entry in the Dead Space series. Definitely more of a departure from the original blueprint than DS2 was, mostly due to the introduction of co-op, crafting, optional missions and weapon customization. Playing it solo, I could still tell this was supposed to be a co-op game occasionally, but overall it made for a much better single player experience than, say, RE5 or Revelations since I didn't have to deal with an AI companion this time around. However, I did find the game considerably harder than the previous entries, no doubt because 1) it's supposed to be played co-op, 2) the game wants you to tinker with the weapon customization system.
In the previous games I had opted to completely ignore all other weapons and focus on the Plasma Cutter, Isaac's starting and iconic weapon. I also like it because it's actually an engineering tool and it's well suited for severing limbs. That's still an option in DS3, but you're going to have a much harder time if you stick with it. It wasn't long until I decided to build my own weapon: a shotgun/chaingun hybrid. The former for crowd control and the latter for precise aiming. There are many, many other combinations you can come up with and I assume it must be fun to build weapons that work in tandem with your partner's if you play this co-op. I also was reluctant to experiment with other weapons in previous games since each of them required its own ammo and you already had limited inventory slots to deal with, but in DS3 all weapons share the same ammo type, so that's no longer an issue.
The crafting system I'm pretty ambivalent about. On the one hand, I appreciate the customization it allows in terms of upgrades and weapon building, but collecting trash dropped by enemies to craft medpacks or ammo is just busy work. The game now lets your character roll and crouch... Sure why not. The crouching basically being this game's 'cover system' seeing as some enemies wield firearms. Firefights are few and far in between and they didn't bother me but also didn't add anything of value to the game. What bothered me is the how asinine the writing and characters became and how same-y areas look occasionally, optional missions looking particularly lazy and lackluster and being just a sorry excuse to collect more 'loot'. Not to mention how such optional missions actively disrupt the pacing and work against the sense of urgency the story is supposed to convey.
On the other hand, the game does have some of the best Zero-G sections in the series since these are actually set in seemingly open space and almost had a 2001: A Space Odyssey vibe to them. Dead Space 1 was the best entry in the series for its tension and atmosphere, DS2 was the best for its movie-like pacing and beautiful set pieces. I think DS3 might be the best game in the series as far as shooting and weaponry variety alone are concerned, but it's more flawed than the previous games in other areas. I still think it's a great game, but falls short of 'amazing' or 'awesome'.
4/5
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