Dead Space 3

Apparently, Ridley Scott was wrong.  In space, only your co-op partner can hear you scream.

In my previous post, I talked about the problems that I have with co-op games.  Let's first apply them to Dead Space 3.  Perhaps as we go through here, you'll be helped in deciding whether or not you want to try this game out.

Can I play the main storyline with my co-op partner?
Yes, yes you can.  It is certainly clear in some places where the co-op feels a bit shoehorned into things, mainly in the character dialogues.  For example, there's one place where Isaac says, "It looks like I'm the first person to walk through here in years."  Yet his co-op partner is two steps ahead of him.  So, we're not talking about anything that's game breaking or horribly distracting.  Just minor things.  On the flip side, there are plenty of places where the solution to move on to the next area of the level requires both of you to complete.  That could be something as simple as simultaneously pressing a button, or to something more complex like using kinesis on some machinery to get it to work.

What's even better is that most of the loot, aside from collectibles (text logs, artifcacts) and rare crafting materials are shared.  If you open a locker and pick up an ammo clip, it will still be there for your co-op partner to pick up, as well.

So what we have here is a game that solves both of my most common problems with co-op games.  It's off to a good start.



Can I connect to the game?
For the most part, yes.  When I first created a game, I made it private, which meant it was on an "invite only" basis.  I then invited John to the game.  Nothing happened.  I tried to invite him multiple times with no success.  And, because it was a private game, he couldn't find it to join.  So that's not so great.   But, I recreated the game publicly, and he was able to instantly find it and join.  So the answer is yes, you can connect, but it's not 100%.  So close.

On the bright side, at least I didn't have to do any silly port forwarding.  I mean seriously.  I have no more room in my router for more forwards.  None.  Stop making games that require you to do this. Seriously, just stoppit.




Do I feel like I'm actually contributing to the game?
Yes.  Contribution was something that Portal 2 got very right.  Now, honestly, in a game like that it was difficult to get it -wrong-.  It's co-op puzzle solving.  Of course you're going to feel like you're actually contributing.  This is much more difficult to accomplish in a game where you're fighting off enemies.  In my opinion, it was something that Diablo 3 didn't do very well.  I'm guessing that certainly on the hardest difficulty, that's probably not the case, but on lower difficulties I didn't really feel like I needed to be there at all, except on the boss fights.

But in Dead Space 3, it feels right.  There are puzzles, as I mentioned, that require you both.  And, when fighting the enemies it certainly feels like both of us are required to down them, whether it's both of us using the plasma cutter to slice off their arms and legs, or if I'm using the shock weapon to blast the necromorphs to the floor while John slices them up.  It's teamwork, and doesn't feel one-sided.





Is it green?
No.  No it isn't.






Is it scary?
I wouldn't use that term to describe it.  It's certainly dark.  Definitely atmospheric.  And at many times it's tense.  But I wouldn't call it scary.  That would be really, really difficult to pull off with two people.  Adding that other person changes the dynamic of everything.  You will certainly feel more at ease with a friend by your side, just as you would in real life.  But, that's okay as far as I'm concerned.  It works.







As sort of a testament to how -tense- the game can be, though, you'll notice that I haven't provided any screenshots displaying enemies or the killing of such.  This is because, as I just realized now, that any time enemies show up, I'm too focused on taking them down to tap the screenshot key.  We're playing through it on hard difficulty, so things are challenging but not overbearing.




Is it fun?
Quite.  As I've said, there aren't very many co-op games out there that I actually like.  Certainly less than I would prefer.  So finally having a decent one has been great fun.  The fact that it's a game in a franchise that I already enjoy and know only adds to the fun as well.  In regards to the story, Portal 2's was great but it still had that "secondary" feel to it because it wasn't the main storyline.  It felt like it was there for fun, and nothing else.  Certainly there's nothing wrong with that.  But with Dead Space 3, it -is- the main story we're playing through.  That alone makes it feel deeper.  It's great to be able to experience a good, dark sci-fi story with John, rather than having to experience it separately and then talk about it later.








But what if I feel like EA is Satan and Origin is His spawn?
Origin is required to play this game.  However, it's not as obtrusive as it was with Mass Effect 3.  Aside from launching the game from Origin, and seeing the "Press Shift+F1 to access the overlay" message, I really didn't even know it was there.  This is simply the world that we live in today.  EA wants to bring down Steam, and they are going to any lengths to do it, including selling their games on Uplay and keeping them off of Valve's platform.  Get used to it.  You're soon going to have about a dozen different clients installed on your computer in order to play all your games.  It's already ludicrous when you launch Far Cry 3 from Steam, and then have Uplay open up in addition to that.  But this is the world in which we live.  If you don't like it, then don't just say you won't buy Dead Space 3 for that reason.  You may as well stop buying all games and give up the hobby, because these clients aren't going anywhere, and the exclusive releases are only going to get worse as other companies try to put more pressure and take more business away from Valve.

At the end of the day, you have a choice.  You either boycott all games that require a client, or you just buy the games you want to play like you always do.  Doing anything else is just silly, and won't help anything.  For me, I'd much rather play good games than try to make a statement.  And Dead Space 3 is worth having to use Origin.






On to the basics then.  As you can tell from the multitude of screenshots I've been dropping all over this post, the game looks good.  The developers stated that the PC version of the game was a "bare-bones port" from the console version.  Either something was taken out of context, or they aren't aware of how bare-bones a port can be.  I'm looking at you, Dark Souls.



The controls feels fine, even with a mouse a keyboard.  I've heard some people state that it really feels like the game is designed for a controller and should be played as such.  But, I haven't noticed anything wrong with the mouse and keyboard controls.  All the other controls are intact and working.  You can mute the in-game voice communication, there are subtitles, you can change the resolution, and there are a moderate amount of graphic options.  Obviously, there aren't advanced options that you would see in a game that actually got some PC attention.  But it's hardly "bare-bones" as was reported.  The Nvidia console has Dead Space 3 included already, so I simply used it to optimize my settings.  It worked like a charm, and the game looks very good on my system.






Aside from the graphics, both the sounds and the score stand out to me as being above average.  The game's atmosphere is definitely heightened by the sounds and ambiance.  The score kicks in at the right time, when it should, and certainly adds to the action set pieces.  Whats even better, though, is when the music stops.  You notice it, and it tells you that something might be happening soon.  It adds to the tension to great effect.



For those of you who have played the previous Dead Space games, the biggest change I think you will notice is the crafting system.  I haven't gathered enough resources to take an in-depth look at it thus far, but what I have seen to date has been rather impressive.  There's a LOT of stuff you can do.  Lots of customization, lots of different parts you can add to weapons, and you can even craft them from scratch.  You can also trade supplies and schematics with your co-op partner.  It's really well done, and I look forward to exploring it further. There's not much more to say right now.  We're a few hours into the game with lots to go, so I'm sure I'll have more to talk about later.  Dead Space 3 is definitely a game I'd recommend, especially to fans of dark science fiction, shooters, or survival games.