Dead Space 3

Take everything you think you know about Dead Space 3 and put it aside. Only then will you really be ready to embark on a new space journey in the mind and flesh of Isaac Clarke.

Well found Isaac

The plot of Dead Space 3 is completely modeled on the exploits of Isaac Clarke and the troubled sergeant John Carver - the new protagonist -, who will also be present playing in single player but only in the cutscenes and in some scripted sequences, to support the story. In the "lone wolf" sessions, running around in the space before and on the frozen planet Tau Volantis later, you won't actually have anyone by your side, however, Isaac will never be completely isolated as it was practically all over the first Dead Space and in good part of the second: in this new adventure he will in fact be "accompanied" by an entire rescue and recovery team.

The former of Isaac, the beautiful Ellie co-star in Dead Space 2, is in great danger and the resigned engineer, constantly on the run, finds new stimuli to take plasma and similar blade, ready to face his worst nightmares again. But not only. In this third chapter the "public enemy number one" is represented by the powerful and fanatical unitologist Danik, determined to eliminate Isaac (considered a profaner of the Brand) with his own army and to start the so-called "Convergence" final. For lovers of the brand, Dead Space 3 offers a veritable array of revelations, clarifying different key points of the plot that is constantly enriched by twistsand interesting solutions (even if there is no lack of cliches). As has been rightly pointed out in the console review, some introductions may or may not like based on the player's personal tastes. The various characters are well characterized and once again the sentimental aspect plays a leading role. Although Nicole is only a memory and there is no more shadow of the disturbed hallucinations of the second chapter (a separate discussion for John Carver), the driving force for the epic deeds of the space engineer will again be love for a woman, only later transformed into "sense of duty" towards humanity.

Tau Volantis

The landing on Tau Volantis, a frozen planet that is a true protagonist of our history, mixes the cards on the table, bringing Isaac for the first time to face enemies in open fields and, even more dangerously, revealing absolutely prohibitive climatic conditions. In this sense, the game mechanics are most affected. Exactly as it happens in the zero-gravity sections, even here we will have a counter on the suit that will progressively decrease over time but which will indicate, rather than oxygen supplies, our body temperature. To avoid freezing to death, it will therefore be necessary to approach heat sources and strictly adhere to well-defined paths, which allowed the developers to insert scripted scenes and moments of tension even at this juncture. Although there are no longer the narrow metal corridors and the continuous sounds of the spaceship accompanying every single step, the atmosphere is guaranteed by the constant ice storm that grips the planet, making visibility practically nil and confusing us with the constant whistling of the wind.

A game system that works then and that, when it seems to be able to take a too free turn after the discovery of the thermal suit, turns sharply, rejecting us in abandoned structures and environments completely similar to those seen in the previous chapters. If we want to criticize the game at this juncture, perhaps we can say that it proposes a series of situations already experienced other times in the series, such as the need to free the gas to kill an infestation of necromorphs quickly or even the frequent need to move batteries to restore electricity to different machines. All in all except a departure from the canons. Only in this sense is the lack of visions of Nicole that in Dead Space 2 were one of the most exploited elements to scare the player

You can say everything about Isaac ... but it's not really beautiful...

Isaac has always struck us for his being an ordinary engineer with no particular skills, let alone to be a superfine beauty. In all this, the boys of Visceral have some guilt, with a polygonal face construction that could be improved. This time the aesthetics of the standard suits did not impress us as in the past, presenting models much more retro and devoid of the classic ava visors that we were so fond of. In their place suit from archaeologists and ordinary soldiers come into play without particular artistic cues of interest. Incredible, on the other hand, as mentioned in the opening the atmosphere that reigns on Tau Volantis as well as that in the narrow tunnels of the installations and of the spaceships. Excellent as always also the sound able to keep the player tense until the end in the clashes, to then abandon it again in total silence as the enemies will no longer be a threat.

Overall - 8.5

Dead Space 3 was somehow scary. Electronic Arts has decided to push the product with campaigns that are very distant from the essence of the games, thus risking to remove the most devoted fan base from the purchase. Although with some smudging, the new features seem to us a real forcing in a game system that already worked, the new Visceral product manages not to disappoint, as it is able to offer multiple gaming experiences to a very wide audience. A good storyline, a more than fair technical section and the usual climate of tension will accompany you in one of the best survival horror films of this generation.