His escape from the dingy hell he has descended to is plenty flashy and bombastic, but it lacks heart and hook. That changes once members of the Marker-worshiping cult try killing him from there he turns into a headstrong hero, not the damaged man we last saw at the end of Dead Space 2. Scarred by the events of the first game, Clarke’s personality and demons come to life in Dead Space 2 to reveal a conspiracy, transforming him into the hunted man we find at Dead Space 3’s outset.Ĭlarke is in a bad way: he’s self-destructive, on the verge of eviction, and missing his girlfriend a half-hearted, sci-fi version of Max Payne. In Dead Space he was little more than a cipher, a quiet errand boy who unflinchingly followed orders and didn't ask any questions. Protagonist Clarke is a near-perfect representation of a tabula rasa. The easiest way to do that is to cut away what gave the franchise its edge and uniqueness, taking it from a killer niche experience to something more generic in nature. Publisher Electronic Arts’ investment in the Dead Space series has grown so large that Clarke and company need to find a huge audience to be successful. The same essential pieces are there, but changes were made along the way to fill that giant venue.

Playing it is like seeing Metallica in 2007 at the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium versus a 1982 show at the 1,000-seat Whisky a Go Go. Tension isn't built from the environment or atmosphere it comes instead from over-long enemy encounters that are more a test of endurance, accuracy, and wherewithal than a tool used to convey mood.ĭead Space 3 shows a series that is a victim of its own success.

It’s clear the series isn't going back to its roots anytime soon. Whereas the initial game was full-on survival horror, the second game's last act traded dread for a tension built around overwhelming amounts of enemies in claustrophobic spaces.ĭead Space 3 dials it back in its opening moments, but it returns to that frenetic pace in short order. Links: Official website | Origin | Amazonĭead Space 3 represents the culmination of two story arcs: that of protagonist Isaac Clarke and that of the game series itself. Like dead flesh that comes in contact with the malevolent alien Marker artifacts, Dead Space as a franchise has transformed into a nigh-unrecognizable version of its former self.

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