After playing the Xbox 360 exclusive early access demo, it makes me happy to say Dead Space 3 sticks to its roots, but adds new features like human enemies (Who, evidently, splatter into a bloody mess just like the necromorphs – Yum!), and new mutated enemies. Of all the things that caught my eye back at E3 2012, I have to say Dead Space 3 really intrigued me because of its new focused cooperative capabilities. I was also very happy to later learn that the choice of whether or not I wanted a buddy holding my hand along the way was totally up to me. In the end, the question is: does this demo properly prepare us for the release of Dead Space 3, or is this horror-fest as scary as the new Resident Evil games?
After crashing in what appears to be a space craft, Isaac Clarke finds himself in the snowy wasteland of Tau Volantis. With no sight of living crew members, Clarke must push forward and survive against what lies ahead. The demo allows us to gather up our bearings – as any demo should do – by throwing enemies at us, laying boxes filled with supplies for us to perform the almighty stomp attack, and generally placing us in open areas to just get a sense of the controls again. All of the jumpscares you could ever dream of, as well. Seriously, no matter the volume I put my television at, the sound effects still blast through my speakers. It does well to make the jumpscares really effective.
I’ve been a fan of Dead Space ever since I played the first game, but I’ve never really been terrified by its gameplay. Sure, the jumpscares are abundant and rich in making us, well, jump, but I can’t exactly say Dead Space’s gameplay is any sort of nightmare fuel. That’s why when I heard the head of EA marketing, Laura Miele, said players felt more comfortable playing with a co-op partner than alone, I questioned her seriousness. I’m sure the creative minds of Dead Space 3 are hard at work making the cooperative play much more than adequate, but is co-op something we as players really needed? I bet co-op is something fans mentioned in the past as a want, not a need. It’s almost like, if you were a small child and Laura Miele was your mother, she’s throwing a teddy bear in your hands to take to sleep with you when you don’t even need it – but you may want it. I think I’ll have fun playing with a friend, but I can honestly see myself playing strictly single-player for the majority of the time I’ll spend with Dead Space 3.
The Dead Space 3 demo was a bit on the short side, but it managed to exploit what it is, and what you’ll be seeing if you purchase the full game releasing on February 5th in the U.S. and February 8th for Europe on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. For those of you wanting to check out the demo who don’t have access to the demo now, the public release of the demo will be available to you on Tuesday, January 22nd, the same day the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance demo comes out. Tell us your thoughts on Dead Space 3 down below in the comments section, especially if you had clearance to the early access demo.
