Dead Space 2 made good strides to improve the series initial offering, which introduced the gaming world to Engineer turned Nightmare Killer, Isaac Clarke. Ratcheting the tension and expanding the universe at the same time. More importantly, Isaac Clarke was given some actual character in the sequel.
By simply giving Isaac lines of dialogue and the ability to interact with other characters, he became a more empathetic character. And the designers smartly avoided giving him too much to say. When that happens, invariably the protagonist starts spewing one-liners and feeble attempts at humour, which gets even worse if there's someone to bounce banter off of.
Which is why it was with some trepidation that I learned that Dead Space 3 will feature drop-in/out co-op (in the role of John Carver), if only because the reason Dead Space works on my nerves so well is the feeling of being isolated. Dead Space 2 features a lengthy sojourn through the docked Ishimura, the doomed ship from the original game, where nothing happens except the sound of ominous scuttling and flickering lights. If I have Idiot #1 along for the ride, the tension might evaporate.That will be the biggest challenge for the team: keeping the tension up while maintaining a co-op atmosphere (the developers have stated that played offline, Carver won't be present all the time), without relying on just pumping up the number of necromorphs to keep players engaged.
From statements the developers have been making, it appears that Dead Space 3 will be much more "acrobatic" or at the very least pulling up alongside the likes of Gears of War. Isaac and John will be able to stick to cover and dodge attacks rather than running to a corner, spinning around, and laying down hot plasma. Sliding around the environment has real possibilities: Dead Space 3 takes place on Tau Volantis, a frozen world in the same vein as Hoth. (A tobogganing mini-game has not been confirmed.)
Weapon smithing holds some interest for me, if only because it fits into the sensibility of Dead Space, where a lot of functional items like mining equipment become weapons. (And flaming bullets are just cool.) How complicated or deep this aspect gets remains to be seen, though the developers have indicated that there will be simple options for those that don't want to get into the minutia of swapping out various parts. Of course, the danger is that something will "break" and someone will figure out an uber weapon by "cheating" the system early on to make the game a cakewalk, especially because weapon blueprints can be swapped during co-op.
Dead Space 3's expected release date is February 5, 2013.
- Aaron Simmer
