The original Dead Space was released back in 2008 and became a bit of a hit for those looking for a AAA horror title. The sequel turned up a couple of years later, repeated everything that was great with the first game and chucked a few new twists into proceedings. Now, with the third title in the series out in a few weeks, we get to have a little glimpse to see what Visceral Games and Electronic Arts have come up with this time round with the Dead Space 3 Demo.
The game is set on Tau Volantis, a frozen planet inhabited by both Necromorphs and humans. This is where we find our two protagonists, the familiar Isaac Clarke and the new kid on the block, John Carver, after what seems like a crash landing.
Anyone who has played either of the previous Dead Space titles will be at home straight away with the controls and from that point of view not much has changed. Unfortunately the clunkiness of movement that has been a feature of Dead Space has also managed to make it’s way over. Whilst this isn’t a game killer and will be fine to those who play a Gears game and are used to the slow over-the-shoulder progress, I feel it will hold the game back from becoming one of those top top hits. Some may prefer it, but for me, things are a bit too slow especially when the action around you gets hectic. I found this to be very noticeable nearer the end of the demo, whilst trying to dodge/destroy a giant out of control drill. It wasn’t overly difficult to complete the section but half the time I found myself desperately wanting a quicker response, especially in the use of something like the slo-mo ‘statis’.
You are of course treated to some magic in the form of quick-time-events. After all, this is Dead Space and over the years they have loved a QTE or two. Or three. Seriously, the developers seem to like a bit of button mashing and we get to witness a bit of this love a couple of times in the 30 minutes of demo action.
Weapons wise things are pretty much the same, with the inclusion of old favourites like the Line Gun and Plasma Cutter, but now we have a lovely new addition in the form of the ‘Weapons Bench’. This enables you to craft all manner of weapons and as long as you pick up the necessary bits and bobs as you progress through the game, the scope for different weapons seems pretty huge. Obviously with the demo, there’s still a bit of a limitation on what you can create but I should imagine the further you get through the game, the more outrageous your weapons could become. If a bit of imagination isn’t your bag, you’ll be pleased to hear that a number of weapon blueprints are included so you can happily skip along and continue shooting things in the face/arms/legs (*delete as appropriate), with some pre-made guns.
And finally we get to the biggest of new bits, a totally new way of going about things for the series, co-op. Depending on which character you control, Isaac or John, you will see the story in a slightly different way and the quick-time-events see you both doing different things at the same time. Again, the limits of the demo hardly touch upon this but I’m excited to see how things develop with the main co-op story. However, and this is a big thing for me, Dead Space has always got off on scaring the bloody beejeebies out of ya. With someone there to watch your back, I’m not sure if the whole ‘horror’ thing will be as intense or if everything will just be a bit dilated. Here’s hoping it isn’t because that really will spoil what looks to be a decent game.
As a demo, it ain’t bad, but the whole thing is over in 30 minutes. Even with the addition of the co-op (another 30 minutes or so of basically the same storyline) and the chance to play with the Weapons Bench, I’m not sure if it’s worth the 2GB download, especially if that eats into any ISP caps you may have.
Might just be worth waiting for the full game to hit the shelves on the 8th Feb.
