Dead Space 3 is the third installment in the futuristic third-person shooter series and is a direct sequel to Dead Space 2. It begins with a prologue 200 years before the main game, in which the player controls a soldier from the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces stationed at a base on the planet Tau Volantis. The Markers, strange extraterrestrial objects that play a significant role in the Dead Space world, are studied there. Following the prologue, the action shifts to June 18th, 2314, with the protagonist Isaac Clarke, who returns from prior games. The prologue introduces the Tau Volantis base, where the game is set. Clarke travels there two months after escaping the Sprawl space station. In a lunar colony, he and Ellie Langford (from the previous game and his ex-girlfriend in the meantime) encounter Sergeant John Carver. Carver escaped the Necromorph outbreak on Uxor and recounted the finding of the frozen planet Tau Volantis. Clarke wants to investigate the long-lost colony and see if it is the source of the Markers so that future Necromorph outbreaks can be avoided once and for all. However, the ship breaks down upon arrival on the planet, and Ellie is separated. Clarke must save her to stop the Markers while also discovering the base’s secrets. After several sequences on a flotilla of drifting ships, he arrives on the planet where most of the game occurs. Ellie’s current lover, Robert Norton, the female scientist Santos, and antagonist Jacob Danik, a Children of Altman cult member who believes the Markers will redeem humanity, are all characters in the game. Thus, Clarke’s opponents include Necromorphs and Danik’s supporters known as Unitologists. Compared to previous games, the horror themes have been drastically toned down in favor of action gameplay.
The game includes the usual corridor shooter gameplay and sections played outside amid the planet’s cold storms. Clarke can only withstand the cold for a short amount of time. Thus temperature is critical. Initially, he must continually monitor his body temperature, displayed on the shoulder of his Resource Integration Gear (RIG). Still, later on, he can create a suit to travel outside. The same meter is used in locations where there is no oxygen. Outside areas contain severe gaps that can be bridged with a grappling hook, and jet boots are utilized to navigate around. Clarke must solve little riddles to proceed, and hacking mini-games are similar to the last release. Clarke can use Necromorph tentacles as a spear to assault several huge bosses. The Swarm, a parasite that creeps around and can attach itself to a dead body host to revive it, is a new opponent, comparable to Half-Life’s headcrabs. Most combat requires identifying the sort of Necromorph and then targeting specific bodily sections to deal with it effectively.
Clarke’s most potent weapon remains the plasma cutter, which has infinite energy. Its beams may sever adversaries, and it is enhanced during the game, for example, adding the capacity to cut horizontally and vertically. New weapons can be manufactured at the Weapons Bench by gathering parts (transducers, semiconductors, tungsten, somatic gel, scrap metal…) and blueprints acquired throughout the game (or scavenged with a little robot). This is in instead of just picking up weapon upgrades from previous games. Existing weapons can also be updated at such places, or two can be joined into one. At the start, the two main frames are light one-hand and heavy two-hand, with extra ones found later. As a result, the player can build weapons like an electric rivet cannon, a grenade launcher, or an incendiary buzzsaw launcher, but ammunition is frequently sparse. Crafting can also be skipped to use ready-made weapons, including several from the previous two games. Clarke’s powers, such as kinesis (moves items, generally to solve puzzles) and stasis (slows opponents down), return from the previous game. Kinesis can also be utilized to grab and fling the body pieces of fallen adversaries, or to capture and throw grenades in mid-air. However, energy is finite and requires some time to replenish. The franchise’s ability to roll away and seek shelter is unique. There’s also a fast-paced train journey, a segment where Clarke controls a falling ship through the environment as a rail shooter and can man turrets. Certain parts are only accessible by building a tungsten lever and feature fixed-path dungeon-like sections separate from the main game yet vital for rewards.
Dead Space 3 foregoes traditional multiplayer in favor of a cooperative campaign. Clarke and John Carver can be controlled by two players working together. The joint movement includes additional chapters that deepen Carver’s tale and need coordinated activities to complete specific areas. Because of dementia, some sequences are experienced differently by each player. For example, things may be visible to one player but not to another, or Carver may become trapped in his head, forcing Isaac to fight alone to bring him back from the hallucination. Weapons made at a Weapons Bench can be shared with the other player immediately, and drop-in/drop-out is supported.
In-game microtransactions allow players to purchase additional pieces needed to manufacture weapons with real money. It does not supply anything that regular gaming cannot obtain, although manually collecting all required parts may take much longer.
