Demo
Well, guys, DS3's releasing next week and it's done pretty much everything it could to stir up controversy. On the PC front, no demo was released, something I found ironic considering EA encouraged people to sign up to Origin to get their hands on the demo early. The demo was released on January 21st for PS3 and as an Xbox 360 Gold members' exclusive.
January 16th - Dead Space 3 Demo Impressions (AngryJoeShow)
PC version
Continuing this trend of neglecting PC users it's confirmed DS3 will be yet another console port so forget about DX11 support or high-res textures. This doesn't really come as a surprise considering DS1 and DS2 were both ports as well but it is disappointing.
January 23rd - Dead Space 3 PC Will Be A Simple Console Port And Nothing More (DSOGaming)
January 24th - Dead Space 3 To Be The Straightest Of PC Ports (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
January 29th - TotalBiscuit's Content Patch : January 29th, 2013 - Ep. 037 (Totalbiscuit)
January 30th - Dead Space 3′s executive producer defends PC’s “straight port” (PCGamer)
Microtransactions
On a broader front, it was confirmed that weapon crafting will support microtransactions, allowing players to buy components ahead of schedule in order to craft better weapons earlier in the game. Note that this doesn't mean microtransactions are the only way to get components, only the easiest one, you can still play the game and acquire components the old-fashioned way, through blood, sweat and tears. However, there are some who speculate this could set a dangerous precedent (if it hasn't already) and encourage developers to make it more difficult to access certain content in the game in order to persuade consumers to simply buy said content. Quite frankly, if you can get the components throughout the game, I don't see why microtransactions should be included. Calhoun's argument that people are used to microtransactions and need "instant gratification" seems feeble at best.
January 22nd - Pay-to-Win Makes Its Way into Dead Space 3 (Forbes)
January 22nd - ‘Dead Space 3′ Weapon Crafting Supports Microtransactions (Gamerant)
January 25th - ‘Dead Space 3′ Producer Defends Microstransactions (Gamerant)
January 29th - TotalBiscuit's Content Patch : January 29th, 2013 - Ep. 037 (Totalbiscuit)
January 29th - Dead Space 3 microtransaction/DLC prices revealed (Destructoid)
February 1st - Dead Space 3 Launching with 11 Pieces of Day-One DLC (Forbes)
February 2nd - It's time to ignore Dead Space 3's micro-transactions (Eurogamer)
Story
And what about the game itself? From the official website:
Dead Space 3 - The Story so FarIsaac Clarke returns, joined by merciless soldier John Carver, to chase a risky plan that promises to finally stop the Necromorphs. Together Clarke and Carver must explore the frozen planet of Tau Volantis and track down the secret they hope will end the Necromorph plague forever, all while overcoming avalanches, treacherous ice-climbs, and the violent wilderness. Facing deadlier evolved enemies and brutal elements, the unlikely pair must work together to save mankind from the impending apocalypse.
Gameplay
DS3 will include four unlockable game modes, apart from the regular game and co-op, the object of which is to add replay value. These are:
- Classic: a single-player experience with no crosshairs or resource management.
- Survival: resources can only be obtained from slain monsters.
- Hardcore: gives players one life throughout the entire game and allows up to three saves. An "immensely powerful" weapon is unlocked upon completion.
- New Game+: we all know what this is.
January 30th - Dead Space 3 will feature permadeath mode and 'disturbing' DLC (GameSpot)
January 30th - Dead Space 3 Includes Permadeath, classic, and Survival Horror Modes (Gameranx)
February 6th - WTF Is... : Dead Space 3? (Totalbiscuit)
My take on co-op
The co-op element. The obvious question becomes, can a co-op game still convey the same feeling of terror as a single player game? To my mind, the answer is no. There are elements that are inevitably lost when "alone" becomes a duet. This is not to say it won't be a fun co-op experience but I do believe it takes away some of the fear from the "terror" experience.
There's also the fact that it takes place in pretty open, and sometimes extremely lit, locations as opposed to dark, narrow corridors or the solitude of space. After all, in DS3 you're on a planet whereas in DS1 and DS2 you were in a ship and a space station respectively. To my mind, this is the second factor that takes away from the Dead Space experience.
The third factor is the human factor. From what I was able to gather from the demo, there are plenty of living humans on the planet where Isaac got stuck. It doesn't really matter that they're trying to kill him, the point is that they're there. This, in my opinion, breaks both Isaac's and the player's isolation, diminishing the fear factor.
To sum up, I'm a bit skeptical about DS3. It seems to be aiming more towards an action game than the psychological thriller it started out to be.
What are your thoughts? Is anyone anxious to get their hands on DS3?
Reviews
February 8th - Review: Dead Space 3 (Destructoid)
February 18th - 'Dead Space 3' Review (Game Rant)
February 20th - Zero Punctuation: Dead Space 3 (The Escapist)
Official links
Dead Space 3 Official Website
Dead Space 3 Launch Trailer - Take Down the Terror
Dead Space 3 Developer Blog
Modifié par OdanUrr, 20 février 2013 - 09:04 .
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... Please tell me this is a joke. You sound like a conspiracy theorist right now. A number of demos start out as Gold exclusive demos, usually for a week. And here's the kicker, they're not all games published by EA.
