Dead Space 3

Beam Me Up Isaac!

OK, so I know we're jumping ahead here a little bit, from 8-bit to present, but I have got to talk about Dead Space 3! If you have never played any of the previous ones, I would suggest that you go back and check them out before playing this one, but if you can't wait for all that it's OK, Dead Space 3 does a recap of everything that has happened up until now. That way, if you've never played any before, you can at least have the general gist of what's been happening.
You play as the on going hero in the series, Isaac Clarke. Isaac's journey started as a routine mission to see what was going on with the planet cracking ship the USG Ishimura. What is planet cracking you ask? Basically it is just what it sounds like, this ship cracked open whole planets for mining purposes since we have basically run out of resources on earth. So, Isaac has just had the worst luck since everywhere he goes seems to be overrun with necromorphs, (humans that have been infected by aliens either before or after death). If you want to check out the whole history of the game, just click here and all will be revealed. That was the basic rundown of what's going on, on to Dead Space 3!

This game is so awesome! The controls and the gameplay have not changed much at all, so if you are a veteran Dead Space player, you will have no problem at all getting the hang of this one. There are some new additions to the game though, some pretty awesome ones!

Scavenger Bot

The first one is this scavenger bot, (left pic). This is a pretty handy little guy to have, but you won't start out with him in your inventory. You will acquire him later on in the story.  When you do, you only get one to begin with, but can obtain more later through the game.  These little guys hang out in your inventory until you find a good place to let them roam around.  They then spend about 10 minutes or so scavenging the area for usable crafting materials.  Did you say Crafting?! Yes I did and we will get into that in a minute.  Anyways, after they finish their rounds they scurry back to the work bench so you can pick them up on your next visit to the bench.  You don't have to run back to the closest bench to them, they will be available at whatever bench you are at when they are done.  Now, you can get some upgrades for them, but unless you got one of the special editions of the game you are going to have to pay some real world money for those.  All in all, this little dude is a must have for this next part I'm going to cover.

Weapon Crafting Screen

 Weapon Crafting!!! That's right, I said it, weapon crafting.  This is one of the best features of this game.  If you had a favorite pair of weapons from any of the previous Dead Spaces, why not combine them into one awesome gun! It all starts with a frame that you can find or craft from materials you and your scavenger bots have picked up from everywhere.  After that, add on your favorite parts and customize the tips to get a crazy amount of choices.  Then there are the other slots which can act as buffs for the gun, or you.  After you're all finished with your creation, should you want to save it so you know how to make it again, you can make a blueprint of it.  This allows you to make the weapon with spare materials you find lying around.  Also, if you don't feel like creating one from scratch, there are a number of other weapons on the blueprint list to choose from.  So far, my favorite gun that I've made is a Line Gun with a Rivet Chain Gun tucked underneath it.  Fantastic for mowing down large groups of nasties. 

The more the merrier

The last new feature I want to talk about is the removal of the multiplayer, and the addition of the online co-op! I thought this was a great idea, since I really didn't care for the multiplayer in Dead Space 2.  Not to mention the fact that I've always wanted to play through the story mode with someone, so that I'm not the only one screaming like a little girl from a necromorph popping out of the ceiling and trying to eat my face.  I haven't tried this feature yet, but plan to in the near future.  There are a couple of side missions that are not accessible unless you have a partner with you.  Although, I do find that part a little unfair since it has to be through online play, and not all of us have access to that.  Therefore, no way to access these areas and see what's waiting inside.  Minus that drawback, I can't wait to call my Dad and tell him to suit up so we can go stomp some aliens!

So whether you are new to Dead Space, or a seasoned veteran, I highly recommend going out and getting this game.  The graphics are amazing, the sound is terrifying, and the overall gameplay is outstanding.  So grab your plasma cutter and suit up to kill some necromorphs! Until next time y'all, keep on gaming Gamers!