Pursuing the screenshots, video and E3 confirmation through the corridors of pre-E3 EA excitement are these Dead Space 3 details, courtesy of NeoGaf, from the latest issue of Game Informer. Confirming many of the rumours surrounding the title there is an interesting mix of things we knew, things we wanted and things that we (perhaps more accurately I) hoped would never emerge from the deep recesses of speculative space.
The release date, whilst still rather broad, has been narrowed down to February 2013, giving the release a suitably frosty framework. Tau Volantis is the name of the icy planet that our speculation has been skating around, and it will be interesting to see if this setting will bring more than just a pallet change to the game. Perhaps a Lost Planet style survival element would garner some heat, but I for one would certainly enjoy it.
The co-op has been confirmed, as has Carver as Issac’s partner, but the single player will apparently allow you to “hear everything you need to hear to get the whole story”. Competitive multiplayer won’t be making a return, a smart decision considering that most people spent more time entering the code to access it than actually playing it in Dead Space 2.
The single player itself will see a return to the zero gravity space sections and dark corridors that the franchise is known for, but will be generally less linear with exploration being encouraged and unique “beta missions”, side-missions that aren’t required for the main campaign, being included. With its now plentiful, universal ammo (akin to Mass Effect 3) and cover system, my fears that the series may be moving more towards action than survival seem to have been realised. The inclusion of Unitologists at arms, as shown in the screenshot below, again speaks to this heightened focus. It will be interesting to see how Visceral Games manage to meaningfully define their ‘third-person cover based shooter’, provided that they can of course.
On a somewhat brighter (darker) note, some new Necromorphs have been revealed and they sound far more in keeping with the space faring series. With a 30 story tall snow centipede called the Nexus, Fodders that transform into two different Necromorphs depending upon how you ‘kill’ them and the rather interesting addition of Feeders, the result of uninfected humans feasting on infected flesh through necessity, the transformed seem to be as terrifying as ever.
Weapon upgrades will once again return, but this time with the ability to meld together weapons with (as Game Informer speculates) tungsten and scrap metal dropped by enemies. The image at the top of this post presumably shows an example of this arsenal amalgamation, and even though I have some dual-wielding doubts I can’t wait to see more of these concoctions of carnage at E3.
