‘Dead Space 3′ First Impressions & Gameplay Video

Welcome to the second episode of our 30-minute gameplay series, this time featuring Visceral Games‘ Dead Space 3. Again, the idea behind this series is to showcase what it would be like to fire up a game without any knowledge ahead of time and simply play. Everything that you experience I experience, and everything that you learn or figure out I do as well.

Some big changes have been added for Dead Space 3, but only a few are seen in the first 30 minutes. Since this is the solo campaign, there’s no real sense of how the co-op campaign might look, although there are a few points where two interaction points are present.

As well, you can see that the combat, at least in the first 30 minutes, is more akin to a traditional third person shooter than a Dead Space title. There is still the strategic dismemberment of the series, and before long necromorphs come into the picture. But for a little bit, headshots and body shots will do.

There’s also some interesting things being done with the weapons in Dead Space 3, but all that is shown in the first chapter and prologue are the universal ammo and two of the game’s handful of weapons. Thankfully one of them is the plasma cutter.

There is a weapon crafting system in the game – one that has come under fire for micro-transactions – but Visceral doesn’t introduce that concept in the early minutes.

From a strictly presentational and story perspective, the game exudes that Dead Space feel. There are dynamic moments where the player interacts either through pure movement or a combination of traversal and shooting, and plenty of scares to keep players on the edge of their seat. Key indicators, or *markers*, of Dead Space are there, but it’s still unclear how those changes will impact the experience overall.

What do you think of the first 30 minutes of Dead Space 3? Are you looking to check out Visceral Games’ latest?

Dead Space 3 is out now for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

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