With the Dead Space remake being a resounding success, all eyes are on Motive Studio to see its plans for the franchise. The first game's secret ending provides some obvious nods toward Dead Space 2's story, so the chances of a remake coming in the near future are quite high. Players look fondly upon Dead Space 2, as it retained a lot of what made Dead Space good while building on its core formula. However, Dead Space 3 is more divisive.
Because the game came out during the advent of many divisive modern gaming trends, Isaac Clarke's third adventure ended up becoming a hodgepodge of different genres. Not everyone likes Dead Space 3, so EA and Motive Studio have their work cut out if they plan on remaking all the main Dead Space entries, possibly even paving the way for future sequels.
Dead Space 3 is Much More of an Action Game
While certain parts of Dead Space 3 have players exploring typical dark hallways and silent rooms (the derelict Terra Nova section is a fine example), the game usually thrusts players into busy open areas filled with action sequences. The first area after the prologue is a busy city on Earth's moon where cars, lights, and sounds drown out the horror of the ongoing Necromorph outbreak. Tau Volantis, the planet where the majority of Dead Space 3 takes place, is snowy and features bright exteriors. This makes it easier to see and dodge incoming enemy encounters.
When it comes to interacting with the game's world, players use a wide variety of tools and armaments. While familiar items like the Plasma Cutter and Line Gun are present, Dead Space 3 introduces a new crafting system that lets players take apart and create any weapon they want. Isaac Clarke can make a Pulse Rifle with an under-barrel Line Gun Attachment with different circuits to increase its combat efficiency. The crafting system makes it easy to create overpowered weapons, especially since microtransactions allowed players to pay real money for parts. What's more, Dead Space 3's weapons all conformed to a universal ammo system, meaning they rarely had to worry about scarcity or inventory management.
Dead Space 3's Co-Op Was Fun, But Not in the Right Way
EA tried to make Dead Space 3 more accessible by adding co-op alongside its focus on action. A second player can control John Carver, an EarthGov soldier looking to help Isaac Clarke find the Marker homeworld and put a stop to the Necromorphs. Having another player share the experience makes Dead Space 3 drastically less scary than its predecessors, especially given John Carver and Isaac Clarke can share items and resources when fighting and crafting their gear.
Should either player end up losing all their health, all the second player has to do is walk up to their partner and revive them. This removes the tension of death and turns the game into an arcade shooter. While some people might enjoy the co-op experience, it moves well away from the DNA of the franchise.
Dead Space 3's Story Still Stands Out
Despite the negativity surrounding its gameplay, Dead Space 3's narrative is serviceable for those invested in the franchise. After surviving a second Necromorph outbreak aboard Titan Station, a desensitized Isaac Clarke is recruited by EarthGov members Robert Norton and John Carver to save Ellie Langford, Isaac's ex-girlfriend and a survivor of Dead Space 2. They lost contact with Ellie after she decided to look for the Marker homeworld as a venture to end the Necromorph threat for good. Along the way this group runs into Jacob Danik, a terrorist leader of a militant Unitologist group seeking Convergence.
The ending of Dead Space 3's story-driven DLC Awakened hints at a final confrontation between humanity and the Brethren Moons. The moons tell Isaac and Carver that they always knew of Earth's location and were only biding their time. Now at the planet's doorstep, these gigantic Necromorphs plan on turning Earth into another Brethren Moon with hopes of expanding their reach throughout the known universe. While the build-up seemed promising, the plans for a sequel to Dead Space 3 never came to fruition.
EA Motive Has a Lot to Fix in Dead Space 3
Apart from making the story more compelling and digestible, Motive Studio's main focus for a Dead Space 3 remake should be its gameplay. The game needs to lean back into its survival-horror roots, featuring an abundance of tight, dark spaces with an emphasis on unique scares (rather than the original Dead Space 3's reliance on jump scares). The universal ammo system should be scrapped, and co-op should be given a good, hard, second look, as having another player to lean on made the game easier and less scary.
Weapon crafting can still be implemented in the remake, though EA's microtransactions should be removed while the cost of materials is increased to keep the system balanced. Since it can be all too easy to end up blasting Necromorphs like any other video game enemy, strategic dismemberment should once again be at the forefront of the game. Dead Space 3 showed a lot of promise, so a remake would allow Motive to fully realize its potential. With the Dead Space remake going back to its roots, hopefully its sequels follow suit and retain the horror elements that made the franchise great in the first place.
Dead Space 3 is available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.