As much as I adore the Dead Space franchise, the third game is undoubtedly subpar when compared with the original (change to the remake if you prefer) and sequel. It isn’t a terrible game, but rather it lacks the same terror of the first two, favouring action over scares; it didn’t feel like part of the series long-time fans had come to know and love. And, it would seem, Dead Space 3’s producer feels the same way.
In a recent podcast, Chuck Beaver revealed that the game was destined to be different from the beginning. Beaver said that they weren’t “allowed to make a horror" and so “the plan [with Dead Space 3] was that we'd expand into other gameplay genres", a decision, as we all know, which was the third title’s undoing.
Return to the beginning with the Dead Space remake trailer!
He added that, while he’d “keep the lore you find out”, Beaver’s would “redo the entire main story”, choosing to focus more on Isaac Clarke’s narrative than go all out for the shooter action that replaced the shadows in the corners, chilling sound effects, and general Dead Space atmosphere. Naturally, though, the game divides fandom opinion, with some arguing vehemently that the game doesn’t deserve the amount of hate it gets. Others, however, feel the third instalment lost its way, unable to capture what the previous two had brought to the sci-fi horror genre.
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“DS3 doesn’t deserve the hate it gets, but to me it’s still the weakest of the trilogy because of the story and character developments,” explains DNVN04. “they felt rushed or unnecessary, like the love triangle and most of the secondary characters are so forgettable and boring, but that’s just my opinion. Also, the horror atmosphere doesn’t hit the same as the previous games.”
Another fan mirrored this comment, explaining that while DS3 is a “fun action game”, it’s “by far the worst Dead Space game”, much like how Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is seen as the weakest AC game in the entire franchise, though is credited as being a decent RPG.
But is this just the curse of being a later release and thus nothing is new or exciting anymore? Not as far as one fan is concerned – “Resident Evil has been going for decades now and still finds new ways to scare me every game,” said glassbath18, a statement we have to agree with. Just because a franchise is known and, sometimes, predictable, doesn’t mean it automatically fails to hit the marks that the previous titles so effortlessly executed.
I’d love to see a Dead Space 3 remake, completely reimagined to fit into the wonderfully twisted and detailed lore of the original. Whether we ever see that happen is a different story entirely, though EA is toying with the idea if it interests fans enough.
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