If you were looking for a game to help you forget your snowy horror stories from this weekend, this third-person shooter is only bound to create more.

Though claustrophobic corridors of derelict spaceships initially defined the series, “Dead Space 3” brings protagonist Isaac Clarke down to the surface of the inhospitable ice planet, Tau Volantis.

The game begins with a fairly exhaustive video covering the first two games and their backstories. The education is helpful, but most of this entry’s characters are new, and the new conflict is pretty self-contained. Set in 2514, engineer Clarke is on the run from both the Earth Government and religious extremists known as the Unitologists. EarthGov tracks him to the moon, and they whisk him off to the far reaches of space to have him stomp out the source of the space zombies, known as Necromorphs.

The story eventually devolves into pretty standard “save the universe” stuff, but the game excels — as “Dead Space” always has — in atmosphere. Every blood-smeared hallway tells a story, and hidden text and audio logs provide horrific glimpses into each area’s history.

Although this game is much more action-focused than previous titles, the combat is still incredibly tense. The other two were more difficult, with more restrained player movement and scarce resources, but the unsettling string music, spooky lighting and terrifying monster designs combine to make every situation feel desperate.

I had at least one “Dead Space 3”-related nightmare during my time with the game.

But even if it all feels familiar, a few major changes have been made to the game’s structure. It’s much more open, both in terms of outdoor environments and introduction of non-linear side missions, which offer bits of back story and piles of extra resources. These resources go toward the new weapon crafting system, which allows players to build their own guns, swapping out upper and lower barrels and ammo types. I personally preferred the previous simplicity of just buying new weapons, but this more flexible system contributes well to the faster-paced action.

Still, when the story is at its best, there are some serious pacing issues. The campaign is much longer than the standard action game (around 12 hours), yet the game is still padded by a couple of side missions with cut-and-paste rooms, each of them slightly too long for their own good. I sought them all out for the back story, but I wouldn’t recommend them for anyone who isn’t drawn into evil religion space drama.

Furthermore, the game is frontloaded with the best parts. The first third has the cool zero gravity sections that help break up the shooting, but once Clarke hits the planet’s surface, things feel a bit more monotonous.

The game also features online cooperative play for the first time. Rather than just creating a duplicate Clarke, the developers have fully integrated Carver, the new co-op player character, into the story. It’s a nice touch, but he’s pretty poorly written. He mainly plays the “jock bully” to Clarke’s “nerd,” except for an awkward character information dump during the last couple of missions. Still, it seems better considered than the competitive multiplayer of “Dead Space 2,” which is now completely absent. Fans were concerned that co-op would dull the horror experience, but it fits well with the heavier action focus.

This is easily the weakest “Dead Space” game, but the quality that comes with that name is well above that of the standard action game. With a lower difficulty curve than earlier games, this is a good place for newcomers to check things out, and the early parts will at least satisfy fans.

Published on February 11, 2013 at 12:04 am

Contact Isaac: [email protected]