Dead Space 3 Going Planetside In February
Tragically, that's a referential wink at, you know, space - not news of an impending crossover between Visceral's friendship-making, Necromorph-breaking scare-'em-up and SOE's massively multiplayer shooting opus. Still though, Dead Space 3 has a release date now, so that's exciting. Specifically, it's joining every other game in the known universe by plotting a course for February 2013. And while it's definitely taken its fair share of flack for choosing to bind Isaac to another character, I must admit that this latest trailer has made me a bit more hopeful. Get sucked into the cold, endless vacuum below this post to see the full thing.
Admittedly, this trailer is likely a direct reaction to the backlash Dead Space 3's gotten so far. I mean, all the old standbys are here and accounted for: cramped corridors, tons of darkness, Isaac clawing desperately at a ledge as space's icy grip tugs at his heels, Isaac babbling like a crazy person, and so on and so on. Also, EA notes that Isaac has to do some sleuthing on this abandoned flotilla "first," after which he'll head to Tau Volantis. So this could just be an extended prologue section for all we know. Carver, meanwhile, takes a pretty clear backseat throughout - though that's apparently par for the course if you opt to tackle Dead Space 3 all by your lonesome.
Gamescom apparently also brought the announcement of a crafting system, which involves the collecting of raw materials, parts, etc. It sounds like a fairly logical extension of Dead Space 2's power-node-based upgrade system, but it remains to be seen whether or not sniffing around for all sorts of bits and bobs will detract from pacing or scares like it did in, say, Alan Wake: Find All The Coffee And Also Shoot Monsters I Guess.
I'm choosing, however, to remain optimistic. Adam's recent run through Visceral's haunted house of space ghosts and goblins, especially, went a ways toward putting my mind at ease, so I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't devolve into an all-out bro-powered blastfest later on. It's out February 8th in Europe and February 5th in North America. I know what I want for Valentine's Day.