Dead Space 1 - Where I was terrified ALL THE TIME. I literally had to mute my speaker sometimes so I could keep my sanity and play. The only irritating stuff was Isaac being a tank sometimes and shooting the asteroids mission.
Dead Space 2 - Isaac has a voice, improved movement and combat. Though not as terrifying as the first, still has its memorable moments - the opening sequence, Nicole hallucinations, facing the Stalkers the first time, return to USG Ishimura, the infamous eye drill sequence, and the unexpected ending - the action is balanced quite well with horror and it is my favorite in the trilogy.
Dead Space 3 -
THE BAD AND THE UGLY- It's NOT A HORROR GAME ANYMORE. The only horror you experience is the jump-scare one - the Necromorphs who weren't there before surprise attack you either from a vent, snow or wherever; which if you have played the first two games, is pretty annoying. Even if Dead Space 3 is your first game, you will get bored of this mechanic because it happens EVERY 5-10 MINUTES.
Mission structure - Fetch/fix an item/machinery, kill the necromorphs which are too many this time, join with your group for a few minutes only to go back and repeat. Optional mission structure - find resources, kill necromorphs, repeat.
The story is bad but with a good twist, the characters are pretty idiotic and bland, except for Isaac and Carver, the military no-nonsense playable co-op guy. Ellie, the one-eyed girl from DS2 serves as Isaac's love interest (why?!!!) and is pretty boring despite being a bad-ass in DS2. The main villain is boring.
I hated the sound in the game, since there are so many necromorphs this time and repeat every 5-10 minutes, the sound gets irritating.
Not everything is bad though.
THE GOOD-
Crafting stuff and collecting resources. Yup Cash and power nodes are gone. You can craft health items, suit upgrades and the best - you can CRAFT YOUR OWN WEAPONS. While the know-how takes some time to get used to, it is the best thing I would say about this game. Assault rifle with rocket launcher? Plasma cutter with cryogenic torch to freeze enemies? Ripper with acid damage? Why not!!! Though you can only carry two weapons this time, mixing and matching weapons gives you the advantage.
Scavenger bot to collect resources.
The graphics are superb and the game is well optimized except for very rare frame-rate issues. The voice acting is good.
The prologue chapter.
The first half of the game, while not high on horror is okayish because it takes place in spaceship and some parts in outer space, which kind of reminded me of DS2.
The first optional mission is actually good.
The new necromorphs are actually pretty cool, the Fodder looks similar to the Thing from the John carpenter movie of the same name and the Feeder, a variation of the Packers except these are humans who have eaten necromorph meat and become one. Even the Snow Spider is cool.
While I haven't played the co-op, I watched the YouTube playthroughs and it actually looks good.
The Awakened DLC- though it has problems such as how exactly are the necromorphs alive despite the Brother moon being dead etc. But it is memorable because of human enemies especially the Cult leader who is way more interesting than the one in the main game. Hallucinations return and are pretty cool and in one of them you fight Carver or Isaac depending on who you play as. My only gripe - the DLC is too short and there are no new weapons or suits to unlock.
Final review - Play the prologue chapter, skip the story after reaching the snow planet and just play the epilogue Awakened DLC, which is about 1-1.5 hours long. Craft weapons all day long. Huh...
Dead Space 2 - Isaac has a voice, improved movement and combat. Though not as terrifying as the first, still has its memorable moments - the opening sequence, Nicole hallucinations, facing the Stalkers the first time, return to USG Ishimura, the infamous eye drill sequence, and the unexpected ending - the action is balanced quite well with horror and it is my favorite in the trilogy.
Dead Space 3 -
THE BAD AND THE UGLY- It's NOT A HORROR GAME ANYMORE. The only horror you experience is the jump-scare one - the Necromorphs who weren't there before surprise attack you either from a vent, snow or wherever; which if you have played the first two games, is pretty annoying. Even if Dead Space 3 is your first game, you will get bored of this mechanic because it happens EVERY 5-10 MINUTES.
Mission structure - Fetch/fix an item/machinery, kill the necromorphs which are too many this time, join with your group for a few minutes only to go back and repeat. Optional mission structure - find resources, kill necromorphs, repeat.
The story is bad but with a good twist, the characters are pretty idiotic and bland, except for Isaac and Carver, the military no-nonsense playable co-op guy. Ellie, the one-eyed girl from DS2 serves as Isaac's love interest (why?!!!) and is pretty boring despite being a bad-ass in DS2. The main villain is boring.
I hated the sound in the game, since there are so many necromorphs this time and repeat every 5-10 minutes, the sound gets irritating.
Not everything is bad though.
THE GOOD-
Crafting stuff and collecting resources. Yup Cash and power nodes are gone. You can craft health items, suit upgrades and the best - you can CRAFT YOUR OWN WEAPONS. While the know-how takes some time to get used to, it is the best thing I would say about this game. Assault rifle with rocket launcher? Plasma cutter with cryogenic torch to freeze enemies? Ripper with acid damage? Why not!!! Though you can only carry two weapons this time, mixing and matching weapons gives you the advantage.
Scavenger bot to collect resources.
The graphics are superb and the game is well optimized except for very rare frame-rate issues. The voice acting is good.
The prologue chapter.
The first half of the game, while not high on horror is okayish because it takes place in spaceship and some parts in outer space, which kind of reminded me of DS2.
The first optional mission is actually good.
The new necromorphs are actually pretty cool, the Fodder looks similar to the Thing from the John carpenter movie of the same name and the Feeder, a variation of the Packers except these are humans who have eaten necromorph meat and become one. Even the Snow Spider is cool.
While I haven't played the co-op, I watched the YouTube playthroughs and it actually looks good.
The Awakened DLC- though it has problems such as how exactly are the necromorphs alive despite the Brother moon being dead etc. But it is memorable because of human enemies especially the Cult leader who is way more interesting than the one in the main game. Hallucinations return and are pretty cool and in one of them you fight Carver or Isaac depending on who you play as. My only gripe - the DLC is too short and there are no new weapons or suits to unlock.
Final review - Play the prologue chapter, skip the story after reaching the snow planet and just play the epilogue Awakened DLC, which is about 1-1.5 hours long. Craft weapons all day long. Huh...