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Dead Space 3 demo out starting January 15, 'Story So Far' trailer released
Dead Space 3's playable demo will crawl out from the void where nightmares live into the Xbox Live Marketplace on January 15 and then January 22 onto PlayStation Network. To play the demo a week early on Xbox, future necromorph clean-up crews will need to sign up at demo.deadspace.com.The demo appears to show off the game's new co-op mode, as EA notes "in the demo, players will be thrust into deep space terror when unwilling hero – Isaac Clarke – and all-new co-op companion – Sergeant John Carver."Dead Space 3 continues its lessons in strategic dismemberment on February 5 in North America and February 8 in Europe for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Dead Space 3 scares up Kinect voice commands on Xbox 360
During an EA showcase last week, Dead Space 3 executive producer Steve Papoutsis took to the stage to introduce Kinect voice commands for the Xbox 360 version. For example, Isaac and Carver can share items with each other when the player says things like "give Stasis" or "share ammo."EA also had a small room to test out the Kinect functionality, a place I accidentally discovered the best use of the feature: couch co-op. A PR representative was there to supervise and offer help, but she ended up healing me and forcing Isaac to share resources while I concentrated on fighting Necromorphs. It was an interesting and, to be honest, incredibly useful union.Sadly the demo itself was no more than 10 minutes, if that – so there wasn't really anything exciting going on content-wise. But for those who may be more content to watch a pal play Dead Space 3 on Xbox 360 rather than pick up the sticks themselves, they can still have a positive impact if there's a Kinect in the room.%Gallery-173241%
Pre-order Dead Space 3, get some in-game guns [update: video]
The hideous, multi-limbed beast shambles on, and we're not talking about Necromorphs. No, we're talking about retailer specific pre-order items for Dead Space 3. Those who plunk down their cash early will receive an in-game gun. GameStop pre-orders get the EG-900 SMG, a "compact but deadly" firearm. Amazon pre-orders, meanwhile, will pick up the Tesla Enervator, which "delivers a precision blast causing instantaneous electrocution and molecular destabilization in the target." We try not to pick favorites when it comes to guns – we love our death-dealers equally – but the Enervator sounds just a tad more interesting.These bonuses come in addition to the content included with the Dead Space 3 limited edition. Those who pre-order Dead Space 3 automatically receive the limited edition, which features two bonus suits and two bonus guns.
Balancing horror and action in Dead Space 3
The Dead Space franchise was founded on the core tenet of isolation – a single-player survival adventure against horrific necromorphs. In Dead Space 2, the franchise shifted its focus toward the growing blend of action and horror, a direction the Resident Evil franchise has been firmly set on in its last few releases.With Dead Space 3 Visceral looks to offer more of a balance between action and horror. Though the series is still planted within the action-horror sub-genre, Dead Space 3 will attempt to match the level of scares seen in previous entries while ramping up the action as the story progresses."We don't want to ever just be only action," Chuck Beaver, Dead Space 3 story producer, told Joystiq. "I think survival horror is morphing into something else."%Gallery-170513%
Dead Space 3 screens enter the dead space of the mind
These new Dead Space 3 screens show one of the co-op side missions, "Marker Containment," during which Isaac helps his new partner Carver cope with phantom visions of his family. He does this by shooting firearms at aliens.
Dead Space 3 screens prove one is the loneliest number, two is scariest
The latest batch of Dead Space 3 screenshots make Isaac look like the loneliest astronaut – and the only time he's not alone, he's in the company of murderous mutant creatures infected with alien goo. Turns out "space man" isn't the high-class lifestyle Apollo 13 made it out to be. %Gallery-168040%
Dead Space 3 adds fan-made 'HUN-E1 BADGER' to Isaac's arsenal
The killing machine seen above was designed by gamer Caleb Mendoza, the winner of a fan-made weapon submission contest in Dead Space 3 highlighting the action-horror hybrid's new weapon crafting system. As part of the contest, both Mendoza's creation – the HUN-E1 BADGER – and his likeness will be added to Visceral's upcoming game.The HUN-E1 BADGER fires flaming rivets – yes, spikes that are also on fire. We'd argue the weapon is overkill but then we've never had to fight a Necromorph. We contacted Mendoza about his winning creation, but he told us that he actually feels indifferent about the whole thing. Then he took a nap (NSFW).
Dead Space 3 takes off for orbit with 17 minutes of gameplay footage
It's not every day you get to have a pair of developers walk you through a massive chunk of gameplay footage, but that's exactly what EA offered Dead Space 3 fans who registered on the game's official website. Luckily for you, we've already done the hard work – all you've got to do to watch the footage is sit back, relax and press play above. We do it because we like you so gosh-darned much.The gameplay above takes place on the Eudora, the latest in a long line of seemingly ill-fated ships Isaac finds himself on. As things start to go sour around him, Isaac makes a mad dash for escape but soon runs into his old pals, the Necromorphs. As you'd imagine, hijinks ensue.
Dead Space 3 weapon crafting lets you stack guns on guns
You know what this Line Gun needs? A flamethrower. We've all thought about it and in Dead Space 3 players will be able to construct just that. Just make sure you credit us for the completely original idea!By gathering materials, one can proceed over to the nearest weapons bench and get to work. Players will be able to "build guns, modify guns and share guns," Dead Space 3's UI lead Dino Ignacio reveals in the above trailer. And once something has been made, players can then share their blueprint with the Dead Space 3 community, allowing others to copy and use the weapon in question in their own game.So can we make a Plasma Cutter that is actually eight Plasma Cutters? Well, EA, can we?
Dead Space 3 out Feb. 5 in North America, Feb. 8 in Europe
Dead Space 3 will be released February 5, 2013 in North America, EA revealed today at Gamescom. The European release will follow on February 8. The February release window was originally revealed at E3, also at an EA press conference.If you're thrilled about maybe being killed by space monsters in February, you can enter to have your weapon design (and face) featured in the game in a new contest at the official website.
EA @ Gamescom: Crysis 3, SimCity, Army of Two and more
If you're lucky enough to find yourself at Gamescom next week in Germany, playable demos of Crysis 3 and SimCity will be headlining EA's lineup. Aside from those two, there will also be demo stations at EA's booth for Need for Speed: Most Wanted, FIFA 13, FIFA Manager 13, Medal of Honor: Warfighter and Star Wars: The Old Republic.EA will also be conducting behind-closed-doors presentations. Notable titles for private showcase include the newly-announced Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel from Visceral Games, the Armored Kill expansion for Battlefield 3, Crysis 3, Dead Space 3, NHL 2013, Sims 3, SimCity and a bunch of mobile games from EA and Chillingo. We'll have previews of those games next week.
Dead Space 3's Isaac Clarke as 'the reluctant participant'
The original Dead Space introduced us to Isaac Clarke: a masked, silent engineer doing his best to survive an extremely lonely and hostile environment. His weapons were that of an engineer, though they served Isaac well enough in strategically dismembering the ghouls that came creeping at him. The events of Dead Space 2 took Isaac on a similar mission, albeit through an enormous space colony known as "The Sprawl." Isaac once again battled creepy necromorphs, all in the name of survival.Despite what you've seen of Dead Space 3 thus far – the action-heavy, co-op sequences from E3, for example – Isaac is as much "the reluctant participant" as ever. Visceral Games executive producer Steve Papoutsis explained as much to us in a recent interview. "He by no means is a vigilante for hire or any nonsense like that," Papoutsis said. "That's not what's going on with Isaac. And I don't want to get into the details too much 'cause that would kinda spoil the fun for folks, but let's just say after the events of The Sprawl – which was, as you may or may know if you played it, a massive disaster – he's kind of laying low. And he kind of wants to be left alone."Papoutsis didn't speak to specifics of the game's intro – which, according to previous precedent, should be insane – but he was quick to stifle any idea that Isaac is on the offensive in Dead Space 3. "The events that kind of thrust him into action in Dead Space 3 will reveal themselves when people play the game, but by no means is he a willing participant in the story that's gonna unfold." It's unclear if Clarke's co-op buddy, Carver, plays into that "thrust," but the fact that he's a gun-toting government official can't hurt.As for whether this is Isaac's last spin as a starring character in a Dead Space game, Papoutsis was less specific. "We didn't set out to make a trilogy," he said. "We would love to create many more Dead Space games, there's a lot of stories to tell of the Dead Space universe." He allowed one teensy nugget to slip through. "With Dead Space 3, it's definitely Isaac's story and we're trying to bring answers to this story. There's a lot of questions that have come in Dead Space 1 and 2, and with Dead Space 3 we really wanna answer a lot of questions."
The quiet, solo side of Dead Space 3
Sitting in a brightly lit office above Times Square in the middle of the day made it easy not to be scared by Dead Space 3, even with bodies reanimating, spawning grotesque appendages, and chasing me down. Which isn't to say it isn't scary, just that my surroundings – not to mention two other human beings – rounded off the scary, sharp edges.I didn't play co-op, and I wasn't outside on an ice planet. I piloted returning protagonist Isaac Clarke through much of what you'd expect from a Dead Space game: creepy, atmospheric spaceship corridors pocked with vile mutant humanoid creatures trying to eat my flesh. My mission was an optional side quest in Dead Space 3's flotilla section – a mess of once operational ships now relegated to graveyard duty. But despite the level's original Dead Space feel, executive producer Steve Papoutsis tells me the demo wasn't intended as a response to the mixed fan reaction garnered from the third entry's action-focused E3 2012 reveal."Every time we show something new, we understand that when it isn't what we've done in the past, people are gonna have questions and wanna know what the meaning of it is or how it all fits together," he says. At E3, Dead Space 3's co-op was revealed in an action-heavy scene that some fans felt wasn't representative of the series' past entries. Papoutsis directly addresses that concern.%Gallery-160984%
Dead Space 3 tone shift based on research, scares more palatable with pal
EA altered the tone of Dead Space 3 from solo chills to co-op thrills based on market research, a company executive stated in a recent interview. EA Games' marketing exec Laura Miele told MCV the company was really proud of the work on the first two games, but wanted to see how the franchise could reach more consumers."We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game, but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone. So we introduced co-op into the game," said Miele.Miele added Dead Space 3 was "no less scary" and "true to its roots," but that research found people were more comfortable playing the game with someone else. She said the implementation of co-op to share the scares was to "reach out to consumers that perhaps were not open to Dead Space 1 and 2." Sales of the franchise have been solid, but EA CEO John Riccitiello previously stated the company hopes the franchise will reach the "five million unit cadence" with Dead Space 3.
Enjoy 20 minutes of necromorph dismemberin' in Dead Space 3
You got a bit of a taste earlier this month of Dead Space 3's co-opified gameplay, but those paltry seven minutes hardly hold a candle to the 20-ish minutes of producer-narrated gameplay EA released recently. Take a gander above (and maybe bring a parka)!
Dead Space: Catalyst prequel novel available this autumn
Traversing transmedia opportunities, Tor Books and EA are hooking up on a second Dead Space novel. Dead Space: Catalyst, written by B.K. Evenson, follows the Black Marker threat prior to the events of Dead Space.According to the PR, Catalyst takes place "three hundred years in the future," or two hundred years before the incident on the USG Ishimura in Dead Space, which occurs in 2507.This is the second Dead Space novel by Evenson, who wrote Dead Space: Martyr back in 2010 and covered the origins of the Church of Unitology and the "Black Marker." Catalyst will be available on October 2, 2012.
Dead Space 3: co-op meets Carver
The majority of Dead Space 3 takes place on a frigid planet that seemingly hides a secret – and plenty of necromorphs.After Isaac's ship crashes on Tau Volantis, he emerges from the wreckage covered in blood, limping through knee-deep snow and a blinding snow storm. Necromorph enemies emerge from beneath the snow's cover when you least expect it, evoking the same tension we first felt in the corridors of the Ishimura.Dead Space 3 aims to throw a lot of new things at you beyond that sense of dread over what's around the next dark corner. You can invite a friend into the game at any time, and upon reaching the next checkpoint or reverting back to the last one, Isaac Clarke is joined by John Carver. He's a foul-mouthed, hostile man with a scarred face and little love for Necromorph disposal.%Gallery-157336%
Dissect seven minutes of Dead Space 3 gameplay
They say misery loves company, so it's only fitting that the most miserable person we know (Isaac Clarke just can't seem to escape them Necromorphs!) now has a partner in Dead Space 3. John Carver is now the Riggs to Clarke's Murtaugh – we hope a mutated Gary Busey ends up being the final boss in Dead Space 3!But we're getting off-track. The above video features over seven minutes of gameplay and – oh, you're not even reading this, are you? You've been watching it for a few minutes now already? Okay then, carry on.%Gallery-157336%
Dead Space 3 out February 2013, to feature drop-in co-op [Update: Trailer added!]
Dead Space 3 will launch in February 2013 and will have drop-in, drop-out co-op with Isaac Clarke and his new companion, John Carver, Visceral Games announced at EA's E3 press conference. Co-op playthroughs will unlock "additional story details and gameplay mechanics only found when playing as the co-op character, Earthgov Sergeant John Carver," EA said in a press release following its E3 conference.
EA finally confirms Dead Space 3, will debut at E3
EA has confirmed the long-rumored third installment of the Dead Space franchise is real and promises it will be unveiled during E3 next week. Speaking with IGN, EA said next week's big event will feature the first footage of the action-horror title.Dead Space 3 footage is expected to debut during EA's press conference on Monday, June 4 at 1:00pm PDT.Other than "it's happening, we're showing it to you soon," there isn't much in the way of details for the upcoming title. Leaked images from earlier today feature what could be two main characters. Co-op campaign possibilities? We're down with that.%Gallery-156533%
