Dead Space 3 puts the player back in control of engineer Isaac Clarke. But Isaac is no longer an unfortunate victim - instead, he is a battle-hardened action hero.
In a nutshell, Isaac must discover the true mission of an alien species, the Markers, save the human race and rescuehis girlfriend.
The story goes much deeper but is uninspiring enough to allow it to be summed up in one short sentence. Thankfully, the action and visuals more than make up for the lacklustre plot.
Whereas Dead Space 1 and 2 got their kicks from epic horror moments, this third instalment is all about survival. The action plays out like a thrilling interactive movie interspersed with necromorph-slaying, limb-detaching carnage.
But that fantastic combat action is itself scattered far too liberally, with mind-numbing tasks that more often than not require you to trek for an eternity to collect a seemingly innocuous object just to progress through a point way back where you started. Even the boss battles become a chore, and the final boss is a downright anticlimax.
But during the game it's easy to forget the downsides because the cinematic presentation and full-on gore-fest battles easily whisk your mind off them with plenty of breathtaking moments.
Add to that a highly addictive weapon and suit-customisation system, welcome (if a little clunky) co-op gameplay and some thoughtful level design, and Dead Space 3 is a game worth taking a long look at.
