I decided to pick up a few games on the Steam summer sale, when I recently had set up a computer with some okay hardware, nothing very powerful mind you. It's been a while since I've done any real gaming on PC, I mostly play emulators on it.
Anyone familiar with my gaming tastes, will know I enjoy a horror game or two. After the rather predictable, action filled Dead Space 2, which followed the excellent first game with it's gruesome sci-fi horror, my hopes were a little mixed for DS3. DS2 was very good, but it was such a corridor game that became predictable and restricted to better cater for all players.
Those hoping that DS3 is returning more to it's survival horror roots, will quickly learn to understand, that this game is more action horror. While it mostly follows a linear walk, while gunning down hoards of nasty creatures, it offers some very large side paths with optional objectives to complete. These side quests are something I highly recommend digging into as they give you a longer playthrough and richer depth to the game.
DS3 continues the familiar controls and gameplay of the previous games, the only negative being a fairly mediocre covering system, for the battles against the soldiers. There's a comprehensive weapon upgrade system, that literally lets you build a gun of your choosing, utilising various salvaged parts that you pick up around the game. EA will be trying to tempt you with buying parts for actual money, though I managed just fine without doing so.
Apart from some more unique and memorable scenes in DS2, DS3 does everything slightly better when it comes to the actual game structure. It offers more free exploring. The horror element, although present, never really kicks in like a constant overhanging element like in DS1, but it's a scary game nonetheless. I did get used to the scares though, both DS2 and 3 tend to get a bit predictable as to when they throw a ton of enemies at the player.
I recommend those that liked the previous versions to play this one, and especially if you have the opportunity to play it cooperatively. The singleplayer will most likely help to create a more creepy atmosphere, but I'd trade it in easily for the fun that is coop gaming, as the game is more action orientated than horror.
I enjoyed DS3, but it left me with some of the same feeling DS2 did, the original was clearly the better game. As such, my review score for the game will be the same as DS2, I found depth and varied sci-fi aspects in DS3 to be better than DS2, but the story wasn't as focused. I'll give DS3 the slight edge as a whole package, though it's a close race.
The game is beautifully presented, with tons of colours and environments. Each track takes a location from Sega's huge backlog of games, see the screenshots above for three examples. Ranging between Panzer Dragoon, Skies of Arcadia, Jet Set Radio, Afterburner and Sonic the Hedgehog. This is also resonated in the character select screen, with a huge variety in classic Sega mascots. It's fan service for Sega veterans, and most people familiar with gaming in general. I missed some Out Run and Daytona USA references in the race tracks though, they would have fitted perfectly!
Gameplay is fun and the game progress is addictive, you can level each character up and give them mods that alter their advantages/disadvantages. The controls feel good and there's a bit of difference in each characters statistic and how they handle. I found the drifting mechanics which, in Mario Kart copied fashion, gives you boost, to be a little simple. Sega could have easily gone with a similar to Sega Rally or Daytona USA drifting approach, but I guess that would have been a little steep learning curve for the target audience.
Speaking of competition, I would also have enjoyed more precise and less random weapons. They just don't have the balance and obvious strategic use like in the MK franchise. The weapons certainly help, but a lot of them feel somewhat lacklustre to use. It would have been an idea to alternate special weapon types for what type of vehicle you're in, some air-to-air missiles for the aircraft and maybe torpedoes for the boats, for instance.
These issues though, don't take the fun away from this kart racer. They're more my ideas of improving on something that already works great. The feeling of the game best suits the PC version in my opinion, which I played, because putting the game in 60fps makes all the difference compared to the console versions. It looks smooth and the controls are more precise with the higher framerate. The style of the game very much lends itself to the colourful arcade games that Sega made during the 90's, most of which were 60fps, it fits the style.
You can pick up this game for a reasonable price on Steam and I would recommend people who enjoy Mario Kart styled racers to do so. The singleplayer will capture your attention for a nice amount of hours and it can even be played coop locally to progress through the game. Either for completion or just to unlock new tracks and characters!
Luckily most PC games have full support for the Xbox 360 pad now and even have the in-game buttons corresponding on-screen. Here's my review of a couple of games I recently played through.
Review
Played on: PC
Released: 2013
Released: 2013
I realise that playing DS3 coop is a different experience than singleplayer, like I did. The coop game adds a lot of extra dialogue and requires two persons on various puzzles. The singleplayer experience, however, is very much in the same vein as DS2. Yet it adds a lot more to make a richer sci-fi experience.
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That said, DS3 does have it's moments of eerie and down right scary moments, and these don't become easier in the more open areas! DS3 dares to let you explore more, which is a nice welcome from the restrictive DS2. Though you do still feel like you are gunning your way through a long corridor, unlike the first game which stayed more in the same spots and let you re-explore areas to familiarise yourself. At least it gave that impression.
I do like the settings of DS3. After a city breakout of aliens, featuring some Blade Runner like cityscapes, there's a part in space on various large spaceships. Allowing the player to traverse between them in no-gravity space flight. Some of the spaceships are optional too, but I highly recommend checking them out, some of them are really full of nasty alien!
I do like the settings of DS3. After a city breakout of aliens, featuring some Blade Runner like cityscapes, there's a part in space on various large spaceships. Allowing the player to traverse between them in no-gravity space flight. Some of the spaceships are optional too, but I highly recommend checking them out, some of them are really full of nasty alien!
A later section of the game takes place on a snowy planet. Which gives a rather deserted feeling, though this tense atmosphere is often broken by annoying interruptions from radio chatter by other crew members. There's some kind of annoying rivalry going on between the main character, a woman and a douchebag, that consistently wants your attention. It's like listening to a teenage drama over the radio at times, breaking the atmosphere of being alone.
There's a research facility later on, which brings out some of the best horror in the game, with a lot of creepy areas to explore with snowy planet surfaces to cross between buildings.
An unwelcome sight, added to the action segments, is a military unit trying to attack you, these firefights seem incredibly lame and out of place in the whole Dead Space setting. I just want alien monsters, not generic soldiers like any other third person shooter. Luckily these enemies aren't that frequent.
An unwelcome sight, added to the action segments, is a military unit trying to attack you, these firefights seem incredibly lame and out of place in the whole Dead Space setting. I just want alien monsters, not generic soldiers like any other third person shooter. Luckily these enemies aren't that frequent.
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Apart from some more unique and memorable scenes in DS2, DS3 does everything slightly better when it comes to the actual game structure. It offers more free exploring. The horror element, although present, never really kicks in like a constant overhanging element like in DS1, but it's a scary game nonetheless. I did get used to the scares though, both DS2 and 3 tend to get a bit predictable as to when they throw a ton of enemies at the player.
I recommend those that liked the previous versions to play this one, and especially if you have the opportunity to play it cooperatively. The singleplayer will most likely help to create a more creepy atmosphere, but I'd trade it in easily for the fun that is coop gaming, as the game is more action orientated than horror.
I enjoyed DS3, but it left me with some of the same feeling DS2 did, the original was clearly the better game. As such, my review score for the game will be the same as DS2, I found depth and varied sci-fi aspects in DS3 to be better than DS2, but the story wasn't as focused. I'll give DS3 the slight edge as a whole package, though it's a close race.
Review
Played on: PC
Released: 2013
Released: 2013
Anyone familiar with Sega's blue mascot, will know that there have been a ton of Sonic games released in 3D since the Dreamcast. Personally, I have cared little for this blue critter since the magnificent trilogy of the 16-bit era on the Mega Drive. I recall a lot of it being bad quality, though I did play most of the PC version of the first Sonic Adventure. The franchise has lately expanded to kart racing. The previous entry focused solely on cars, but this newest addition also has boats and aircraft!
The game alternates on the fly during a race, between these various means of transportation. Each vehicle can, almost like a Transformers robot, switch between being a car, boat or aircraft. Visually, it looks cool and leaves room for some very varied tracks. At one minute you are speeding down a river in a speedboat, suddenly hitting a jump and you land as a car on dry land beneath. In a similar fashion you fall off a aircraft carrier in a car and speed up through the skies in an aircraft! Tracks can even change layout between laps of one race, much like Split Second did!
The game alternates on the fly during a race, between these various means of transportation. Each vehicle can, almost like a Transformers robot, switch between being a car, boat or aircraft. Visually, it looks cool and leaves room for some very varied tracks. At one minute you are speeding down a river in a speedboat, suddenly hitting a jump and you land as a car on dry land beneath. In a similar fashion you fall off a aircraft carrier in a car and speed up through the skies in an aircraft! Tracks can even change layout between laps of one race, much like Split Second did!
Gameplay is fun and the game progress is addictive, you can level each character up and give them mods that alter their advantages/disadvantages. The controls feel good and there's a bit of difference in each characters statistic and how they handle. I found the drifting mechanics which, in Mario Kart copied fashion, gives you boost, to be a little simple. Sega could have easily gone with a similar to Sega Rally or Daytona USA drifting approach, but I guess that would have been a little steep learning curve for the target audience.
Speaking of competition, I would also have enjoyed more precise and less random weapons. They just don't have the balance and obvious strategic use like in the MK franchise. The weapons certainly help, but a lot of them feel somewhat lacklustre to use. It would have been an idea to alternate special weapon types for what type of vehicle you're in, some air-to-air missiles for the aircraft and maybe torpedoes for the boats, for instance.
These issues though, don't take the fun away from this kart racer. They're more my ideas of improving on something that already works great. The feeling of the game best suits the PC version in my opinion, which I played, because putting the game in 60fps makes all the difference compared to the console versions. It looks smooth and the controls are more precise with the higher framerate. The style of the game very much lends itself to the colourful arcade games that Sega made during the 90's, most of which were 60fps, it fits the style.
You can pick up this game for a reasonable price on Steam and I would recommend people who enjoy Mario Kart styled racers to do so. The singleplayer will capture your attention for a nice amount of hours and it can even be played coop locally to progress through the game. Either for completion or just to unlock new tracks and characters!
A great kart racer that feels like a colourful 90's arcade game with awesome, transforming vehicles!
