Dead Space 3 PC Review

So..finally we reach the end of the Dead space series. Its been fantastic journey throughout the Game series. Dead space 3 was necessary sequel to to finish the game series  in style. I particular liked the story ending and game itself. 

Dead space 3 starts with a brief cutscene showing the origin of marker and something called a "Codex" which could be of important significance in saving the world. Issac Clarke is more badass than before. We meet new characters in this game. Issac who wanted to take some time off, gets denied by Norton and Carver whom Ellie sent to do another mission of saving the world. Well i am doing the best not to reveal the spoilers. But anyways, one thing i can say is story is very good mix of emotions ( cause we lose a lot of people ), some brief moments of happiness ( when the group rejoins ) . 

Issac captured by Danik

Main villain in the game is Danik, who wants to take control of marker and destroy humanity. In this game, although at first we don't know what is going on, eventually we understand why things are happening the way they are. Game explains as to why it all started, what happened during the initial infection etc. We lose a lot of people in the game, but only to contribute to the mission's success. Most of the game, we find some signals and Issac is sent to investigate or get the job done. This authoritarian behavior from the team i din't like. It was as if we take orders from others and game even forbids others from helping us cause we only be in a group for a brief moments. ( Maybe the call of EA for multiplayer). Despite a very good story and perfect ending, Dead space makes a lot of mistakes. If you remember in DS2, Ellie got gouged her eye out by Dr. Stross, but still she is completely fine in Dead Space 3, in fact even sexy than before. 

Ellie is fine :O (In fact sexier than before)

A very good ending---4/5 

Graphics and Sound

Arctic suit 

Dead space 3 is breathtakingly gorgeous. Even though i am attacked by the necromorphs, i just stand facing the setting sun on the white frozen planet of Tau volantis. Just see the pic below. Stunning right? Beautiful setting sun on the white frozen planet filled with equally gross necromorphs with assembled body parts of dead people is set in such a way its difficult to forget the image even after the game has finished. 

Stunning Visuals!! OMG

Sound is equally horrifying and deadly. Whenever a necromorph attacks the player, fast music sets your heart racing, or when we walk alone in an open space is equally scary. Trust me, we walk alone more than we kill those blood thirsty creatures. 

Never seen such beautiful graphics before---4.5/5

Gameplay
The gameplay is lot better than any of its prequels. From what IGN quotes " Its has the best combat system that we have seen". Its certainly true. Tackling necromorphs is very easy this time. Even if you run out of ammo, Issac tackles the necromorphs like a child's play. Unlike before, DS3 doesn't have save stations, although beam locator will guide where next objective is, store and bench are situated. Instead game saves automatically at certain points. 

No save station any more

We can make our own weapons, modify and even upgrade them. For doing so we need to collect items like scrap metal, tungsten, semiconductor and many more. Each weapon upgrade is unique and can enhance overall damage, reload rate, clip size etc of the weapon. I must admit i am very bad at crafting weapons. I completed DS2 so i got Planetcracker for free. I managed to make a "okay okay" kind of weapon at the end and completed the game using the same. For upgrades instead of power nodes we get upgrade circuit. Each of which has some improvement. For eg., +1 Rate of fire, +1 Reload rate etc.  Although modifying weapons is welcoming feature, many gamers may find it difficult to craft a good weapon. Not all are so skilled. :P

Craft your weapon

We have already seen that suits can be changed and upgraded in DS2. In DS3 we have suits for different purposes. For example, we change in Arctic suits when encountering severe cold in the planet. The player has many suits at his disposal. Also the RIG can be upgraded in suit kiosk only. RIG can be modified to deal with more damage, have more air, simply by upgrading the RIG points. Also kinesis and stasis can be upgraded as well. 

Simply Stunning!!

Dead space 3 is not set in a single place. Issac needs to travel from one planet to another. Fortunately we use some kind of small space shuttles for travelling short distances. Zero gravity feature remains the same only having more air in the suit. 

Plenty of puzzles

One thing we always encounter in the game is a puzzle. To pass a door or complete certain mission we need to solve the puzzle. Some puzzles like shown below have timer. 

Puzzle solved :D

Each mission has percentage of completion. Unlike in prequels,  we have optional missions and quests to find something to complete the mission 100 %. Although not necessary to complete these optional missions or quests, we can unlock many suits and weapons. 

Upgrades!!

Enemies are different than before in the planet Tau Volantis. Like Yeti dressed in a suit or jerkin, necromorphs turn even more deadlier. Oh almost forgot!! There's this big spider kind of thing which keeps coming and going. (Although at end we squeeze it to death and it took me long time to kill it because of the glitch in Chapter 13) 

Glitch!!

So much for boasting and improving the gameplay, i dint find the game to be scary at all. Most of the time the solitude is the one that is more scary than necromorphs itself. Roaming vast corridors of caves, getting down the cliffs of mountains intimidates you better than necromorphs do. 

Improved gameplay and i liked it---4/5

Dead space 3 is definitely better and a needed sequel to the game series. Even if you din't like the game ( which i highly doubt) just play the game for the great visuals--absolutely stunning!! If not for that glitch its definitely a must play. Thoroughly enjoyed!!

My rating is 8/10....

+ Breathtakingly Gorgeous           - Sorry, not scary at all :P
+ Improved gameplay
+ Perfect ending to the sequel
+ Craft your own weapon

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Dead space 2 PC Review

Dead space 2 has made a significant number of changes from its sequel. The game starts off where it previously left off. 
Read through to find out more.

Story
Dead space 2 mainly focuses on the story part of the game. The story was really strong filled with emotions, frustrations and what not. Accordingly Issac is made to walk through the game. The game begins in an asylum on the Sprawl, a densely-populated space station surrounding a shard of Titan, one of Saturn's moons. Issac recalls having no memory of past three years after he was haunted by Nicole. In this game, a woman named Daina guides him as to why things are happening the way they are. But only to find that she is unitologist and she wants marker made number of times. Felt betrayed, he finally listens to a man named Stross, who thinks he can destroy the marker. Issac meets with another woman, Ellie, who at first though is hostile eventually joins Issac in the quest of destroying the marker. Stross turns mad and freaks out Ellie, in fact he pops her eye out, making Issac to kill him. For the rest it is Nicole who keeps taunting and annoying Issac, also convincing him that she would love to destroy the marker together with him. Although, the story takes a unexpected turn at the end with Tidermann controlled by Nicole tries to kill Issac. Felt betrayed by Nicole again, he battles against her destroying the marker. By this time the whole place falls apart. Issac who initially sends Ellie only to save her from all this apocalypse, returns back to rescue him. 

Issac is back!!

Gameplay
The gameplay has improved significantly than its prequel if you can find the negative points mentioned in my previous post Dead space. Issac moves freely unlike in Dead space. 
Newer and better weapons are introduced. Weapons have the same upgrade system. Although the points to upgrade to its maximum require many power nodes. Newly introduced weapons include detonator mines, new force gun etc. Unlike in prequel, Dead space 2 has different type of suits for various purposes which can be bought and equipped at any time unless there is a store nearby. For eg., Advanced suit, security suit etc. 

Better weapons!!

Issac can now track not only objective but also can find the path for bench, save station, store using his beam which is really useful. 
Enemies are really deadly and very fast. Dead space 2 can boast advanced forms of enemies from its prequel. The one which looks like ostrich particularly scares the hell out of me. Also watch out the pods like enemies which throw eggs. 

Zero gravity feature improved !! Have a look at those graphics :O

Zero gravity is improved greatly from its prequel. Instead of just aiming and pressing 'alt', Issac's suit shoots four rockets which helps in levitating him. So basically we can stop anywhere and have our own time in analysing the surroundings. The game has more puzzles to solve. Each time you end in a open environment you are likely to solve a puzzle to get past. In this game we have something like boxes where we should turn the mouse to set the disc in the correct location, although incorrect position can cost you your life. Every mission is enjoyable and memorable. I particularly liked the last few missions which are both challenging and story oriented. In a nutshell the game has improved a lot from its predecessor. 

More money needed now :P

Graphics and sound
If it isn't gorgeous enough in its prequel, Dead space 2 elevates the level of beauty. It devastatingly gorgeous and enemies are equally grotesque. Sound again plays an important role in the game. 

Addition of cutscenes in the game!! 

Whatever little glitches and minor errors may have been present, Dead space 2 is a must play. Dead space 2 concentrated mainly on story without compromising fear factor. 9 hours of pure horror and enjoyment. 

The final betrayal!! 

My rating is 9/10....

+ Better gameplay
+ Gorgeous graphics
+ Story oriented without compromising fear factor
+ Characters leave an impact on story

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Dead Space PC Review

I know its late to review Dead space now, but i will be reviewing complete dead space series by end of this month (hopefully) so you can get the feel of series. Since its a been a long time Dead space was released, i may as well include some spoilers. Those of you who dint play it yet, watch out!! :D








Dead space is a sci-fi horror survival game starring the protagonist Issac Clarke. Issac Clarke is a ship systems engineer who is deployed on USG kellion to answer the distress call sent by USG Ishimura. So basically mankind has exhausted all the resources present on earth, but has mastered space travel and created some really cool weapons. Crew from earth is sent to answer the distress call by Ishimura. Landing on Ishimura, hell breaks lose.

Issac Clarke

When the crew lands on the ship, they find out that most of the systems failed in the ship. When the crew enters into the main deck of the ship, deadly beings called Necromorphs attack some of the crew members. The player gets separated from the crew (and for the rest of the game we are alone) and in due course of the game we find out that most of the crew members are dead. Then we realise that the distress call is more to it than meets the eye. As game progresses, players find out that there is something called 'The marker' which is sending out hallucinations which is hypnotising some people to kill themselves, coagulating the dead peoples' body parts to form deadly beings called Necromorphs. Issac Clarke comes to assist in this mission mainly because of his girlfriend, Nicole, thinking of rescuing her in case she hasn't turned into one of 'them'. Interestingly the story takes superb twist at the end of the game, revealing Kendra's true intentions.

Gameplay
Dead space is a third person over the shoulder perspective game. Most of the story is conveyed through spacial holographic 
projections, rather than cut scenes. We play as Issac Clarke. Issac Clarke is not your typical survival kinda hero or has some specialised military training. As mentioned before, he is a systems engineer dispatched by maintenance crew. When i first played the 
game, i really underestimated the plethora of options that can be possible during the gameplay. Issac can project beam kinda of thing onto the floor stating or guiding to your objective. 

Weapons--Plasma cutter

Player wields up to four weapons. Basic weapon player equips is plasma cutter. Plasma cutter projects a beam mainly used for cutting limbs or tails. Oh by the way...almost forgot, dead space features what is called as 'strategic dismemberment'. It means the enemy can be dismembered off its limb which deals with maximum damage. This is very useful and a new strategy employed by the developers. As we progress, we buy newer and better weapons. I particularly liked the plasma rifle. Weapons can upgraded and the game boasts of new type of upgrade system. Basically upgrade system is made like its some kinda of tree which has many branches. Each branch has nodes which can be only filled when the previous node is filled and adjacent to the node being filled. Upgrade is done by collecting or finding 'power nodes' and by visiting the 'Bench'. 

Different kind of upgrade system

There are places called 'stores' where the player can buy things in exchange with credits (maybe their currency). Player are able to collect items like air cans, med packs, credits, line racks, etc and can exchange or sell them to get money to buy new items. Hell! we can even store the items in a vault. This feature is really useful. 

Player can even move a object or slow down a fast moving object using stasis or kinesis feature.This enables to clear off the road 
blocks and player can take their time to neatly dismember the enemy by using stasis. However stasis get depleted after usage which again can recharged at stations.

There are numerous save points where one can save their game. The game also has zero gravity areas where the player can float and 
travel to any point. This feature although depicts the reality possible during the era in which game takes place, it is really frustrating. For example it not really possible to travel to any point. And also one 
wouldn't know which is the ceiling or floor. 

The game is said to take place in year 2508 but the elevator takes like forever to get to the next level/floor. Also Issac is really rigid and the controls are not fluid enough. He runs like he is carrying a bag of rice behind him. Also zero gravity feature can be really frustrating sometimes.

Enemies are gruesome and really gross looking. There are of different kind. One who carries a huge glowing sack, one who can regenerate, one who is really tall like slender etc. At first enemies can be easy to get through, but as players progress in the game and 
hallucinations become worse, enemies become very fast and stronger. 

Enemies are gruesome!!

Graphics and sound 
As needed by horror type of genre, game is really gross. I mean in a right way. Loads of dead bodies throughout the ship, blood spilled 
over at some places, limbs or other parts of body flying in the air during the zero gravity really brings out the reality of situation the 
player is in. 

Graphics in Dead space

Sound as we know plays an important role in horror games. Sometimes there is no sound giving you a lonely feeling, sometimes there is sound of creature moving towards you, sometimes its just you walking. I am not able to exactly tell how i felt when i played but trust me, Dead space delivers right amount of sound or horror required by its genre. 

It took about 12-13 hours for campaign. I really wish i played multiplayer. Well its definitely is a great example of the horror survival genre and is an awesome way to launch a franchise. Awesome job by EA and Visceral games. God!! I can't wait to play the sequel now. Will start Dead space 2 as early as possible. Watch out this space for Dead space 2 Review. Coming up next!!! :D

My rating is 7.5/10....

+ New concept   
+ Story is believable 
+ Weapons

- Zero gravity is frustrating sometimes
- Controls are not fluid enough

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DmC PC Review

Dante is back!! He's badder than ever. 
Capcom and ninja theory's new addition to the Devil may cry's series brought a new feel to the game. Stunning visuals, sick combos will instantly quench your thirst for action filled adventure/thriller. 









Story 

I love the new Dante!!

Its all about revenge. Dante, son of sparda, is a nephilim (half demon,half angel). Sparda falls in love with an angel, giving birth to twin brothers-Vergil & Dante, whose animosity is as old as DmC 3. Felt betrayed by Sparda, Mundus kills Dante's mother and sends his father into exile where he faces hell. Filled with revenge, Vergil and Dante plot to bring down his 'empire' by destroying his factory and his only child. To assist in the plan, Kat helps in bringing down Mundus. Much to the so called planned 'plot', story at the end takes a interesting twist. 

Gameplay
After trying to play stealthily in Hitman absolution, getting back to action filled adventure is certainly inviting. Gameplay doesn't change very much as in previous games, subtle changes introduced in gathering, travelling or progressing in the game make a huge impact in the overall gameplay of the game DMC. Dmc features some of sick and deadliest combo moves i have ever seen in dmc series. One does not simply mug up the combo moves and try it one after the other. Developers made sure the game rewards only to players who try different combos. Combos are the best part of the game. Dante wields 8 weapons at once. Unlike in previous editions the sword transforms into angelic mode or demonic mode depending on the requirement of the player. Each weapon has its upgrades which can be achieved by killing demons stylishly and of course, brutally. Hell yeah!! :D.

Talking about enemies/demons, there are many and of different kinds. Each one requires certain type of weapon to defeat them. At first combos may seem little unnecessary but later it becomes very essential. DmC not only requires the player to master combos but also requires the player to have skill to execute the correct combos in particular order to achieve maximum style points.The rewarding dint change much from the previous game in the series. 

Training session

For beginners, after the mission is completed statistics appear on the screen consisting of style points, completion time, completion of the in-game items and no of deaths. It is important the player optimizes the above in order to achieve maximum points. Ranks are given depending upon the number of points the player achieves. Ranks are divided into SSS,SS,S,A,B,C,D.(SSS- being the highest).

Boss fight!

If there's anything to comment about the game, its the length of the game. Each mission seems like they are checkpoints of the overall plot. When i played it happened so fast credits started rolling after 8.5 hrs. Sad :(...i miss all the fun!! 

Graphics and sound
The first thing one encounters is the stunning graphics. Most of the time the game is in limbo and its always
incredible. Blend of gorgeous red, yellow and orange and sometimes blue colors simply is mind blowing. 

Stunning graphics

Soundtrack is given by dutch band 'Noisia' and Norwegian electronic band 'Combochrist'. The “Devil May Cry” series has always had an interesting history, musically. The first two games’ soundtracks were notoriously difficult to obtain, with Capcom not officially releasing them until 2004. “Devil May Cry 3″ and “Devil May Cry 4″ soundtracks were easier to obtain and featured a distinctly “heavy” sound. Which is why it was surprising when Capcom revealed that the series reboot, “DmC Devil May Cry” would be composed by Dutch electronic band Noisia. This was certainly a change of musical pace to go with the story’s overhaul, but whether or not you enjoy this will depend on your feelings on Noisia’s breadth of electronica. 
(courtesy: Forbes). The music genre being electronica is a correct addition for a game which requires so much energy and enthusiasm. 

So,Its not late guys!! . Stunning graphics, very sick combos, new Dante's satires and more deadly demons doesn't get in the mood of playing this game, i don't know what will? 
Its bad bad world out there, start slaying demons now!! :D

Gamesbuzz's game of the month-January

+ New Dante                     - Short
+ Gorgeous graphics
+ Pretty sick combos
+ Great controls

My rating is 8.5/10

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