Before we get started, I'm going to preface this review with what it isn't. While the presence of a substantial amount of launch DLC that could have easily become a part of the product at large has its implications, I'm not going to focus on that in the course of this review.

Decent story with genuine scares; Crafting system adds a whole new element to the game; Voice; music; and sound effects deliver the atmosphere; Cooperative play raises the bar for how it should be done; Additional difficulty modes for the brave

Personality pack for bots should have been on the disc; Havok bugs are still present and accounted for; Last few levels are more shooter than horror

Since its introduction with the first game, we've seen the Dead Space universe unfold and expand with a mixture of transmedia releases and a clear eye for detail and narrative foundation.

Dead Space 3 is wrapping up a trilogy that started with a silent Isaac Clarke stranded on a spooky spaceship, took us through the torturous mental aftermath as he dealt with the Markers and his dead girlfriend, and then presents a final showdown on a mysterious planet.

The limb-chopping combat receives a facelift with the new workbenches, which you can use to craft your own weapons; You start by picking a compact frame (one-handed) or a heavy frame (two-handed) and choosing an upper tool and a lower tool; These tools dictate what kind of firepower you're using.

Dead Space 3 is a meaty experience; You travel to colonies, fly around abandoned spaceships, and search through 200-year-old facilities in the frozen tundra of Tau Volantis before the end.

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I didn't really enjoy playing the first two Dead Space games. I feel that horror action games have fallen into a rut that combined cheap scares with limitations on controls or movement along with other bits of awkwardness that turn what could be a fun,...

Dead Space 3 is another hugely engaging and entertaining entry in the series, but it's hampered by uneven pacing, predictable scares, a surfeit of aggressive enemies and too many frustrating bits.

Dead Space 3 is less scary and more action-packed this time around. It's like the developers just wanted to push the story on through (what's left of it) and keep everything flowing. This does make you puzzled at times where at times you don't really know what's going on.

Double firepower of weapons; Co-op works like a charm sometimes

Less scary; More action; Frequent level design layout

Dead Space 3 was simultaneously building up a big hype and setting itself up for a fail in the months preceding its release. With all of EA's money behind it, Isaac Clarke and his trademark plasma cutter was plastered on advertisements all over the world, just begging to be mainstreamed to death and...

● Great atmosphere ● Side missions are a winner ● Weapon crafting has been implemented well

● Quite easy for experienced gamers ● Microtransactions (optional; yes; an eyesore; yes

The main reason Dead Space 3 isn't as scary as its forebears is that Isaac is tooled up to the nines. The original Dead Space did enough to keep the tension up, but it's difficult to call it pure horror when your protagonist wanders around in an armoured onesie wielding a plasma weapon.

Schizophrenic to a fault, this may not be the disaster fans had feared but its doomed attempts to please all-comers falls predictably flat.

Excellent graphics, particularly in the outer space and zero-gravity sections; Complex weapon customisation and a well-implemented co-op option

Far too much emphasis on action, especially given the mediocre controls; Repetitive and largely unimaginative set pieces; Not at all scary and lacking any real innovation

Isaac Clarke suffers reversals of fortune with such speed and regularity, it's like it is bound to some sort of wheel. A wheel... of... fortune. His reversals get reversed, he climbs to the top of a mountain only to be thrown back down - he's a representation of the Buddhist philosophy that life is...