First Dead Space 3 details - report

By Fred Dutton Published 26 September, 2011

Sequel to dump Isaac on a frozen planet.

Dead Space 3 sees series hero Isaac Clarke stranded on a frozen planet called Tau Volantis after his ship crashes, according to alleged insider info procured by Siliconera.

Believing he is the only one to come out of the accident alive, he finds his way to an abandoned waystation where he meets another survivor who tells him that a few others made it - including Ellie from the first game - and have set off in search of a facility.

Duly, they apparently all rendez-vous, with new character Jennifer then concentrating on reverse engineering mysterious tech by a group called Rosetta.

There's also mention of the trio climbing a mountain pursued by an unseen foe, while the game's enemies are reportedly referred to as "the hive mind."

EA isn't commenting on its veracity, but the leak comes from the same source that correctly called a Syndicate scoop recently.

It's not the first we've heard of Dead Space 3 either - last week an Israeli TV crew caught site of a logo and concept art while filming inside EA's Redwood office.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (56) Latest comment 8 months ago

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  • MatMan562 #1 8 months ago

    YAY! Love Dead Space! But wasn't Ellie new to Dead Space 2?

  • Gearskin #2 8 months ago

    GIVE ME NOW!!!!

  • Kami #3 8 months ago

    And so, we move to something that sounds eerily close to The Thing, what can only be described as the original inspiration for the series (likely also helped by the prequel of The Thing coming out).

    I'm both intrigued and appalled. Mostly appalled. But intrigued. It MIGHT be good. If they can stop the game staring at its wang in the mirror. It's supposed to be entertaining us, not being a narcissistic prick (which Dead Space 2 sadly was). "Look at me! I can ape EVERYTHING!"

    Yes Dead Space 2, here's your medal. Now go sit down whilst we enjoy the dark and restrained stylings of Dead Space 1...

  • Centrifugal #4 8 months ago

    Dead Glacier.

  • Markitron #5 8 months ago

    Sounds Interesting, not what I expected after hearing the post-credit sequence after the end of part 2

  • Hindle #6 8 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:04:43 04-04-2012

  • Ultrasoundwave #7 8 months ago

    If this ends up being Dead Space with elements of The Thing i may well shite myself with excitment.

    / goes to get change of pants in anticipation

  • deadstoned #8 8 months ago

    Frozen planets are awesome, would make the game a bit more colourful too, got tired and bored of all the browny grey in other Dead Spaces.

  • Kaminari #9 8 months ago

    "Including Ellie from the SECOND game."

    Fixed.

  • -cerberus- #10 8 months ago

    Lost Planet 3!

  • the_dudefather #11 8 months ago

    Screenshot of Isaac's new armour

    Can't wait to kill Necromorphs with a orange chainsaw

  • AnsemsApprentice #12 8 months ago

    The Thing is one of my favourite films, and this does sound pretty similar; that's a very good thing . . . ha.

    Has the potential to be the best in the series if that feeling of desperation and desolation returns, something that I just didn't feel in Dead Space 2. Being on a frozen planet will hopefully conjure up those emotions with the characters.

    It sounds like there will be far fewer enemies, too, unless the planet will be taken over by this "hive mind". Too early to say.

    Can't wait to see some footage.
    Edited by AnsemsApprentice at 26/09/11 @ 22:43

  • alcides #13 8 months ago

    Caught sight, perhaps?

  • funkateer #14 8 months ago

    Sounds interesting.

    I hope for the next game they'll get the pacing right for a change. Both games suffered from a lack of suspense or build-up and started the gory mayhem way too soon. They could have taken some more cues from System Shock 2 in that regard, which had an especially well established build-up.

    In the end I got the feeling that especially the 2nd game just went for shock value, but without a believable plot to back it up. Even the environments felt just too contrived and unbelievable. Which is a shame because after the 1st game, the sequel (while never bad) had so much potential...

    Hopefully the 3rd game will take the opportunity to reinvent itself and take the story into fresh territory.

  • Gearskin #15 8 months ago

    The Thing is about an alien that hides inside people.

    Dead Space is about an alien (?) that takes form out of any dead tissue.

    Did people even play this game, read the logs, the prequel novel about Altman and Unitology? The marker, where it came from, what its perceived to do?

    Seriously.

  • Rob_B #16 8 months ago

    @Gearskin - Let me answer that for probably about 98% of people who played Deadspace 1 &/or 2

    Did people even play this game - check
    read the logs - the ones I found, check
    the prequel novel about Altman and Unitology? The marker, where it came from, what its perceived to do? - Nope, it's a game, I didn't bother buying a book or DVD etc

  • Gearskin #17 8 months ago

    Their loss then. Ton of effort has gone into this so far, lot of broad Sci fi ideas that are a lot of fun. In fact, this is probably one of the fee new IP's this generation I've wanted to explore more thoroughly. Another being Bioshock.

  • ballshock #18 8 months ago

    His ship crashes? I four never have guessed

  • ballshock #19 8 months ago

    Could.. not four.. this spell correction is terrible
    Can't even edit on this app...

  • Dynamize #20 8 months ago

    Hope it's not all on a planet, part of the appeal of Dead Space for me was being in, well, space. All the auditory shenanigans, romping about outside the ship in vacuum and all that.

  • ollyn #21 8 months ago

    It would make sense, The first 2 games were great but another game set on a space station/ship wouldn't be much more than a retread. A planet is the only way to go and you have to make it inhospitable to keep the fear factor up so frozen wilderness, jungle, mountains are about the best options to keep the atmosphere as closed off and imposing as a space ship. So i reckon it is probable.

    Would love to see it as well, anyone remember The Thing video game on the Xbox (could have been on PS2 and GC as well). It wasn't half bad i actually enjoyed it for the most part, shame the sequel got canned.
    Edited by ollyn at 27/09/11 @ 00:07

  • sourc0r #22 8 months ago

    sounds interesting. make the fights less annoying and more frightening and i'm in.

  • chessboxer #23 8 months ago

    I love the Dead Space franchise. Got all 4 games and seen both films so another game will always be welcome.

  • StooMonster #24 8 months ago

    In the pitch black dark, using a projector, with surround-sound volume ramped up to ear splitting levels (with sub-woofer shaking the whole house) is how I like to play Dead Space games.

    Scares the crap out of me, even when I know what is coming.

    Deffo up for more of the same ... but even scarier please.

  • stryker1121 #25 8 months ago

    Less set pieces, more creepy atmosphere, please. Instead of 'bigger and more badass' how about 'smaller and meeker' w/o any exploding babies and gratuitous eyeball poking machines.

  • Collymilad #26 8 months ago

    Sounds fucking awesome.

  • ruddiger7 #27 8 months ago

    havent they picked on isaac enough, poor fellow

  • Zebula77 #28 8 months ago

    I've enjoyed both DS games, and I'm certain I'll enjoy this one as well.

    I do hope they go for more of a survival horror than an out and out action/shooter horror (like the last one). The best bit so far is the first two or three hours of DS1. Super suspenseful and seriously creepy.

    Make it more Silent Hill than Resi Evil, please! :)

  • TelexStar #29 8 months ago

    @Gearskin -
    "Did people even play this game, read the logs, the prequel novel about Altman and Unitology? The marker, where it came from, what its perceived to do?

    Seriously.    "

    "Their loss then. Ton of effort has gone into this so far, lot of broad Sci fi ideas that are a lot of fun. In fact, this is probably one of the fee new IP's this generation I've wanted to explore more thoroughly. Another being Bioshock."

    Perhaps the book is good - I don't know as I've not read it, but I'm big fan of Dead Space (you know, the game?) and after playing both and thoroughly enjoying them, I've come to the conclusion that you are an immensely condescending prick!

    Why don't you let people play their own game and make their own decisions about it rather than coming on here and cock knocking those who haven't read peripheral books you arrogant twit!

    Back on topic... This does sound very interesting but I hope they introduce a new enemy as it would seem a little cliched to be constantly escaping the same enemy, only to crash/arrive somewhere and face them again (a third time)
    Edited by TelexStar at 27/09/11 @ 08:17

  • Murton #30 8 months ago

    "They could have taken some more cues from System Shock 2"

    I think Dead Space has taken just enough inspiration from System Shock 2, just enough to give a gentle reminder and rekindle those fond memories or wandering around Citadel Station and the Von Braun, unlike Bioshock which tried a little too hard and was marketed as a "spiritual successor" but completely failed to live up to the name.

  • username84 #31 8 months ago

    ooooo Deadspace on a planet? I'm not afraid of change. As long as the planet has an awesome sky with swirly galaxies, multiple moons etc. Oh and I'm quite looking forward to impaling necromorphs with icicles. A bit fed up with the whole mysterious marker thing though. Hope they change that.

  • Gearskin #32 8 months ago

    @TelexStar

    To imply that Dead Space is just ripping off The Thing is wrong. You don't even need to have read the extra material to understand that.

  • mortiz666 #33 8 months ago

    Haven't completed Dead Space 2 yet, I might do one day but I just don't find it that fun.

  • funkateer #34 8 months ago

    "I think Dead Space has taken just enough inspiration from System Shock 2"

    Yes, but you failed to quote the "...in that regard" part of what I said. What I just meant is that the pacing, suspense and build-up is not nearly as well realised as in their obvious inspiration System Shock 2.
    For the rest I agree with you (also regarding Bioshock).

    They should re-release a polished up version of System Shock 2 on consoles one day; I'd be all over it.

  • edhe #35 8 months ago

    Would be nice if they changed up the pace - dead space 2 was a riot but doing the same again would kill the series imo.

    Like a previous commentor said, taking it back to the more creepy DS1 would be a good idea. Less enemies, taking more to kill.

  • TelexStar #36 8 months ago

    @Gearskin

    Except I never once implied (or explicitly said) that Dead Space was ripping off The Thing. I was however pointing out how completely and utterly condescending it is to ride in on your miss-guided high horse, show boating about how you've read a bunch of game tie-in books. Do you think that somehow makes you a Professor of Dead Space or something?

    Perhaps if you directed your comments to the individual who appeared to make such a claim rather than generally waving your fingers around the room, your comments might have been met with less venom.

  • Murton #37 8 months ago

    @funkateer - I was generaly comparing thhe two, I agree with the point on pacing as well but I think the design of Dead Space's gameplay meant that the pacing had to be the way it was really. System Shock 2 gave you a sizable "first level" to explore with only a couple of melee only enemies and a couple cameras to worry about, Dead Space 1 didn't give you the same level of exploration and interaction with the world so it needed to get to the gory action a little sooner.

    System Shock 1 and 2 remade in HD for the consoles would be a smash hit, the number of beloved 90s franchises that EA is just sitting on is insane. Break SS out of retirement and people will realise just how average Bioshock is and that really all it has in common with SS is that the first weapon you receive is a wrench and the only interaction you have with other characters is through collecting their diaries and receiving transmissions from a mysterious benefactor who you trust less and less as the game progresses.

  • Dizzy #38 8 months ago

    TBH I didn't get DS2. For me Dead Space was an amazing great game... and it is also one that doesn't need a series of follow-ups. Some games should not be revisited (IMHO). Same with Bioshock.

  • Gearskin #39 8 months ago

    @TelexStar

    Why would you assume I was talking to you when you hadn't even posted yet?

  • Frybird #40 8 months ago

    Would suck due to the lack of the lack of gravity.

    Zero G sections were too much fun in both games.

  • Bullet_Tunnel #41 8 months ago

    The thing is a sentient parasitic viral organism that infects living flesh, necromorphs are a parasitic viral organism that infects necrotic ( dead) flesh. simples

  • FogHeart #42 8 months ago

    Played the first.
    Played the on-rails shooter.
    Read the book.
    Played the 'second'.
    Bought the graphic novel.
    Perused the wiki.
    Ironed the T-shirt.
    Made the tea.
    Let the cat in.
    Went to bed.

    What I didn't know about games until recently is that a lot of the time the writing is done to glue together the scenarios and set pieces that the game designers come up with. This smells a lot like that. To that end, I fully expect that I won't get to find out why Ellie is utterly immune to the maddening effects of the marker, or why Lexine actually immunises those around her, or what the hell happened to Nathan after the escape in the shuttle. In fact I'm betting these characters never, ever meet. The action is great, the plot (with a small p) is much better in DS2, but the Plot (the overall story) seems to leave a lot hanging and is willing to kill off important characters on a whim for the sake of looking good on screen.

  • TelexStar #43 8 months ago

    @Gearskin

    If I need to spell it out for you then I will.

    You said: "Did people even play this game, read the logs, the prequel novel about Altman and Unitology? The marker, where it came from, what its perceived to do?

    Seriously.    "

    To me, this is a very sweeping comment directed at a collection of people. It also reeks of someone who is trying to show off at how they've read some game tie-in books and therefore know more than everyone else. This is what I objected to. Largely because it's complete bollocks but also because it's just plain rude.

    In actual fact only one person on this thread - Kami - made a comment about how this news sounded "eerily close to The Thing". This clearly got your back up but instead of directing your comments towards him/her, you decided on a more sweeping comment.

    After I picked you up on it, you then came back implying that I was suggesting that Dead Space was ripping off The Thing, which I wasn't. This not only makes you rude but either a) Blind and incapable of reading previous posts. Or b) Lazy for not reading previous posts.

    The irony of all this is that your original assessment of The Thing is false. The alien in the films doesn't "hide" inside a host (perhaps you're thinking of an eerily similar X-Files episode in season 1?). It actually kills and re-purposes their DNA into it's own, which ironically is rather similar to Dead Space!
    Edited by TelexStar at 27/09/11 @ 12:08

  • Scopeh #44 8 months ago

    not really dead space then is it..more like lost planet..

  • Zozzilla #45 8 months ago

    The boyfriend will be hyped about this. Me? I'm still trying to play through the first one cos I'm a freaking wuss and the tentacle babies scare me to death. So uh... *claps enthusiastically while expecting much laughing and fingerpointing from people saying I'm a baby*

  • FogHeart #46 8 months ago

    On a side note I've always been a bit curious of how The Thing was supposed to operate. It wasn't obvious even after reading Alan Dean Foster's novelisation. It's clear that the act of taking over a host is one of reproduction, not just transformation, as from a single dog come several 'Things' at once. The closest I have it is that it's a stem cell and a virus in one. The thing cell can connect to the cells of other organisms and transform them into versions of itself, but the newly infected cell continues to operate as it did when 'not thing' until circumstances say it needs to do otherwise, like crawl away from a hot needle.

  • CamberGreber #47 8 months ago

    O GREAT.

    A Dead Space that doesn't take place in SPACE.

    What Fun.
    This news is even worse than seeing how they turned Dead Space 2 in to a mindless Shooter.

  • FogHeart #48 8 months ago

    ^^You're not a wuss. Everyone has that key that unlocks the big fear inside them (heh, I learned everything from Doctor Who) and they happen to have picked yours. Me, ever since me and my brothers were gardening as kids and they collected all the slugs and worms they found and dumped them down my back, it's been slugs and worms for me. Doesn't make me a wuss either, I just have my own 'fear key'.

  • Kami #49 8 months ago

    @TelexStar; I apologise you got some of the hate here. Truth hurts for some people. Here, have some +1s from me and a cookie as my way of saying sorry.

    "To me, this is a very sweeping comment directed at a collection of people. It also reeks of someone who is trying to show off at how they've read some game tie-in books and therefore know more than everyone else. This is what I objected to. Largely because it's complete bollocks but also because it's just plain rude."

    And this comes back to my little latest crusade against the quality of script writing in games today.

    IF a game needs books, comics and flash movies to explain a plot, then the games are badly written. Books, comics, TV shows, movies - they should EXPAND on a concept, not flesh it out. This is why Kingdom Hearts is so unbelievably screwed and will be moreso when they finally get KH3 out - most people won't have played the spin-offs in between and so the plot of the "third main installment" will be more broken, confusing and impenetrable than KH2 was. Milking a franchise by splitting the story between multiple formats, media types and genres just makes it confusing. It doesn't flesh it out - it's corporate greed, pure and simple, and I long for a day when this sort of thing is made illegal. Or at least until we can convince people that it's only making things worse.

    I said of Dead Space 1 not long after its release that on playing and finishing it, it reeked of The Thing. But, at the time we were starved for decent horror games - still are, to a certain extent, and it was slow and well-paced, and just restrained enough to be a thrilling experience. Dead Space 2 was hyperactive, more interested in itself and all its references and to be honest, not that scary. And Dead Space 2 did pull away from The Thing - not by much, but just enough to sort of be making something of itself.

    And now we crash land in a snowy area where there's some science facility. One step forward, ten steps back. That said, they didn't expressly state that the Necromorphs are back - although one can assume that they are.

    This is a project where EA will have to tread VERY lightly. I can only assume they haven't got permissions/licencing for The Thing, and you can bet that the directors and company behind the movie/s and game are going to watch this one like a hawk, waiting for that moment when it just accidentally slips into their territory and then pounce.

    And if they have got permissions for it, why not just make a game of The Thing? The PS2 game was actually pretty bloody decent. More of that certainly wouldn't be unwelcomed...

  • chiefian #50 8 months ago

    Cannot wait for this, I hope it's early 2012 release but I am usually massively wrong on predicting launch dates, the weather and the average distance to the bin with an empty can.

  • captainCandy #51 8 months ago

    Nice, a Lovecraft story! Mountain of Madness!

  • FogHeart #52 8 months ago

    It always was a Lovecraft story. Also The Thing, and Alien, and The Shining, and Event Horizon, and draws infuence from the Waco incident, and riffs off Scientology. There have been accusations of lacking originality, of stealing from other films ( the snow setting draws focus to the Thing the way that the Ishimura drew comparisons to Event Horizon) but I'm just as impressed by the stitching together of many different influences to make a Frankenstein's Monster of a computer game.

  • Ahskay #53 8 months ago

    @Fogheart

    Gears of War 2 must be a horror for you then... :)

  • Lucodeath #54 8 months ago

    @fogheart
    The ps3 has a cell, is it like that one?
    Like DS1 an DS2 but DS3 should be set in space though.
    I got the Thing on bluray its ace and the xbox1 game aswell.

  • penhalion #55 8 months ago

    Hopefully I'm not the only one that feels the developers need to get this message. DO NOT BRING THAT BLOODY INDESTRUCTABLE THING BACK! I have to say that when that stupid thing appeared towards the end of deadspace 2 I almost threw my controller down in disgust. It would have been fine if I had to disect it and then burn it to kill it or disect it and then blow the remains up (depending on your weapon load out at that point, you'd need at least three ways to stop it re-generating. Instead no matter what you did it just mysteriously re-assembled itself. Even when I gravity blasted the bits over a wall. They just re-appeared like so much frakkin nonsense.

    Up until that point you felt you had some chance because you could kill any enemy. To then bring in something that can't be killed by the player is idiotic and cheap. What the hell is the point of playing on? Luckily I ran away as I realised I must be near the end but, what about the thousands of poor souls who would have wasted all their ammo trying to kill it.

    Indestructable creatures in games are like the developer pissing in your face for a laugh at your expense. It makes a nonsense of everything that came before. You automatically ask (if you have a single braincell) "So how come the monolith didn't just throw a dozen of these things at me from the start and stop me ever reaching it?".

    Sorry for the rant but. I got the horrible feeling, when they said you were being chased by something, that it will be that stupid thing all over again and if that proves to be the case I'm not even touching this new game.

  • Architect_z #56 8 months ago

    If I was Isaac, I'd carry a plasma cutter with me at all times, surely hes paranoid enough from his various necromorph encounters.