Dead Space 3: Awakened Critic Reviews

All of the shooting and stomping and crafting lead Awakened toward a conclusion that left me wanting more, so much so that the original game's ending seems superfluous in hindsight. There's a steady, rhythmic approach to the battles in Awakened that can become repetitive, but they succeed in paving the way for even more future fights.

You should absolutely play Awakened if you’ve already beaten Dead Space 3. It’s one of the more original and memorable parts of Isaac’s story… which says as much about Dead Space 3 as a game as it does the quality of this DLC.

Dead Space 3 would have been well served to include some of the thrilling gameplay featured here, but Awakened‘s convoluted narrative has far too many absurd plot holes—and is far too short—to be worth anything to anyone but the most die-hard Dead Space fans.

As an extension of Dead Space 3’s story, it’s ultimately a bit pointless — especially with its cliffhanger ending, which effectively deprives you of the closure the main game (minus its end-credits tease) delivered. Unless you’re a hardcore fan or franchise completist, we’d suggest saving your $10 and replaying Dead Space 3 instead.

Speaking as a fan of Dead Space, I feel I could skip Awakened and miss absolutely nothing of value. While some of the new ideas are nice, the sense of disappointed that none of them are capitalized upon offsets any good they do, while the story is nothing you couldn't explain in a single Tweet.

How many more filthy, blood-spattered mess halls, garages and control rooms must we trudge through, in search of loot drops and audio diaries? How many more vents and sinkholes must we wearily inventory on entering an area, in readiness for the moment when the soundtrack jack-knifes and the undead pop into view? Awakened doesn't have answers for these questions.

It's borderline slapstick at times.

Rather than resolving what came before it, Awakened simply shrugs its shoulders for a couple hours before throwing another cliff-hanger ending your way. Sure, it still plays perfectly well, with plenty of intense dismemberment and a pleasingly varied selection of necromorph enemies to fend off.

Pathetically short, entirely uneventful and clearly stuck together from existing assets, Awakened doesn't add anything to its parent game other than a punchline that makes it clear that Isaac's trials on Tau Volantis were ultimately a waste of his - and our - time.

Possibly the worst value for money expansion of the modern era, with little more than an hour of generic action, bad storytelling, and zero scares.