If you were anything like me, then you probably shuttered at the idea of having Co-Op in Dead Space. We dreaded this franchise going the route of Resident Evil 5 and ruining any feeling of tension and atmosphere that this franchise has created so very well. Thankfully, we can rest easy because Dead Space 3 has found a way to keep what made it so popular intact while expanding its horizons. Dead Space 3's Co-op is 100% optional right down to the characters presence in your game. No I do not mean that you can choose if you want an AI partner or not. If you play solo, your partner will be off by his lonesome at some different location away from you. He will only appear during story moments. However, if you do play in co-op then the two of you will be together and the cutscenes will be changed as well as additional dialogue will be given. It gives you more story in a unique and refreshing way without deterring from the solo experience that many of us want. There is more to it, but we shall come to that later… As usual, Dead Space starts you off in some sort of intense situation that takes about .5 nano seconds to get to right after the opening. it sets the backstory up nicely and pings at your interesting button from the first spoken word. I started my game on the Hard difficulty since the demo appeared far too easy for my taste. I want that edge of my seat, nerve wracking, sense tingling, adrenalin rush that I got from the first game. Thankfully, it gave me the proper fix on the difficulty. From the first moments right down to the last second, everything about Dead Space 3 oozes atmosphere. The attention to detail and the variety of environments all encompass the things that we have felt in both older games. The claustrophobic halls of a derelict ship and the populated city all strike a tone of being familiar with you as you "cut off their limbs!" in the most pulse pounding ways that we have not yet seen. The environments are so lovingly crafted and filled to the brim with detail, that it gives you the feeling of the world being much larger than it really is. That is the kind of atmosphere that should be in games. Letting the player imagine what lies beyond, rather than what is right here in front of you. The well-crafted environments compliment the feeling of mystery in the story. This is arguably its best selling point. The main story is not something epic and worthy of continued praise, it feels like it was underdeveloped in wake of its amazing environments and environmental narrative. It all pretty much amounts to finding one solution to an otherwise massive problem. It could have taken a better route in my opinion. I won’t say what that idea is, due to spoilers. There are moments where you will genuinely feel something when a character is killed off, or there is some great development in your co-op partner. This leads me to this unique ideal that the team has placed in the game. Whenever you take an optional Co-Op Side Mission, your partner (Carver) will see things that the player as Issac will not see. He will have his very one hallucination’s from The Marker that will create a grand feeling of tension between you and your partner. Some moments he will be fighting an invisible band of Necro’s or remembering a haunting past. Speaking of Side Missions, there are other types of optional missions that have you leaning the fates of these 200 year old wreckages and why it all happened. It gives you a bigger explanation for the main story of this game and the stories of the other games. You learn many things about The Markers and their true intentions. These missions bring the audio logs and text logs to the spotlight as each and every one of them has something interesting to say about the place that you are in. It is minimalistic story telling at its finest. This game is a rare case where the environment and side quests outshine the main story in a pretty big way. The story just feels too small in comparison to everything else. It pretty much can be summed up with ONE PHRASE from the movie Star Wars… And that mate with our girl Ellie is a total Knob end! Remember our good ol power nodes? Well, they are gone. Dead Space 3 handles its upgrades with you managing and acquiring resources such as scrap metal, medical gel, tungsten, etc. These will allow you to upgrade your suit as well as craft new weapons from scratch. The Bench is nearly the main hub for this operation as you assemble you imagination to conjure the ultimate instrument of death. Want two rocket pods with acid damage? Go ahead mate! Want a combination Contact Beam with a Bola Line Gun? Why not! You can craft these weapons to your liking and share the blueprints with your co-op friends so you can become even more unstoppable. Dead Space 3 is a great game. It is in no way, shape, or form a score of 60 or below. In fact, it is insulting that reviewers are rating it so low when it does sooo many things right. Sure its story may fall flat at times, but that is picked up by its breath taking visuals and environmental narrative that complement the atmosphere 10 fold. The co-op is great fun and innovative and gives you a greater depth of the story with an interesting character and more dialogue. It is not perfect, but it is something that is worth your time for the 15+ hour story.