History YMMV / DeadSpace3

** In a single player playthrough, any of the scenes where Isaac and Carver bond as there is absolutely no build up to them. Carver also has an excessive habit of OffScreenTeleportation where he just ''appears'' out of nearly thin air just off-camera no matter how things were going beforehand; co-op partially mitigates this, up until the plot focuses on Isaac for both players and Carver starts teleporting again whenever the camera doesn't jarringly teleport to him instead.

** In a single player playthrough, any of the scenes where Isaac and Carver bond as there is absolutely no build up to them. Also how Carver basically just pops in from nowhere for these scenes.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The Awakened DLC. After much of the game's criticism came from the much downplayed horror themes, the great focus on third person shooter action, and the larger more open environments, the developers went more toward's the game's survivor horror roots with the DLC. Returning to the derelict space ship Terra Nova's much more claustrophobic environment, a renewed emphasis on survival horror, and a strong return of Dead Space 2's Marker induced hallucinations (for both Isaac AND Carver) did a much greater service to the game's predecessors than the main campaign.

* CriticalResearchFailure: You can find bloodstains and scrawlings all over the scuttled SCAF fleet and Tau Volantis facility. But in reality, blood dries brown and would have been completely decayed away after so long.

* EightPointEight: Dead Space got 7's and higher (up to 9.75/10 for Game Informer). One website ([=VideoGamer.com=]) gave it a 5/10.

MarathonLevel: Chapter 14 is the longest in the whole game with the player having to run all over the SCAF research facility to hunt down all the pieces of Rosetta, and also features two lengthy optional side missions (THREE if you are playing co-op).

* UnderusedGameplayMechanic: Hypothermia. It is only utilized as a gimmick during a relatively short sequence of Isaac and Carver crash landing onto Tau Volantis, and isn't brought up again after finding the Arctic Survival Suit. This even presents a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation, as any wearable RIG would suffice, instead of the one suit that's deliberately established to be the key for surviving against the harsh weather.

** The end of ''Awakened''. Some find it fitted with the Cosmic Horror-inspired atmosphere. Others found that after the bittersweet ending of the vanilla game, [[spoiler:having the Moons reach Earth with the implication humanity's doomed despite everything Isaac and the other protagonists have done negated any sense of accomplishment from the entire series.]]

** Carver. Is he really DumbMuscle like he presents himself to be or actually a GeniusBruiser whose depression just causes him to have a bad case of SelfDeprecation? The latter is likely as, despite claiming he "isn't an engineer", he is no less capable of constructing weapon modifications or performing various repairs across the ancient SC fleet and facility. TruthInTelevision as real life Special Forces groups require prospective recruits to have near genius to genius level intellects, and once joined are expected to cross train in multiple military roles (that isn't even their primary role) which would include battlefield engineering and ship maintenance.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Common consensus is that it isn’t a bad game, and is very enjoyable, but it ultimately falls short of the previous 2 games due to the removal of horror elements in favor of more generic action game tropes, an underwhelming story, and questionable business practices surrounding the game

** Player character [[DecoyProtagonist Tim Caufman]] from the prologue is liked for being an {{Adorkable}} NewMeat soldier who [[GoshDarnItToHeck mostly never swears]] and even when scared, he still fights his way through.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: For the game as a whole. Was ''Dead Space 3'' an ActionizedSequel, or simply the result of Isaac having tangled with the Necromorphs twice before and survived both? The ending of ''Dead Space 2''--where Isaac defeats them more or less on his own terms--reinforces the ideas that the Necromorphs haven't gotten any less frightening; Isaac just knows that he can get through this if he keeps calm and uses the resources available to him. This is reinforced in the multi-player where Carver's, and by extension his player's, experience and hallucinations are '''much''' worse than Isaac's as he hasn't accepted the loss of his family yet.
** Is Norton just a [[CrazyJealousGuy jealous]] [[{{Yandere}} jerkass]] for Ellie or a UnwittingPawn for the markers, driven insane into doing their bidding, just to get Isaac were the [[spoiler: Brother Moon]] wants him? Is his continuous insistence on getting as far from the planet as possible, mere [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere cowardice]] or his way of [[FightingFromTheInside fighting back against the markers]] before their influence becomes too great for him to resist? Is his final act of [[spoiler: trying to shoot Isaac]] just him being afraid of being [[TurnCoat found out]] or his last desperate attempt of stopping Isaac from [[spoiler: finding a way to shutting off the machine]] in a final sliver of resistance against the markers and their wishes? Nobody knows and most likely, nobody ever will...
* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The game makes sweeping changes to the overall formula of the series that removes much of the horror (namely the weapon crafting, isolation destroying Co-Op, Microtransactions that negate the survival element, and inclusion of generic action game elements such as human enemies, and cover based shooting) making it more of a generic action game and making a game that pleased nobody. Fans panned the changes while the ContinuityPorn and getting lost in the crowd of other other generic third person shooters resulted in the game failing to draw in new fans, dooming the game to bomb in sales.

* [[{{AuthorsSavingThrow}} Developer's Saving Throw]]: The Awakened DLC. After much of the game's criticism came from the much downplayed horror themes, the great focus on third person shooter action, and the larger more open environments, the developers went more toward's the game's survivor horror roots with the DLC. Returning to the derelict space ship Terra Nova's much more claustrophobic environment, a renewed emphasis on survival horror, and a strong return of Dead Space 2's Marker induced hallucinations (for both Isaac AND Carver) did a much greater service to the game's predecessors than the main campaign.
** Also the first necromorph you get to kill is the reanimated remains of Norton.

** The Alien Necromorphs encountered in the underground city. Unlike typical Necromorphs, you ''can't'' dismember them. All you can do is slow them down and randomly shoot at them until they die ([[OhCrap or until you run out of ammo]]). The fact that certain areas have these enemies spawn over and over again just makes them all the more frustrating.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The game makes sweeping changes to the overall formula of the series that removes much of the horror (namely the weapon crafting, isolation destroying Co-Op, Microtransactions that negate the survival element, and inclusion of generic action game elements such as human enemies, and cover based shooting) making it more of a generic action game and making a game that pleased nobody. Fans panned the changes while the ContinuityPorn and getting lost in the crowd of other other generic third person shooters didn’t draw in new fans, dooming the game to bomb in sales.

** Every conversation between Jacob Danik and Isaac seems to consist entirely of him spouting condescending religious cliches before Isaac just tells him to shut up. It really doesn't help that he looks suspiciously like Music/EltonJohn.

** Danik and his men are part of a sect of Unitology that believes mankind interference is corrupting the Markers and spawning Necromorphs. Their goal is to destroy artificial Markers to put things back on track and let them uplift mankind properly. This would have been a perfect opportunity to depict a Unitologist faction as misguided good guys and have them go up against the ruthless EarthGov. Instead, the Circle is depicted in game as a bunch of generic fanatics who care little for innocent life and frequently KickTheDog for no good reason.

'''You'd Expect:''' Carver would understand that there's much more at stake than just Ellie's life and agree with Isaac's refusal. Especially when ''Ellie herself'' is telling them not to give Danik the Codex.\\

'''The Result:''' Danik shuts down the Machine, which wakes the Moon, which in turns wakes its brothers. The Moons home in on Earth and eat humanity. El Fin.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Initially brought up when Ellie and Isaac meet [[spoiler:and agreed on by Isaac near the end of the game]]. Isaac initially refuses to continue fighting, an understandable point as his life [[ShellShockedVeteran was a living nightmare]] at several points, [[DyingAlone he's lost loved ones]] (Ellie included as she left him), and has tolerated being the victim of ChronicBackstabbingDisorder more than once. Ellie's response? ''He's a coward who can't or won't face his problems.'' Apparently, if you have post-traumatic stress disorder, you should just stop having it and man up.
** Even though we have no evidence that Ellie [[spoiler:knows about [[TheImmune Lexine]], if she is alive]], the fact remains of the second part of the Aesop's acceptance in the spoiler listed here.

** Firstly the core game which, all [[RevenueEnhancingDevices controversial business decisions]] aside, undoes the kinda happy ending of ''Videogame/DeadSpace2'', and brings back Isaac's resolved issues by copying and piling them onto new character Carver. Throw in a few WhatTheHellHero instances (see FamilyUnfriendlyAesop above) and an ExcusePlot considering Isaac barely has a reason to keep fighting, and you've got a game with controversial fan continuity.

** Many LOLs were had with the oftentimes underestimated Rivet Gun (Compact Frame + Telemetry Spike). Combined with an Electrocution Module and properly upgraded with chips, it also can one-shot pretty much anything short of Alien Necromorphs and bosses on any difficulty, and it has a much better clip size and rate of fire than its big brother, the lovely [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice Javelin Gun]]. Triggering the electrocution after hitting an enemy will kill it and everything in a several meters radius around the initial target. You don't even need to hit something at all - just shoot a spike into the ground, electrocute it and watch all nearby 'morphs drop like flies. Rinse and repeat until the onslaught eventually stops. Oh, and like the Chain Lightning Gun mentioned above, it kills Wasters and Pregnants without them pulling their nasty tricks in the process, and the electricity immediately stuns everything it comes into contact with.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: For the game as a whole. Was ''Dead Space 3'' an ActionizedSequel, or simply the result of Isaac having tangled with the Necromorphs twice before and survived both? The ending of ''Dead Space 2''--where Isaac defeats them more or less on his own terms--reinforces the ideas that the Necromorphs haven't gotten any less frightening; Isaac just knows that he can get through this if he keeps calm and uses the resources available to him.