DEVELOPER: Visceral Games

PUBLISHER: EA Games

SYSTEM: Microsoft Xbox 360 (PS3, PC)

PRICE: $59.99

ESRB RATING: Mature

REVIEW RATING: 4.0 stars (out of 5)

The "Aliens" movie taught viewers that "in space, no one can hear you scream," but my neighbors will swear under oath that this isn't true on Earth. Ever since I started playing "Dead Space 3," they've heard me hollering obscenities as if I can't control my own vocal chords! Even though this sequel is more action-oriented than the first two, there are still plenty of unexpected "gotcha" moments.

It's not surprising that the hero from the first two games, Isaac Clark, is once again called upon to stop a deadly necromorph outbreak. This time a lunatic religious organization releases them upon the masses, so Isaac has to battle humans as well as mutants. Eventually he travels to an ice planet in search of his girlfriend and just happens to save the universe.

This is definitely a bigger and badder game than the previous iterations. Isaac has extended romps through zero-G environments, flies a spaceship through a dangerous planetary atmosphere, controls giant turrets, rappels down mountains and blasts holes through countless mutants. He really is a jack-of-all-trades, but some game play elements are much more enjoyable than others.

For example, the weapon crafting is extremely in-depth, and the visuals and lighting effects are outstanding. In addition, using crafted weapons and telekinesis to remove the limbs of necromorphs is a bloody good time! On the other hand, fighting against humans can be rather boring, and it seems like Isaac moves much slower than they do.

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