Co-Op fever attacks again - now Dead Space 3

Where am I coming from: a fan of the 1st game and somewhat the 2nd one. After reading about the inclusion of co-op i was expecting a Resident Evil 5 treatment, with less scares, and an escort mission from beginning to end. In other words my expectations were kinda low.

The beginning started weak, since you are fighting human enemies - but it shown me one thing - i was alone, and with no persistent partner. As soon the human enemies were replaced with necromorphs - my mood and expectations were raised.

Everything felt familiar - still Isaac the pessimist, same controls, same weapons. The more I played the game the more i liked it. The highlight was the missions/exploration in space, which were very well done - and felt a little metroidish... but only a little... and i like metroidvania games :).

The plot - while intriguing felt kinda plain, and this was emphasized by the main missions - Isaak go fix this, Isaak go fix that. The game also introduced side missions - which is great and lenghtens the game by a lot. But unfortunatelly the missions are taking away from the main plot which in itself is not that strong anyway.

Got tired of the story after a couple of hours and concentrated on the gameplay. Especially since we are introduced to a new weapon upgrade mechanic, now you are able to craft your weapons from different weapon parts, which you find or craft on the engineering bench. While in the beginning it seems overwhelming - it's easy after a while. Also you are able to buy with in-game resources the premade weapons, which you can craft yourself anyway.

Also don't use the microtransaction system - since you can gain more than enough resources on your own by just playing the game.

You are able to combine 2 weapons into 1, like a pulse rifle and a plasma cutter etc. and are able to wield 2 weapons max - which means 4 anyway.

Weapons come in bigger varieties - and it's a lot more than in the last 2 Dead Space games combined. The crafted weapons can also be upgraded. Personally i enjoyed the old type of system where you find a weapon and upgrade it - but this thing is subjective :).

Unfortunately no specific weapon felt really strong - no Line Gun raw power here.

The game is based a lot more on exploration - which is a good thing. But it is also more action oriented that other Dead Space games, I never felt that I was low on ammo.

Same enemies from the first game are still present here with little additions. What iritates me to no end - are the constant crazy screams of the monsters - and since the game throws more enemies at you compared to the older games, the screams sometimes just don't stop.

The game is quite long (approx 20-25h) even without finishing all the side quests. Overall it's still Dead Space, it is far from being bad, because it's actually quite good - but not great. If you never played the old Dead Space games - go and play them first.

To sum it up:
Pluses:
Long campaign, side missions, more to explore, space missions, tons of guns, co-op - if you would enjoy this kind of stuff

Minuses:
Weak Plot, more action oriented, less atmospheric compared to old titles, same enemies (basically)

P.S. I'm also happy that it didn't go the Resident Evil 5,6 path.... for now.