Seeing as metareviews, frankenreviews or whatever other term you prefer for the aggregation of reviews from major outlets on major (read: triple-A) releases are reasonably popular, I thought I’d launch one of our own for big releases that I’m not reviewing.

Today, we look at what some of the big publications thought of Dead Space 3. Does the new co-op campaign kill the game or can it live up to the first two games of the trilogy.

Game Informer (9.75/10) – The clean, HUD-less presentation, dismemberment-focused gunplay, and expertly crafted derelicts have made each successive entry feel ahead of its time. Dead Space 3 evolves the winning formula into a title not only befitting of the fantastic series, but also one of the best games of this generation.

Polygon (9.5/10) – Visceral avoided major deviations from the gameplay loop established by the previous games, instead choosing to refine those mechanics. But it has made major, substantive additions to the game’s structure that make Dead Space 3 feel much more ambitious. Even more surprisingly, it has successfully executed on all of them.

IGN (7.8/10) – It’s in frantic moments… that Dead Space 3 truly shines – its superb combat and addictive new collection and upgrade system brought to life by the game’s crackling production design. The same can’t be said about the frequent errand-running, poor story and overwhelming sense of deja vu that marks much of the 19 chapter adventure. Dead Space 3 consequently becomes caught in the dissonance of the extreme glory of its combat and presentation, and the pervasive tedium of almost everything else it does.

VideoGamer (5/10) – Dead Space 3 is pretty much the exact game everyone else said it would be. It is, quite frankly, a bit of a mess; a misguided, dull slog that’s so devoid of innovation and inspiration that it seems mad that it actually comes from the same people as its stellar predecessors.

Kotaku (No) – I was confident in Visceral’s ability to make an enjoyable game. And they are still great game makers. But the direction that Dead Space 3 took felt confused. Like it didn’t know what it was anymore. It became this Frankenstein creation of every bullet point needed to make a blockbuster hit, with some half-assed creepiness that ended up only serving as a depressing reminder of the husk that the series has become with this third title.