EA unveils Dead Space 3 DLC, Awakened

While the release of Dead Space 3 is still a few days away, Electronic Arts has announced the first DLC for the game—Awakened. The DLC will be launched in March and will cost 800 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360, and $9.99 (approx. Rs 530) on the PlayStation 3 and PC.

EA has stated that Awakened will feature "the franchise's darkest chapters," and the battle against the Necromorph will become more gruesome. General Manager of Visceral Games Steve Papoutsis has said Awakened would feature some of the "most disturbing content" players have experienced in any Dead Space game. Papoutsis hinted at the DLC back in January.

EA says the DLC will be very disturbing

While games in general are getting easier to appeal to a wider audience, Dead Space 3 won't be leaving hardcore gamers out in the cold. It recently came to light that Dead Space 3 would feature four additional difficulty modes that would be unlocked after the first playthrough. Two of the four modes—Classic and Hardcore—have clearly been made for those familiar with the earlier games. Classic mode is a single-player affair that ditches the game's revamped crosshairs and resource management elements to give a feel more similar to the game’s previous iterations. The Hardcore mode only gives players one life for the entire campaign. The Dead Space 2 also had a Hardcore mode, which allowed players a generous three saves for the entire game, but Dead Space 3 doesn’t afford players any such luxury.

There's also a New Game+ mode that lets you start a new game with all your upgrades and arsenal intact, besides a Pure Survival mode where everything in the game has to be crafted. "Enemies ONLY drop resources, and there’s no ammo, health, or weapon parts to be found," Papoutsis said. "You’ll have to choose what to craft every time you see a bench. Upgrade? Med Pack? Plasma Core? Think fast -- there’s a Waster right around the corner!"

He also explained a new gameplay element in Dead Space 3 called scavenger bots. He said, “Another cool feature of DS3 is the scavenger bot. Everybody will find at least one of these bots in the game [and there (are) a couple hidden ones to pick up, too.] The Scavenger Bot is an autonomous robot that can harvest resources for you and deliver them to the Tool Construction bench. Resources include stuff like somatic gel, scrap metal, tungsten - materials that you can use to craft into anything you want, like a health pack or weapon part.”

The game, developed by Visceral Games, will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on February 8. Make sure you check out our preview of Dead Space 3.