Dead Space 3 Notes

First I have to sign some terms and conditions for EA servers, whether I want to or not. Why give you the option after you have bought the game. Oh that's right because if they asked you to do it before you might not. Once you have paid it's ok to hit you with the negatives.
Then I have to put in my "I bought this game new" code.

Controls

Left analogue stick        Move character
Right Analogue stick        Camera
Left trigger            Aim
Right trigger            Shoot/melee if not pressing aim.
Left bumper            run
Right bumper            Stomp
Y           
X                reload
B
A           
dpad           
Start           
Select
Clicking right stick        locator
Clicking left stick

I start a solo campaign, adjust brightness, then choose normal difficulty.

A cut scene tells the history of the game. It all started long ago on earth where an alien black marker was found. It was a limitless source of energy. However it also had the side effect of causing dementia and the resurrection of dead flesh which began assembling itself to it's own agenda. Creating creatures called necromorphs. The necromorphs were destroyed and the marker covered up and buried. However, the burial wasn't deep enough and a religion called Unitology sprang up, led by Robert Altman.

During the energy crisis that followed, the marker was turned to again, it was copied. Red human built markers were made. They provided energy, though at the huge cost of creating the necromorph outbreaks. Again these indestructible markers were buried. Many years later the Ishimura crew found a marker by accident. This led to the events of Dead Space one. Isaac escaped the carnage and was captured by Earth Gov. They took him to the sprawl and prized the secrets of the marker from him. Yet more were built by the Unitologists seeking their salvation. This caused yet another  new rash of marker led insanity. The sprawl was destroyed. Now Isaac is searching for clues to a legend. It is rumored that someone once managed to stop a necromorph outbreak on a remote ice planet.

Prologue Beginnings Tau Volantis
The scene shifts to a solider in a suit in a blizzard, he seems to be alone and having difficulty communicating with his squad, who sound like they are in trouble. It seems our character here is called Tiff, he confesses that his gun isn't even loaded. I have to move through the blizzard, following the locator. A ship has crashed in the distance, the blizzard begins to thin out. I speak to someone called Doc on the communicator. He asked us to find a way inside the crashed and burning ship. I find some bullets just outside the ship. The ship seems to be called the Mule. I find a door, but it does not seem to want to open. I hit it but it does not do anything, I have to shoot out a cover on the emergency release. Zombies come out of the ship, I kill them, our character does not appear to be surprised in the slightest. I kill the zombie and then go inside and fight more of them. I climb a ladder into what looks like a flight deck.  Here I find what we are being sent to look for. Something called the codex, it looks like a cylinder roughly the size of a thermos flask. The ship begins to lurch on the ice cliff edge and I am almost knocked out of the emergency hatch. We use a rappel line to head down the cliff. I must move down avoiding falling debris. Then the rope goes loose as the ship is falling down the cliff with us. I have to roll as I slide down and avoid the falling ship.
I land at the  bottom it seems in a camp. There are lots of dead bodies, some of them have been hung. Someone approaches and it seems our character knows who it is. He salutes and calls him General. The general seems to be of the opinion that things are hopeless. He thinks the doctor can't stop the outbreak. He takes the codex from Tiff, then asks if he loves the Earth. Tiff says that he does then the general shoots him in the face at point blank range. He then deletes the date on the cylinder and shoots himself.

New Horizon lunar colony.
We see Isaac, he does not look like life is treating him well. He is drinking and it appears Ellie from the last game, has dumped him. He is startled when the door to his room opens by itself, he picks up his gun and aims it at the door. Isaac is ambushed by a soldier and held at gunpoint. A man comes in as asks  Isaac to help him with a marker problem. Isaac is understandably not please by this. He tells the man to find someone else for his suicide mission, and is told that Ellie already tried and they have lost contact with her. Suddenly an explosion sounds outside. An alarm can be heard and a voice tells us that Unitologists have breached the security. Isaac it seems has little choice but to go with his guests. They give him a gun and we must follow them. I come out into corridors in a slum apartment building. I come out into a courtyard type area and the soldiers inform us that they are part of Earth Gov's last battalion. We are attacked as we leave and I am told to make my way to a car that is nearby. As I do an enemy jumps on the bonnet and blows himself and the car up with two grenades. Isaac is knocked down into a new area. I then have to fight a few enemies. I am told that the Unitologists are here to kill Isaac. Being able to break markers is a direct threat to their plan it seems. I am told to go to the roof to meet the extraction team. I move through a street like area fighting, then come to a road. Very fast automated trucks speed by, it is impossible to cross. Isaac has to use his stasis power to slow a truck, this causes a pile up. I can now cross. I move on and come to a lobby, there are an awful lot of dead Earth Gov soldiers. A broadcast from a Unitology spokesman talks of the usual everyone becoming one rhetoric. I enter a lift.
At the top I find that the Unitologists are waiting to ambush me. In cut scene we find the Unitology leader waiting for us. Isaac is shot in the gut and held at gunpoint. The leader talks to us about the marker program that we made possible. He points to a large building in the distance that is suspiciously marker shaped. He presses a button and the building blows open to reveal a huge marker. He tells us that it is time to join the cycle of rebirth. Isaac jumps from the edge of the building.

Thankfully he doesn't die and lands in a pile of bodies. He gets up just in time to see the first corpses begin to reanimate. I have to fight off two necromorphs. I move through more office type areas fighting as I go. I get into a lift and am contacted by one of the surviving Earth Gov soldiers. He tells Isaac to make for an area. Isaac tells him that he will try and get on the train. I come out of the lift into a shopping centre like area.
Automatic barriers come down forcing us through a shop, out into a street market like area. I am attacked by many necromorphs here. I enter a subway station and go down in a lift.
I come to a large train repair bay. Isaac sees that the train has been taken apart. If he wants to go anywhere in it he is going to have to put it back together.
This is basically a tutorial for the kinesis ability. I can point at a specific object and press B. This causes a force beam to shoot out and latch onto the object. I can then use the right stick to move the object around. I have to move the train onto a circular platform which rotates and then spin it around and shuffle it about so that it is all connected up. Once it is connected it activates and moves through the station. I am told to board at the rear. As I get on soldiers arrive and attack. I go inside and the train starts to move. I now have to make my way along the train and the good guys will pick me up off it in their space ship. I go out onto the top of the train and find two ships battling over the train. I have to fight my way through Unitologist soldiers that are dropped onto the train. The ship named the Eudora comes in close and Isaac grabs the lip of a ramp that comes down. In cut scene I have to QuickTime press A frantically to grab the hand of a solider who tries to bring us on board.

Eudora
Isaac wakes in a sick bay. He sees the soldier, whose name is Carver holding a picture of his wife and Child. It seems they were killed by the Unitologists and Carver is not very friendly. We are called to the bridge by Norton who is the man in charge. As I reach the bridge on my short trip through the ship a cut scene starts. The Eudora comes out of Hyper drive and a small broken moon appears. Debris almost hits the ship. The crew report that the area around the planet and it's moon seem to be littered with junk, some of it over 200 years old. A distress call is coming from a nearby ship. Norton orders the Eudora closer to investigate. As it moves in mines appear all around and explosions rip into the bridge. I have to run from the bridge and it is sealed off. Isaac begins giving orders as nobody else seems to be. He tells Norton to use a tool to seal the depressurized areas and then asks where he can get an EVA suit. Carver points him in the right direction. I make my way along the corridor which suddenly is turned sideways when the artificial gravity goes haywire. I have to run along the collapsing corridor. Isaac finds the suit and is blown out of the airlock as he is putting it on. He finishes putting it on outside the ship very quickly. We now have to get an escape pod unlocked from the ship manually. I fly over and kinesis two bolts. It then falls away from the exploding ship. I follow the box like pod with Carver and Norton hanging onto it. I have to shoot mines and avoid debris. We eventually reach the other ship where the distress call is coming from. Carver and Norton take the box over to a cargo door, which won't open. Isaac goes to another door and gets inside. I then move around the ship and find the cargo door release. I then move into the cargo bay and meet up with Carver and Norton. There are other crew in the pod, some of them are badly injured. Norton tells us to go and find the source of the distress call in this ship while he tends the wounded. Inside the ship the air is old, there are also the telltale graffiti that suggest things are not at all well aboard.
I come to a room and have to plug a loose power cell into a socket to get a bench working. I can now get to the weapon upgrade screen. There are what look like coffins scattered around the place. Putting the socket into the bench also reactivates the door. There are signs on the door suggesting that it has been closed as a quarantine measure. I think I can guess from what. They are ramping up the jump scare tension here, nothing is jumping out at me, though I know it's coming. As expected ancient necromorphs arrive and attack. I come to a briefing room, the necromorphs seem to be cocooned into the ceiling and drop when you shoot them. I go through a door and see a huge tentacle outside the ship, a portent of a boss battle to come. Some Necromorphs appear to play dead when you shoot them now. Others appear from walls after you think it's all clear. A call comes in from the others, it seems Isaac has woken up the necromorphs and they are attacking the others in large numbers. I go through a zero gravity tube and encounter the necromorph type that is a body with three arms on top. They shoot spines at you and move around in the zero-g environment easily.
I come to a large open cylindrical room. It is the ships power generator. If we can turn it back on we will be able to let Norton get to Ellie's location, we will also be able to take a lift there as well. I have to bring three rings down into contact, then use kinesis to spin a turbine until the generator starts. As I do each stage necromorphs pop out and attack. Once the generator is powered with a light show Norton calls to say he has power. I go to the lift unmolested and come out into a cut scene.
Ellie is there with two other people. Norton gives her a more than friendly hug of welcome. The two people are introduced, they are marker experts, Buckle and Santos. Ellie thinks that the admiral of the derelict knew something and has written it in marker script in her quarters. Isaac tells Ellie to get the rest to safety and he will go and see what it says.
I go back down in the lift and find that a tentacle monstrosity has invaded the power core room. It isn't attacking me yet, I shoot a glowing part and one waving tentacle falls. There is a large portion blocking the way forward. I have to do the same process with the power connectors again, bring the ring down and crank the starter. This knocks the tentacles away and spawn in attackers. I go back through the ship, this time the fans in the gravity area are spinning making stasis necessary to pass. The door to the admirals area is locked, though a panel beside it is active that wasn't before. This is a hacking mini game where you have to move dots around on a grid quickly using both sticks against the clock.
I take a lift to the admirals quarters. Inside I find the dead body of the admiral and an insane mural dedicated to the markers. Isaac reads it and tells Ellie that the admiral had found evidence that the markers were all controlled by another alien machine which may be down on the planet below. She also talked of a key that could be made and used to turn the markers off.
Ellie speaks to Isaac and she believes that the planet they are in orbit above is the home world of whoever built the markers.
A ship is found attached to another derelict. we have to now find a way to get across to it. On the way back through the ship the briefing room in now playing a movie on the screen, now that the power is back on. The film reveals that the markers are not actually generators, they receive power from  the central machine. Basically they are like batteries that are charged from the main source across limitless distances by a carrier wave. The planet is named Tau Volantis.
I head back to the bay where I first entered the quarantine section. I find Ellie there. There is some argument about what to do once transport is achieved. Norton wants to get the hell out of here. Ellie wants to go down to the planet and investigate. I get the feeling we won't be following Norton's agenda. A small ship to ship transport has been found, we have to check out if it is working. I move through a previously locked door and find the first suit upgrade shop. Norton calls on a private channel, he wants to know if we are going to side with him. Isaac tells him that they may have a chance of stopping the markers. Norton thinks this is suicide and that Isaac only sides with Ellie because he wants to get back into her good books. He seems paranoid, this isn't going to end well.
I leave the ship and fly over to the skiff. It seems that I can use this to move between derelicts in a non linear fashion. I go over to a random ship and find that this is a co-op mission and I need to invite a friend to be able to play. I go to the next ship.

Greely optional mission.
I explore the ship, there is a signal coming from somewhere in the ship. I have to get power back on to be able to get past locked down doors. I move through the ship and turn on the much smaller power generator. I have to now head to the radio room. Necromorphs have been stirred up by the power going back on. I get to the radio room and have to do a new puzzle type mini game, where I have to do some math to work out a power sharing ratio between two systems. I hear a conversation, some soldiers have been stuck by scientists who have locked themselves in the radio room. They are told by their leader to abandon them and shut off the ships life support. I enter a new area where there is what seems to be insulation covering the lower areas of the floor and furniture. There are also what look like dissected frozen sections of people. I go down a lift into a storage area and find many quarantine marked pods. A few enemies attack at random jump scare moments. The little bug enemies make their first appearance here. I come to a machine which is emanating sparks in a dangerous looking fashion. I use kinesis on it and stop the sparks. I then find an audio log from a scientist called Engstrom, she is desperate sounding talking about getting to her office. A key to her office can be found here. Looks like I have to now go to her office. As I move back through the ship the gravity plates start to go awry and become dangerous, ripping apart and throwing upwards anything that stands on them. many Necromorphs appear in the frozen section room. I make my way to the office where I find and decrypt an audio message. It reveals the name of someone important in the research of the markers. I now make my way back to the airlock. I can craft a tungsten bar which allows me to open a specially locked door. There is essentially loot behind it.
I go back out and move to the next ship, the Terra Nova.

Terra Nova
I arrive docked onto the side of this ship, rather than having to fly across to the airlock. I move up and find a lift with three floors, though one one is accessible. I enter a large room and am told that cargo functions are offline. I find a panel and have to hack it by circling a pointer until a blue light appears. This must be done three times against the clock. Once done a display lights up and we can see that the shuttle needs repairs but should be space worthy. I have to get to it and this ship is much bigger than any we have been on so far. It will take a bit of getting to, of course there will be many necromorphs and problems before I get there as well. I enter a large bay filled with cargo containers and cranes. I find a scavenger bot, which can be used to find resources for us automatically. I fight through some more rooms and come to a tram station. On calling the tram I find that it is blocked. I now have to go to a point on the ship nearby where I can see the tracks. I encounter a wall based mass of necromorph that take a bit of killing. Ammunition is beginning to become scarce. I find text logs that suggest the crew were being killed off digging for the markers. There is also musings about why when they were at war were they sending a fleet out to dig for alien artifacts. I find the tracks and there are cargo pods in the way. I have to move them. I do this by rotating two cargo stacks so they they fit together like a jigsaw and then they move onwards. Once I get them cleared the train can be called. Necromorphs can be seen in a glass pod in the last, and a warning sound telling me I have let them into the ship. I am attacked. On the way back to the tram station the lift break and plummets down a few floors. This takes me to a new area.

CMS terra Nova Cradle Ops.
I move into an area called cargo filtration, where large cargo pods are moving on conveyors. I move though this area and find myself back in the other area, heading back to the tram station. I find that the large necromorph i let into the ship is waiting here. It gets loose and it is a self regenerating necromorph. This means it's indestructible I can shoot it and blow bits off but it will grow them back. I have to basically run. All the way through more enemies to the tram station and then wait for the train. I am mobbed in the station and there are two of the large indestructible necromorphs.

Chapter six repair and ride. Conning tower. (Optional mission).
I am told I can investigate the conning tower for it's resources. I think this a good idea as I am running fairly low on ammo and health packs. A recorded voice tells me that I have done well to get past the security. This can't be a live voice as it's talking about the 200 year old army. Seems I may be falling foul of a recorded trap. I move into an area and find explosives. I can blow them up from a distance. I then try to open a door and the voice tells me to die. The bombs go off, well the ones I didn't find. Then a lockdown comes into force and the room floods with necromorphs. I kill them all then have to hack the door panel to get through. In the next room the voice tells me I can't kill electricity. The voice is coming from someone named Edwards. The traps are electric spark arcs which block the corridors ahead. There is a box connected to them which provides the power. All I have to do is shoot it to shut of the beam. The next trap is coffins filled with necromorphs that burst open when you pass. Now the gravity plating has been reversed, which is blocking the way. I must find a way to cut the power. I have to go to environmental control, which is nearby. After fighting my way there I find more traps in the room. This is another quarantine, survive a heavy wave scenario.
A puzzle here didn't seem to make much sense, there are five wheels with symbols. I managed it by happy accident rather than knowing what I was doing. I now reach the environmental control and find a large spinning generator. I have to use stasis to slow it down and then pull out three components shutting off the gravity trap. I go back and enter the elevator. I find a small cabin type room with a key to Edward's nest. I then go up into his command post and find that he has shot himself long ago. More necromorphs to deal with then I find his stash of gear. Backtracking across the universe with yet more necromoprhs to deal with.

Aft Section.
Back at the tram I take a ride to the aft section. One of the indestructible appears and I get into a lift to evade it. I go up into a large room where some weird noises are emanating. I find the shuttle, it is fairly wrecked. We need to get it to a repair bay. Isaac thinks he can install a remote control onto it so he can move it to the bay. We have to make a remote relay. I have to find the three parts of this relay and then put them together at the bench. Many necromorphs die in the process. I take an elevator which has got me from either side of the bay down to the nose of the ship and install the remote. The others try and remote fly it and we now find that it is out of fuel. I have to refuel it. I go through to a new area and find some enemies and a fuel control. This puts the fuel nozzle near the ship, though I have to attach it. Then detach it. Ellie tries to start the engine and inadvertently starts a launch sequence. I have to get out of the area before the engines cook me. This means running around the bay as fire jets in all directions and necromorphs attack. I then find that the shuttle bay door is stuck, if the ship launches it will crash into them, maybe destroying it. I have to find out what is stopping it from closing. There are explosive drums caught in the gears, there is a decompression sucking them in. I find and emplaced gun here and have to use it to shoot the drums that are caught and necromorphs that attack. Once done the doors open and everything goes to hell. Isaac is sucked out into space. I then have to make my way back inside. I find myself at the docking bay where my little skiff is docked. I am told that the ship need a port engine and that one can be found on an abandoned ship nearby.

Chapter 7 "mayhem" CMS Greely
I have to spacewalk out to a piece of wreckage and help another crew member detach an engine from the broken junk. Once it is detached he takes it back for us. I then have to go and find data recorders which will help us navigate. I have to fly to another nearby ship and find three recorders at small satellite like devices. Now it is back to the nearest bench to make the flight recorder. Arguments start over what is going to happen next. Some want to just get the hell out of here, Ellie wants to go down to the planet. Norton is overruled by all those who think that going down and stopping the marker is better than heading back to a civilization which might be overrun by necromorphs and Unitologists. Isaac invites Norton to try and stop them. This is not going to end well. I am told to go to the shuttle which is now docked outside. I fly out to it. Inside the shuttle I find Ellie. There is something wrong with the oxygen injectors. Isaac thinks they will break during the flight and kill everyone. I have to fix them. Everyone is aboard the ship waiting. I place the oxygen tanks in place and twist them around to make them activate. Now we can go. I sit down in the cockpit seat and now have to guide the ship down. There are square markers to fly through with the left stick and shooting of mines and debris with the right. Things go very badly. I have to get out of my seat halfway through to put the cylinders back in place. Almost everyone of the non essential cast seems to die. Ellie is sucked out of a hole in the ships side and then we hit ground.

Isaac wakes up in the flaming wreckage on the planets icy surface. His rig seems damaged and won't close up it's armor. I have to make my way forward, using fires from the wreck to stay warm. Isaac's body temperature drops very quickly in the intense cold. I move onwards searching the wreck with no luck in finding Ellie. A large spider like Necromorph attacks though it does not follow, just knocks me off a cliff and vanishes. Looks like I will be fighting it soon. I find an abandoned base and get inside. Starting a generator restores power. Ellie can be heard on the radio, though broken up and not hearing our calls. I move on and find Necromorphs, how come I die in a minute out in the snow but they last forever in it? I fight my way to another building. Inside I find a badly frozen and wounded Buckle. I think that is his name. He tells us that they found snow suits, he stayed behind because there wasn't one for him. Seemingly in a self sacrificial manner. He dies after imparting this information. I have to get a suit that works. An elevator nearby takes me further into the building. I need to make it work though, a cog is missing. I find the cog nearby and get the lift working. In the elevator a voice tells me that he locked a fellow solider who was going nuts down in the basement. looks like i will be meeting what he turned into. I find lots of bodies, this does not look good. I see this new creature, it looks like a very skinny necromorph. I find them, there are lots of them. Not well armored and a good headshot will kill instantly, but lots of them rush at once.
I move through a few areas filled with skeletons and then come to a pumping station. I have to do one of the circular puzzles, though I am still unsure how I am solving these, trial and error again. A giant spiky piston starts flowing up and down a corridor. I have to use stasis to get past. Two similar pistons with puzzles and enemies in between. I then find the snow suit. This allows me to open a door back to where I started finding buckle dying. I can now go outside without freezing to death. Outside I am directed to a security checkpoint. Which will now let me through since I am wearing the correct suit. I move through the blizzard an encounter with a crane that collapses off the edge of a cliff gives me some much un-needed QuickTime button pressing. I then come to a large military barracks like area. Here I see Carver up on the wall. He sees us and seems surprised that Isaac survived the crash. Ellie is alive as well. She is inside the base. Carver starts shooting at necromorphs who attack on top of the wall. He tells us to get up and help. I have to power an elevator by turning on a generator in a hut beside it. I then am attacked by the spider necromorph boss beastie from earlier. Now I have to fight it. I shoot it's glowing bits in a boss battle that gives me flashbacks to Lost Planet. Three wavy tentacles have to be blown off to reveal three other glowing bits that need to be shot quickly. Miss and you have to repeat the whole process. Once it's had enough it leaves, crashing down the walkway to make a way forward. Least it could do since it broke the lift.
I have to swap to disc 2 here.

I enter the base, I find a garage, there is nothing but necromrophs inside. I move on into another building. This is the command centre. I find the gang all inside. Ellie Hugs Isaac, glad to see him alive. Norton is pissed off at this. The computer data is gone but the written logs suggest a way to find the alien core machine. Of course we need to go to the other end of the universe, sorry complex to find it.

Chapter 10 Now we know Excavation headquarters.
Outside time again. As I leave I see the gang up ahead. As Isaac gets to them Carver starts shouting to get down. Isaac is blown off the balcony and down into the camp. The Unitologists have arrived. Their ship fared better getting down to the planet than ours did it seems. soldiers are dropped in to fight. I fight my way through the dig site. It seems that the necromorphs are no friends to the unitologists, they are attacked by them as well. I move through the  dig site fighting. I find a frozen giant necromorph. Much like the last boss from the first game. I have to hack a door to get into a building marked excavation drill site. Inside this I find a huge drill. It is broken and jammed and blocking the way forwards. I have to bring down two gates it is jammed on to release it. Then a boss battle of sorts starts. I am held in a circular area with the drill, which is out of control and running amok. I have to use stasis and shoot a yellow orb in it's centre. I have to do this three times and there are loads of necromorphs to run interference. I do it and then can move on.
I move into a new building and find a huge necromorph, frozen and hopefully inert. The scientists have been working on it. It seems that the bigger necromorphs have a role in broadcasting to and controlling the smaller ones. The signal from the marker routes through them. Again we don't know what the scientist found as they have deleted the data. Though by seeing the physical evidence we can piece the puzzle together much faster. It seem they used surgery to find something inside the big necromorphs that aided them. we will have to look inside it seems. A furnace needs to be lit to make our way in. Isaac is the man to get it working as always.

Chapter 11 Signal hunting Specimen facility.
I move onwards past the specimen without incident. An audio log from a scientist here tells us that the necromorphs are all controlled from the source, which we knew already. I am given a new suit, that of an archeologist. I take a long lift ride to the top of the facility. There is a little puzzle here. A door is stuck half closed, I can't fit through. There is a battery pack near the door where I came in. I take it over and try and insert it into the space I can see through the half shut door. I can't I have to put the battery inside then go up a ladder and drop into the room from a ladder above it. Necromorphs make the journey more interesting. I find the generator here and turn it on. Now I have to go back down. More necromorphs to deal with. Ellie and the Norton situation are going to come to a head soon. The arguments are getting heated. I go back to the specimen and find that the heat isn't getting to it. I have to puzzle it out with four huge wheels.  press a charge button that enables me to grapple the wheels. It isn't really a puzzle, more a diversion. I just have to turn the wheels in order. I am told to go up to the booth. I meet the girl whose name I don't know, she tells me about a probe gun that we need to build to track down the source machine. The parts I need might be in a nearby warehouse. I have to backtrack a bit to get to it. I come to the drill area and find a bunch of unitologists seemingly committing suicide. I move on past and come outside again. I reach the warehouse unmolested. Maybe not, I take a lift and come out outside again. There are new necromorphs here, they seem to be attacking a corpse, feeding on it maybe. They run when I approach, which is new. They don't run for long and come back to attack. They are fast, but not much trouble. I move into a building and find a briefing room. The video is still playing, telling the story of how containment broke down and the soldiers were ordered to destroy all flight capability and kill themselves. This was done in order too keep containment of the Necromorph outbreak. I move on to a large area where the new dog like necromorphs attack in large groups. I then find a containment area, that it seems lost containment in grand style. It looks like one of the large necromorphs broke out of the warehouse. I am told to see if the parts we need are still here. I explore, a grapple point allows me to move a broken elevator car to the right. I climb down a set of ladders. I am being given an awful lot of ammo and health packs here. A boss battle must be close. I find all three parts fairly easily. One is in the lift. I now need to find a bench.  The girls name is Santos it seems. This is far too easy, there has to be a big catch soon. And yes, here it is, the spider boss is back for round two. In the arena where I fought the dogs just outside the warehouse. Again this is the same fight, it even runs away again. Isaac fears that Danik, I think that is the name of the Unitology leader anyway, will find the armory. This is an optional mission.
I decide to do it.

Armory (Optional mission)
This is a romp through endless corridors, though at least it is filled with loot and of course, necromorphs. An audio log tells me that the key to the munitions store has been lost. Seems we need to find it. I then encounter Unitologists. Here I find the key for the storage locker. I then head to the relevant section of armory and unlock a chest filled with loot. Now back to the main story.

Back at the specimen I have to shoot two harpoons into it and then use them to lever open its ribcage. I then get into a cage and am winched out over the beasts belly. I am then lowered down inside it. I have to find synapses in the beast and fire the probe gun into them. The gun bleeps when I find the correct blob to shoot at. When I do skeleton necromorphs are spawned in. This is quite hard to survive, due to my poor weapon choice. I am stuck with it and have to just get on with it. I eventually survive and have shot three nerve clusters. Santos tells me that the machine is inside the planet. We will have to climb further up the mountain to get to the entrance to it's location. Norton is given the task of getting Isaac up out of the belly of the beast. He tells Ellie that he loves her. I think the double cross is about to happen. It is, Norton takes to chance to keep Isaac locked up in the cage. He tells him that he is taking over control of the mission again and getting everyone off the planet and away to what he hopes will be safety. Escaping the cage is simply a matter of using the kinesis to manipulate the door control.
I head out of the building towards the cliff to find the others and Norton.
As I reach the outer door a cut scene starts. Norton and  Carver are down on their knees. Danik and his men have caught them. Isaac is punched and knocked down, held by two guards. Danik reveals that Norton helped the unitologists follow them through shock space. He was told that he would go free if he gave up Isaac. Danik obviously will not honor this deal. Danik pulls a gun to shoot Norton. Isaac intervenes and the shooting starts. Carver has grabbed a gun and kills the guards. Isaac throws a grenade at Danik who runs. Isaac gets his gun back and we are into a fight with unitologists. The fight does not last long. The giant necromorph intervenes, eating the unitologists whole. This is a by the numbers boss battle. Shoot the glowing heart when it appears. The boss uses two swipes of its arms which must be dodged. Then it spawns around five skeletons. Which run interference when the heart is on show. Taking them out quickly is the only way to be able to concentrate on the heart. When you hit the heart enough the boss tries to suck you in. This exposes four soft points in it's mouth which you must shoot. You rinse and repeat these steps until the four points are gone. Then you get eaten in earnest. The boss swallows you whole and you end up in it's stomach. Floating where you have to shoot three pods until their glowing points are broken. You then get shat out the end of the beast onto the snow. This is Norton's final straw, he starts trying to shoot Isaac, Isaac is forced to shoot him in the head. Carver sympathizes with Isaac.

Chapter 13 Cliffs of Volantis "Reach for the sky"
I move on and find Ellie, Carver and Santos. Isaac tells Ellie what happened, she seems disappointed in him. Santos has a little breakdown and Carver is an asshole towards her. I move over to a machine which shoots a rope up the cliff. I can now ascend the rope standing on the cliff. I have to climb two levels of cliff avoiding falling ice. Then move through cave system filled with necromorphs. I find a cargo cage. Ellie appears to be taking Norton's death badly. I send the lift down by moving it away from the edge using kinesis. I can hear shouting and screaming from the radio. It seems necromorphs are assaulting the rest of the gang. I have to find the lift controls. I move on and find more enemies and another cliff ascent device. I have to fight enemies while on it this time. At the top Ellie  begins to be more forgiving of Isaac. More enemies, and another ascender. this one is a pain as you have to avoid large chunks of rock and a swinging lift. Stasis is the key and it is still a pain to work out where you can move Isaac to safely on the rock face. More fighting at what looks like the top of the cliffs. I find the lift controls and start them up. This is bringing Ellie and the gang up quickly. Santos tells us that we need a key to turn off the machine. The codex is what they called it. Also what we saw being destroyed at the start of the game in the prologue. The lift jams, a fuse has gone. We need to go to the fuse box puzzle and get more power from the lights. This brings the lift up. Santos is attacked in the lift by our old friend the spider boss. Carver tells us that it is going to bring the whole cliff down. Isaac is trying to save Santos. Carver cuts the cable and the lift and Santos with the creature fall down. Isaac is angry at losing Santos, the cliff crumbles as he argues with Carver. He falls, though he is ok, just a little way back down the cliff. This is our turn to finally kill the spider. I have to fight it, but this time there are some harpoons nearby. I have to start the generator. Then lure the spider into the target lasers. Then I have to go to a control and hammer B to pull it apart. This finally kills it. I use an ascender and meet with Ellie and Carver. The building is up ahead. Here we should find the means to make the codex.

Chapter 14 Everything has its place, research compound.
I climb a ladder after the others, though it breaks and I need to find an alternate route. I make my way into the base, I see a new type of necromorph, humanoid, though it is keeping it's distance. Danik also arrives by ship.Ellie tells us that we are trying to find someone called Rosetta's work. This sounds wrong, I am thinking Rosetta stone. I don't think Rosetta is a person. I make my way inside. Fight some necromorphs and go down in a lift. I enter a lab and find Ellie and Carver. Ellie tells us the we are in the assembly lab. She thought it was to assemble a codex, however it seems that it is for assembling Rosetta. It appears it is a necromorph, frozen and cut into sections like the one we saw way back on the ship. I have to take a piece from the storage bay, load it into a machine and see it slotted into place. There are three more pieces to find. Looks like I have some exploring to do. I am given a key that should open all the doors in the facility.
I move into a new area and find organic growth covering the walls and blocking some of the doors. There is a decontamination system, we need to use it. There are mine like necromorph blobs here. I go down in a lift and have to divert power from the lift to the pump. I can now go back up and use the decontamination system. There are of course Necromorphs to fight on the way. I enter a new room which is cleared by the decontamination gas. In this room  find an audio log that tells us the codex needs to be created from Rosetta's DNA. Any other DNA does not work with the machine. I find a piece of Rosetta and have to load it into the transport machine. Of course many necromorphs are unhappy about this. I move through the building out across a bridge to the paleontology building. I find the lab with the piece of Rosetta quickly. This is a puzzle however, the piece is in scanner and getting it out is the problem. An audio log here tells us that the language written on the markers is not the same as the language written on some of the artifacts. Does this mean there are two sets of aliens, or two different factions of aliens? The puzzle has three wheels that need aligned. It has two handles at each end. The middle hole is turned by both handles. You need to align one set by twisting the middle one until it's aligned, then simple place all three in alignment. Once done the scan button brings out the Rosetta piece. I am allowed to put it in the transport system unmolested for once. I move on. Danik tells us over the radio that the markers are put on a planet to guide biological development towards a goal. I find another area that needs decontamination. Again, the gas release system is gummed up. I have to release the nozzle by using kinesis on it. I then have to run for it back to the safe area before I get decontaminated. I move on into another lab. An audio log here tells me that the planet was once an ocean world, some of the necromorphs appear to be aquatic. I find the last piece of Rosetta and send it on. Necromorphs attack as I leave the lab. I make my way back outside. Danik has gunships looking for me and I am shot at by them. I make my way onwards and the strange shy necromoprh can be seen again. Some Unitologists ambush me, the necromorph attacks them then me. It is a very fast moving necromorph, they need stasis and lots of it. I move towards the geology section, which is some way across necromorph infested territory.
I enter a room where cranes and large blocks of ice are stored. There are necromorphs in the ice blocks. I move into a room and find the last piece of Rosetta. There is a small puzzle with some laser beams crossing the room. To get past them you have to move a large block which obstructs the laser allowing you to pass. I now have the last piece and have to make my way back to Ellie in the lab. Danik tells us that Isaac and Earth Gov are obstructing humanity's final stage. Ellie thinks she can make a new codex.

Chapter 15 Rosetta lab "A change of fortune"
I now have to arrange the Rosetta creature into the right order in the lab. I can use kinesis to shuffle the parts around. While the creature is strange, it is vaguely humanoid. Putting it together like a jigsaw I manage it fairly easily. Isaac is given a vision of the aliens. A huge marker can be seen, it is sucking in the bodies of the aliens, sending them up into space to make the moon we saw earlier, the one that looked like it had a huge chunk cut out of it. There is a surge of energy and it seems like the process is halted. Isaac comes to and realizes what is happening. The aliens here found the markers and ended up in the same predicament as humanity. They were being consumed, their bodies turned into necromorphs. The final stage appears to be the creation of the moons. The aliens built the machine to flash freeze the planet to halt the creation of the moon. So halting the purpose of the markers. Isaac realizes that their quest to turn off the machine is not a productive one. It is only the machine that is holding back the process. This is why the soldiers 200 years ago destroyed the codex and themselves. Isaac tells Ellie this, only to find Danik has arrived and everyone is at gunpoint. It seems that even Danik didn't quite realize what was going on, though he sure as hell thanks Isaac for the assist. His goal now is Isaac's old one, to turn off the machine. Danik orders them killed, Isaac activates the decontamination and the guards are caught. We now have to escape the room before Isaac is killed by the gas. I make my way out, Carver is by the door, Ellie is trapped in the booth. She manages to open the door which Danik has locked. Carver and Isaac watch helplessly as Ellie is trapped. She tells them to close the door on her to save themselves. She tells Isaac she loves him. Isaac and Carver close the door before they all die. We now have to run along the corridor into the lift. Isaac is cut up, Carver tells him to focus on stopping Danik. The lift is now open to all floors. Carver takes one and Isaac another. Carver tells us that the only way down to the machine is a nearby silo.
Outside I am attacked by unitologists and necromorphs and even the dropship. I move into a new area, it seems to be the one from the prologue where the soldier met his end and the first codex was deleted. I am hammered by two waves of necromorphs and unitologists here. A door puzzle lock has to be navigated. I come to a huge lift, Danik can be seen using it to go down. Carver is told by Issac to try and stop the lift. Isaac takes an ascender and uses it to drop down the shaft after Danik. Necromorphs appear and I have to kill them. Isaac reaches a platform. There is an elevator, Carver tells Isaac to slow down. Isaac tells him that Norton was right about one thing, that this is a one way trip. The elevator catches us up with the descending platform, and I get to shoot up some of Danik's men. I lose sight of it again and have to take another descender rope ride. This time it's unitologists with rocket launchers to deal with. Another platform and a door puzzle. An audio log tells of how the scientists worked out the moon was the cause of the madness and the urge to turn off the machine. Another ride down a rope and I see what may be the Rosetta aliens attacking the unitologists. They don't seem to attack Isaac until there is no other remaining enemies. I land on another platform and come through a small room into another shaft, this one has a huge fan. More rope decent fun to be had it seems. I move down the shaft with many necromorphs and then come to a fan that needs to be stopped with stasis. This does not prevent the rope from getting stuck in it when the Stasis wears off. Isaac is pulled back up as the rope is chewed up by the fan. I have to mash A to get free, then fall the rest of the way. Isaac wakes up at the bottom of the shaft.

Chapter 17 A strange alien city
I find a lab and video plays, it tells us some important story information. The moon's whatever they are, are the end stage of the markers intent. The machine stopped the local moon from completing it's birth. The machine can be reconfigured to destroy the moon also. Serrano apparently knew how to do this, though appears to have been thwarted in his attempt. Isaac tells carver that it may be possible to destroy the moon after all. The aliens communicated using a musical language. The doors here have been coded by Serrano to use this sound as keys. Handily the key is present and I have to put it into a machine which plays the right sequence. Finally the destination is in sight. The machine is up ahead. Danik can be heard with his men in the distance. Carver gives a little speech, which likely means a lot more if you have been playing co-op with him and know of his back story. It is time to finish this is seems. I move into the machine's room and have to place a demolition charge to clear some rubble blocking the way. I come to another blocked road, then another. at the last one the timer fails on the demolition charge and it blows up in Isaac's face. A cut scene starts. Isaac lands beside Danik and the Codex falls from Danik's hands. Carver grabs it as it rolls off the edge. Isaac grabs him as he goes over. Danik is about to hit them when both fall. Isaac lands beside the codex. Carver has landed further down the complex. Isaac finds himself in an area filled with marker statues and the bones of dead Rosetta aliens. Or not so dead as one appears from a door and attacks.
I find a side mission here, there have been a few I have neglected.

Side Mission
Artifact storage.
I am led to believe that I might find out what happened to the original deep dig team here. I move into a large silo with no gravity, though there is oxygen. I find large floating necromorph blobs which shoot red bombs at you. I move on through some more rooms and silos. There are laser trip wires in some of them. I move through some large tunnels which fill with various necromorphs as I go in. Then I come to a puzzle door. I enter a room and find a necromorph chained up, I hope this isn't another indestructible one. There are a few of them. This seems to have been the fate of the deep dig team, to become truly annoying necromorphs. I leave and find they have been released somehow. I now have to make my way back avoiding them, since they can't be killed. I find a door which needs overridden, this is fun while the indestructible necromorphs are nearby. Leading them to the furthest extent of the room, killing them as much as possible then using stasis gives you the time to carry out the bypass.

Back to the main mission.
I move through some zero gravity areas with some locked puzzle doors. the doors are alien and I need to use the alien sounds to unlock them. Handily the tones to use are painted near the doors. I move into a large alien area with huge, i hope, statues. An amp pad will enhance our kinesis and stasis. I have to activate a conduit. I go up in a lift and reach a plateau which is surrounded by the alien statues, I don't think they are, they all look like they have been frozen in the act of doing something. There are four tentacle like protrusions from the floor. I find a log from Serrano which tells us that this opens and closes the machine. It needs to be opened for us to change the purpose. there are three positions of the tentacles which can be manipulated by our kinesis. There are diagrams on the wall which show the open and closed position. I open the machine and then hit the button at the far end. We can now enter the machine, huge parts of the scenery rearrange.
I head for the entrance and three Rosetta aliens attack. I then go into the conduit, which is kind of force beam that sends Isaac hurtling through the air to the other side. I have to move and avoid obstacles, though this isn't taxing. I am sure the return journey won't be the same. I come into a tomb like area. There are amp pads and I am told to use stasis on hordes of skeletons and the use amped kinesis on necromorphs, I can rip their arms clean off and hurl them back at them. Another set of alien doors to call to.

Chapter 18 Kill or be killed The alien machine.
I am now inside the machine, I have to realign it somehow according to Serrano's notes. I turn on a generator and it seems I have nothing else to do in this area. The direction marker is sending me back out of the door. No it seems the way is correct, I come to a new circular area. Many enemies attack here. I then come to another door. Now another conduit ride, this one is harder with some necromorph blobs along the way. I come to another area and fight some more of the dog and exploding necromoprhs. There is what looks like an active marker here. I find a lift. At the top I find a large open area, there are four tower like structures with antenna. This must be the device I have to align. It seems that the towers antenna have different shaped tips. I find an amp pad which allows me to turn them. The middle post has three points, you must simple align it with the three outer ones. The same symbol must be touching each other at the centre. Once done power surges through the machine and another alien control panel lights up. Isaac thinks that he has to go back outside and close the machine now that the configuration has changed. I now have to backtrack out of the machine. Danik is talking on the radio he sounds worried. I thought the backtrack through the machine was uneventful, which seemed too easy, until some alien warriors ambush me in the room with two amps. Back to the outer chamber of the machine I go. Time to close it, which in theory will set it in motion to destroy the moon. At the controls I find unitologists duking it out with necromorphs. I let the necromorphs win then take them out. Danik has to arrive sometime soon. I configure the pillars and press the button, something happens but no information as to what is forthcoming. I move back to the lift and see one of Daniks dropships pass overhead. He seems happier now, he tells us that he has a surprise. Ellie is still alive, he has her captive. Now it seems I have to head back into the machine, only now the same chambers are filled with unitologists. I fight past and come to the area with the circular area that I skirted before. The alien machine seems to be different now and the area opens up to form a puzzle. I have to place three batteries in the receptacles in the correct order of symbols, which are written on the statue. A door opens up. Inside I find Serrano's long dead corpse. He tells us via audio log that the machine will pull the moon into the planet. It seems we will be killing ourselves if we activate it. Unless we can get a lift from Danik. I have to climb up the inner spire of the machine, flame jets and spinning cogs need to be avoided. At the top Carver is waiting. As we approach the controls a cut scene starts. Danik appears with Ellie held at gunpoint. He asks for the codex in return for Ellie’s life. Isaac tells Danik that if he lets them have the codex then they are all dead anyway. He appears to be about to let Danik shoot Ellie. Carver intervenes and gives the codex to Danik. Danik throws Ellie at Isaac and then slots the codex into the machine. This causes the machine to be switched off, thus halting the freeze on the moon's development. The moon begins growing tentacles. The roof is broken and Danik is crushed by a piece of falling rock. Carver wants to set the machine to pull in the moon, Isaac tells him that he is the only one who can. He tells Ellie to leave in Danik's shuttle.

Chapter 19 Endings Convergence vortex
I have to run through the rapidly collapsing area. Some necromorphs attack and i have to take out two tentacles to make an obstacle tentacle move. I come to a conduit and have to travel through the conduit avoiding necromorph blob fire and debris. I then come to another barrier with tentacles and more necromorphs. I then have some more collapsing areas and necromorphs to deal with. I come to a bench and seemingly an area I can pause in and restock. I open a door here and Isaac is sucked out into the maelstrom, out towards the moon creature. This seems to be the final boss battle. Huge eyes and a glowing green object amidst a mass of necromorph flesh. Isaac is left standing on a platform. The green glowing platform is another platform that Carver is on. I have to reel in markers that are floating around and shoot them at the eyes. Necromorphs run interference. Carver's platform is swallowed by the beast. I have to use kinesis to pull it out of the beast, also hurting it in the process. Carver's platform is brought over to Isaac's. I move over to Carver and have to mash A to get him to pull us up. We are now at the machine where the codex was inserted. Carver tells Isaac that this is it. Die now, though save Earth. Isaac agrees and triggers the machine to pull the moon down onto Tau Volantis. Carver is sucked away instantly and Isaac a few seconds later. As he hurtles through space he looks at a picture of Ellie. Isaac lets go and falls. The scene switches to Ellie in Danik's ship. She calls to Isaac and Carver and gets no response. The marker signal is gone, they have done it. Ellie sets the ship to make the jump to shock space for the journey home. The credits roll.
A voice after the credits informs us that Isaac did survive, though he is now left alone as Ellie just left. Poor Isaac, he never catches a break.

20 hours 345 achievement points for one play through on normal.