Dead Space 3 has had something of an identity crisis. Characterised by sinister stillness, its predecessors delighted in cultivating paranoia – the simple fear of attack from unknown quarter was enough to drive you from safe-room to safe-room with nothing but your wits and a scanty supply of ammunition for company. Far from being a new poster child for survival horror, Dead Space 3 reflects little of the earlier games’ dark ambitions.

Granted, it’s mechanically competent. Visceral Games have kept their combat and movement almost wholly intact from Dead Space 2. Protagonist Isaac Clarke is a weighty character, slow to manoeuvre but satisfyingly connected with his claustrophobic environment – useful considering that the primary mode of extracting resources from enemies is vigorous stomping. Gunplay is similarly hefty and demands adherence to the series’ staple of tactical dismemberment, for undead monstrosities fear no headshots and must be brought to a halt more manually. Surgical precision and ponderous motion make for unlikely bed mates and do much to foster panic in a world designed to terrify.

It’s a shame, then, that Dead Space 3 boasts no such world. Only its pedigree would support the game’s claim to horror status when it so casually dispenses with psychological assault in favour of lengthy shooting galleries. Wave upon wave of scuttling corpses crash at your feet for the duration of the game’s campaign which, after 20 hours, begins to outstay its welcome. Where the deserted hallways of Dead Space 2 drove you to hysteria, the latest instalment will wear out your trigger finger. Visceral have failed to realise – or, more worryingly, deliberately ignored – that it is the absence of combat and the absolute emptiness of your surroundings that conjure fear.

Even the most basic of horror clichés has been discarded. The jump-scare exists to elicit reactions from all but the most desensitised, and the hiding places of Dead Space 2’s twisted denizens defied prediction. By contrast, the lengthy slow-motion close-ups which preface the sequel’s new encounters afford ample time to marshal your thoughts and protect your internal organs.

The only place where Dead Space 3 seems to have progressed is in the visuals, where interior decay is juxtaposed with vistas of striking colour. Previously limited to scripted moments of cinematic flair, Visceral’s mastery over visual spectacle is testament to their experience. Facial animation has come a long way from Dead Space’s previous incarnations too, and even the most unlikable characters are rendered engaging by the improved graphical fidelity (though the question does arise as to why the leading woman, in her role as a hardened space engineer holed-up on an infested wreck, has come in a low-cut top).

Ultimately, however, Dead Space 3 is undone by its self-conscious aspirations to the status of gaming’s most profitable franchises, sloughing off terror and suspense leaving all but the thinnest of gory veneers. This misguided attempt to be all things to all people is Dead Space 3’s most unsettling feature.