While I'd definitely say that it's inferior to Dead Space 2 in terms of story and overall gameplay, it carries the series very well.
I have a feeling that all of its drawbacks are forced upon it by its difficult storyline: no matter what direction they take it, it's going to end up contrived on some level now that they've actually tracked down the source of the markers.
Hate the armor designs though. Way too bulky. I've been using the Mass Effect add-on N7 armor the whole way through since the designs that are native to the game suck ass.
