Dead Space 3 Release Date: EA Announces Mass Effect Armor Unlock, Requires Save on Same Console (VIDEO)

Dead Space 3 has been a source of controversy for dedicated fans of the franchise. As the first entry in the series to implement co-op and cover mechanics, countless gamers still fear that Isaac's latest journey to stomp out the necromorphs has lost its horror spirit in favor of run-and-gun gameplay. Yet, developer Visceral Games insists that the new mode conforms nicely within the confines of the Dead Space legacy. The jury is still out on whether or not the threequel delivers, but faithful believers who also happen to be fond of Mass Effect 3 are in for a pleasant surprise when they boot up Dead Space 3 on February 5.

EA Games has released an unexpected trailer showcasing the unlockable Commander Shephard's N7 armor buried in the game. Kotaku spoke to an EA rep, who confirmed that "this is platform-specific. You'd have to be playing Dead Space 3 on the same console as you played Mass Effect 3."

When Mass Effect 2 launched, the publisher carried out a similar campaign, offering up Blood Dragon Armor using codes bundled with new copies of Dragon Age 1. EA is no stranger to connecting its franchises with similar extras.

In concern to the cooperative gameplay, Visceral Games executive producer Steve Papoutsis explains to Digital Spy that "It let us do the circumstances where Carver's having a dementia moment and Isaac's like, 'Hey what are you doing man, come on, we're going to die here fighting these Necromorphs!' And you've got to protect him while Carver's going through his dementia. And what we thought was interesting, funny and cool was the players, when that's happening, are probably like 'Hey, what are you doing?' and reacting like the characters."

"I think it's just... For us, we had a bunch of characters in this particular game, we wanted to develop more interesting characters throughout the Dead Space universe and it was a great opportunity for us to do that," he adds. "But we needed to do it in a way that was true to what Dead Space was all about and as I mentioned back in Dead Space 1 that we had tried it because we liked co-op."