Dead Space

In Space, No One Can Hear Me Yawn

HIGH Dismembering Necromorphs still offers some visceral thrills.

LOW Being forced to fight wave after wave of cannon fodder enemies in the game's multiple kill rooms.

WTF Ellie's romantic interests seem to change pretty easily.

Hallways… In… Spaaaaaaaaaaace!

HIGH The second half of the game.

LOW The first half of the game.

WTF Why is there so much filler here?

It's not a backlog title, but I managed to get a copy of Fire Emblem: Awakening for Nintendo 3DS, and I've been putting some time into it… it's not title I was eagerly anticipating, but I needed a portable title and word of mouth from people that I trust was almost universally positive.

Survival horror games aren't what they used to be. Once upon a time, they were about survival and horror. It makes sense. It's what the genre is called, after all. These titles would encompass qualities of mystery and exploration as the player fought to stay alive with every step. Over the years, they've increasingly become about action, gunfights, and an overload of cheap jump scares. I prefer the former, despite a plethora of the latter.

After putting [REDACTED] aside, I moved on to Dead Space 2. It wasn't high on my list of things to play this year, but I've heard several people say that it was a serious contender as their Game of the Year, and several more say that it's going to be on their top ten of 2011. After getting through about a third of it, I can’t imagine why anyone would think so highly of it.

Ever bought a limited edition version of a game and walked away with something that was actually worth the extra cash you paid? No? Well, maybe you can do something about it. Maybe that special packed-in hunk of plastic just needed some tinkering. Maybe it just needed some lasers. That is what YouTube's kipkay did with the cute replica plasma cutter that came with Dead Space 2—he turned it awesome.

By the way, our lawyers told us to caution you that this looks dangerous. Do not try this at home. And if you do, do not blame us for burning your balloons, figurines or eyeballs.

In Space, No One Can Hear Your Strings

HIGH The desperate and well-conceived opening moments of the game.

LOW The conceptually lazy final level.

WTF Why don't they just lock Clarke out of the maintenance tunnels?

Do you love Dead Space? Do you love Dead Space so much that you want to look like its protagonist Issac Clarke? What if you are too insecure to go all out and dress up in a full-on the engineer's suit? Well, you might be in luck.

Dead Space 2, the long-awaited sequel to Electronic Arts' hit survival horror title, is due to hit retailers in just two weeks. To make sure that the hype reaches a fever pitch, the company has released the official launch trailer for the title. Looks good.

I'm so excited for Dead Space 2 that I can hardly contain myself. I really liked the first game, which found space engineer Isaac Clarke fighting some hideous, and bloodthirsty, space aliens aboard a ship they'd overrun. It was a genuinely creepy game with fun gameplay that revolved around dismembering the creatures in gruesome fashion.

Dead Space 2 looks to keep that winning formula intact while adding a few new wrinkles to the mix in the process. The newest trailer for the game debuted on Friday courtesy of my former employers at IGN. The first game made Twinkle Twinkle Little Star terrifying, so it's only natural that the new game up the ante. This clip offers up a spooky rendition of Ring Around the Rosey, juxtaposed with some gory and creepy footage from the game.

Dead Space 2 is due out in January—which feels like a long time from now—but you can at least check out the new clip to tide you over.