Dead Space and Dead Space: Extraction were two tense, very well put together survival shooter games published by our new old friend EA. Extraction was a Wii-exclusive prequel that set the stage for the hero of the hour Isaac Clarke, an engineer who most likely spent a lot of time at his local shooting range to relieve the stresses of work. There, he undoubtedly honed skills that allowed him to turn his engineering equipment into deadly limb-severing instruments that saved his tail from the Necromorphs, a hostile alien species that mutates killed foes into one of them a la Halo’s Flood. Read on past the jump to see a special gameplay video of Isaac taking on one of the new enemies.

Dead Space 2, releasing on the PS3 and Xbox 360 January 2011, will continue the bizarre storyline that places Isaac on The Sprawl, a city somewhere in space infested by Necromorphs and full of members of the Church of Unitology, or in other words, psychos that have lost their minds and now worship the Necromorphs. Some old weapons return from the first series, including the Pulse Rifle and Line Gun, but there’s also some new ones like a sort of stake-driver that pins enemies to walls and a stasis gun that creates a stasis field where the normally hyper-kinetic enemies are slowed to a crawl to allow Isaac enough time to decide how he wants to dispose of them.

The user interface appears much the same as the first one, favoring minimal HUD and showing most relevant information like health, ammo, and the amount of stasis left. The graphics appear little unchanged from the first one. Isaac seems destined to travel through dark foreboding settings where explosions rip through the wall and hordes of Necromorphs swarm at him with their swaying disjointed gaits.

Quick time events, too, are making a return. Players will need to be quick on their thumbs to rip those blood-sucking baby Necromorphs from their faces, as well as time their button presses properly to avoid killing blows from bosses.

We expect to learn more about Dead Space 2 as E3 continues and will likely have more information tomorrow after EA makes another appearance at Sony’s press conference. We doubt, however, that tomorrows video will explain how in the heck Isaac is even alive after the original Dead Space. That little ditty will probably be a point of mystery to unravel in the increasingly confounding plotline.

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Related posts:

1. Review: Dead Space: Ignition (Xbox 360)
2. Impressions: Dead Space 2 Multiplayer (PS3)
3. Review: Dead Space: Extraction (Wii)
4. Preview: Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360, PC)
5. E3 2010 Preview: NCAA Football 11 (PS3, Xbox 360)

About This Author: Andrew Giese

I spend more time reading and writing about gaming, but when I do get a chance to grab the sticks, you bet I'll be unavailable for the next few hours. I hope to complete my Masters in Computer Science in a few years and one day actually help make some of the games I love.

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