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Dead Space 2 demo due December 21
EA will launch a single-player Dead Space 2 demo on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network on Tuesday, December 21 (and Dec. 22 on the European PSN). The interactive snippet will reintroduce players to space engineer Isaac Clarke as he performs routine conduit maintenance, designs more efficient CO2 scrubbers and grudgingly does videophone tech support with his mom, who just installed Windows 14. As Dead Space executive producer Steve Papoutsis notes, "Releasing the demo five weeks before launch will not only reconnect players with our hero Isaac Clarke, but will also give them the opportunity to experience firsthand various jaw-dropping scenarios. It's gonna be awesome."
Dead Space 2 videos offer a closer look at Isaac, multiplayer
That Dead Space 2 multiplayer beta preview not enough for you? Tough, you've got to wait until January 25 until you can play more, but we've got the next best thing to tide you over: new footage. Vault past the break and check out three (count 'em, three) all-new videos.
Dead Space 2 'Ring Around the Rosie' trailer
It's a proven scientific fact: Nursery rhymes are creepy. As evidence of this undeniable truth, we present this trailer for Dead Space 2, which uses a twisted version of "Ring Around the Rosie" as its backing track. It's almost enough to make you forget how scary the actual game looks. Almost.
Dead Space 2 carves out a Halloween message
The Dead Space 2 trailer posted after the jump -- which seems to be a holiday special -- will only be terrifying if you are, in fact, a pumpkin. If that's the case, how will you play Dead Space 2 without hands, pumpkin? Wait, how did you navigate to this website? We have so many questions for you.
Dead Space 2, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and more coming to iOS
EA is bringing some of its biggest properties to iOS, the company revealed during a recent presentation at the Apple Store in Ginza, Tokyo. Aside from the numerous titles already revealed last week, EA is currently working on ports of Dead Space 2, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, and even an ad-supported, subscription-optional version of Pogo, the company's casual online games portal. There will also be an EA Active presence on Apple's devices, as well as a version of Monopoly. Also, the other properties EA has lined up include an adaptation of the board game Pictureka! and a new racer called Reckless -- formerly known as Deliverace. If you're wondering, "Why the name change?" then clearly you've never spent time on the Cahulawassee River. Nobody wants to be reminded of that "vacation." For images of some of these newly-revealed games, head on over to 4Gamer.
Dead Space 2 collector's edition with replica plasma cutter leaked [update: it's official!]
According to a (since removed) image found on Amazon and now posted on Examiner, the collector's edition of Dead Space 2 will include a life-size toy Plasma Cutter, in addition to a soundtrack CD, a DLC voucher, and a piece of artwork. EA announced its intention to produce a collector's edition for the sequel way back in January, when it sought ideas for pack-in items from fans. The plasma cutter happened to be on the list even then -- and we called it "outrageous." Being a sort-of leaked item, EA hasn't officially announced its existence, and thus no information about its price is known. Update: EA has announced the Collector's Edition -- for the UK, at least. The plasma cutter is only packed with the Xbox 360 and PC versions, while the PS3 version includes Dead Space Extraction. Update 2: EA announced it for North America as well -- with no mention of platform exclusivity for the plasma cutter. [Thanks, DarkKainDrg]
Pre-order Dead Space 2, get Ignition for free
EA will hand out download codes for the digital comic/minigame collection Dead Space Ignition with pre-orders of Dead Space 2 from participating retailers. So if you were planning to buy Ignition today (on PSN) or Wednesday (on XBLA), you might consider putting that five dollars into a pre-order of the retail game! We asked EA exactly which retailers were "participating" in this offer. According to the publisher, the offer will be reflected on Amazon, GameStop, and the EA Store sometime this week, with Best Buy joining next week. To get an idea of what you'll get with your Dead Space 2 pre-order, enjoy an Ignition trailer after the break.%Gallery-97880%
Visceral Games' Zach Mumbach on Visceral's development culture, autonomy within EA
Though we were shocked to hear it, the folks working on the Dead Space franchise at Visceral Games are apparently the same folks who developed Dante's Inferno. The seeming disparity in development ideals can be chocked up to two things, according to associate producer Zach Mumbach: different creative leads from project to project, and the studio's relative autonomy within EA. If it weren't for that autonomy, Dante's Inferno may have never come to be. "There's always side teams that are maybe 10 or 15 people that are working on ideas. And honestly that's how Dante's Inferno came to exist. Jonathan Knight [executive producer] took a team of roughly seven dudes and they were like, 'Hey, this is cool, let's see if we can make this,'" Mumbach explained to us last week in the basement of a swanky midtown NYC club.
Watch our Dead Space 2 multiplayer preview
Some folks are playing the Dead Space 2 multiplayer beta on PS3 this very instant. Clearly, you're not one of them. Maybe you've just got it on pause. Or maybe you didn't get into the beta .... or have been simply too lazy to input the code to download it. Maybe you don't even own a PS3. Whatever your excuse, we invite you to check out our video preview of the game's multiplayer mode (captured from the beta) -- just past the break. Remember: Knowledge is your best weapon against the Necromorph scourge. Plasma Cutters are a close second.
Dead Space 2 multiplayer beta invites going out to PS3 fans
Check your inboxes! Select Dead Space 2 fans have been "hand selected" for a closed multiplayer beta. Scott Probst, Multiplayer Producer, explains in the invite e-mail: "We have just launched a small beta which will help us polish the game, and we have selected you to help us achieve that goal! We are still several months away from the game's release, and there is still plenty of work to be done prior to shipping the game." In addition to a PSN voucher, the invite e-mail includes a link to a forum for participants to offer feedback. Unfortunately, the e-mail doesn't detail how participants were selected. The invites appear to be targeted to members of EA's online community, with no regards to PlayStation Plus. We'll update this post if EA can offer us any more details. [Thanks, G.L.!]
Dead Space and MySims Sky Heroes meet in adorable trailer
MySims Sky Heroes may be a cutesy E-rated air combat game, but that doesn't mean a cameo by USG Ishimura survivor Isaac Clarke is out of the question. Like a modern-day Joe Camel, kid Clarke appeals to the developing, malleable gray matter of children playing MySims, building brand-awareness of M-rated franchise Dead Space. Don't worry, the video after the break is innocent enough, but Clarke saving cats it about as ridiculous as Kratos playing golf ... oh, bad analogy.
Dead Space 2 multiplayer preview: Live together, die alone
One thing that hurt sales of the first Dead Space was its lack of multiplayer. EA had to add something to Dead Space 2, and last week I got at taste of that multiplayer. It's a 4-on-4 objective-based mode where four engineers team up to locate pieces of a bomb and bring it back to a central location. Once the bomb is detonated, a door out of the level is revealed and the human players can escape. The other side is the Necromorphs, whose only goal is to kill the humans. %Gallery-101923%
Dead Space 2 multiplayer video is to die for
The rumors are true! Dead Space 2 has a multiplayer mode, and you can see what it looks like in the trailer after the break. Want to know more? Check out our hands-on preview!
Rumor: Dead Space 2 to feature 'Soldier vs. Necromorphs' multiplayer
According to reports coming out of a recent GameStop conference in Texas, Dead Space 2 will be getting a multiplayer mode in which players will control either Necromorphs or "soldiers" (presumably not welders, then?). GamerNode claims that the mode will consist of "deathmatch-style combat" and will be just one of several multiplayer game modes included when the game launches in early 2011. Additionally, the source claims that pre-orders of the game at any outlet would net purchasers a free download of Dead Space: Ignition. If you pre-order it at GameStop, you'll allegedly get another bonus: a rivet gun. Update: EA could only confirm the inclusion of multiplayer in Dead Space 2 to Joystiq, saying, "Dead Space 2 will feature multiplayer where you'll be able to strategically dismember your friends for the first time." Hopefully we'll hear more soon.
Video: There is no G in Dead Space 2
The Dead Space 2 Gamescom 2010 trailer may not have any Necromorphs lurking about, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying. Oh sure, it's just Isaac rocketing into space and subsequently avoiding various detritus, but take a second to think about it. One misstep and you fly off into the inky blackness forever, helpless to stop the inertia. Okay, he does have rocket boots, but we're afraid of space, okay? %Gallery-99708%
Dead Space 2 producer reflects on the changes and challenges of the sequel
First on the agenda for my meeting with Dead Space 2 executive producer Steve Papoutsis at Comic-Con was an earnest request: better tutorials, please. After all, I had played through the entire first game without realizing that I could press a button to use a medkit -- that I didn't have to open up the onscreen inventory, while being attacked, to heal. "You're not alone," Papoutsis said laughing. "We're currently focus testing some of our tutorials, and believe you me, we've got two that remind you to do that, because you're not alone." "That was a feature that we were in hot debate over," Papoutsis added, "and many of us, myself included, really pushed for it." Similar discussions have carried over into the development of the sequel, as Visceral Games continues to refine the gameplay. "We're taking it a step further," Papoutsis said of Dead Space 2, "so now, when you're not in combat or aim mode, you'll use one of your stasis recharge items. We've got health and stasis mapped" to a button. %Gallery-97881%
Dead Space lives in two new formats: animated movie and graphic novel out this winter
The Dead Space universe just got a bit less lonely. EA announced two more projects for the property, this time an animated feature called Dead Space Aftermath, available January 2011, and a graphic novel called Dead Space Salvage, expected out December 2010. Perfect for those of you who love Dead Space, but somehow hate video games. The animated Aftermath tells the story of a group sent by the Government to the site of the Aegis VII disaster, specifically to be exposed to Marker shards, in order to create a carrier for a "Marker blueprint." Of course, the people don't know that's why they've been brought there, and since it's horror (and Dead Space) we can expect the expedition to go ... well, not great. The Salvage comic, published by IDW, is about a group called the "Magpies" who come across the abandoned Ishimura, which is full of candy Government agents and necromorphs. We'll learn more details about these projects during today's Comic-Con panel, "Building a Horror Entertainment Franchise: Dead Space 2."
Preview: Dead Space 2
As a huge fan of the first Dead Space, a true survival horror gem, I've been concerned about the sequel. From the few videos released so far -- Isaac jumping through a runaway space train, or getting shot at by a space helicopter, or being launched into zero gravity to fight a grotesque monster -- Dead Space 2 looks cool and visceral, but very much like an action shooter. Where are all the scares? Playing Dead Space 2 for the first time at a recent EA event, it took just a few moments to get re-acclimated to the familiar controls. Clutching the plasma cutter (my weapon of choice in the first game), I was dismembering my Necromorph nemeses in no time; only interrupted by some cheap scares along the way -- like some creepy creatures suddenly spawning behind me. This certainly felt like a Dead Space game. Many fans of the first game wouldn't mind a sequel that's simply "more Dead Space," and, in many ways, that's exactly what I was playing. I noticed some some subtle changes and improvements, of course. For example, Isaac's "stomp" attack can now be used repeatedly, allowing him to vent his rage over and over again -- a great way to conserve ammo too! There are new weapons as well, including a pole-launcher that can pin enemies to walls. %Gallery-97881%
Dead Space Ignition is a downloadable Dead Space 2 prequel, for XBLA and PSN
We know Dead Space-dev Visceral Games has had its eye on the downloadable space -- along with the rest of EA -- for some time now with the oft-rumored Jack the Ripper title and something else. Well, that something else is Dead Space Ignition, "the first of many exciting game extensions we have planned for the launch of Dead Space 2," says Dead Space franchise exec producer Steve Papoutsis. From what we can gather from the press release (embedded after the break), Ignition is a "Choose Your Own Adventure," comic-style story with "three unique hacking mini games." Ignition will provide a "unique perspective leading up to Dead Space 2" and fill in new players on all the backstory they need to shoot monsters' limbs off. Depending on which adventure you choose, you'll earn one of four endings (replayability!) and those endings will reward you with in-game trinkets for Dead Space 2, "including an exclusive suit." Like 2008's Dead Space comic series, Ignition is again tapping comics author Antony Johnson to weave a tale of suspense, horror, mystery and (oh, right) dismemberment! Dead Space Ignition is being co-developed by Visceral Games and Sumo Digital for a Fall 2010 release on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Considering the promotional nature of the title, we're hoping the asking price is a reasonable one. [Editor's note: The image above was posted yesterday on the Dead Space Facebook page teasing today's announcement. The alien jargon in the upper right spells out "Ignition."]
Dead Space 2 comes with Move-based Extraction on PS3
The Dead Space 2 presentation during Sony's E3 press conference brought with it a fairly pleasant surprise -- the PS3 version of the game will come with a port of the Wii rail-shooter, Dead Space: Extraction, now with PlayStation Move support. We're not sure what kinds of upgrades the game's visuals will be subjected to, but this might just influence our decision when it comes time to decide which platform to purchase the spacey sequel upon.
