Dead Space 2 Tidbits + My mini-review

I just LOL'd at the title of this post! How appropriate that tidbits and Dead Space 2 be used in the same sentence? Ok so I have two posts today. This one just for EA's hit title. First up is my mini-review of the game's single player component. Click here for Destructoid's review including multi-player. 

GZ Review of Dead Space 2
by Beegzz

As some of you may already know, Dead Space 2 is the sequel to the beloved original that launched back in Oct 2008. It was well received by critics and gamers, however the latter group did not jump on the bandwagon of sales that was much deserved. Dead Space 2 has every bit of the original's mojo and the game's troubled hero Issac Clarke is very much in the center of it all. (Minor spoilers ahead) The necromorphs are back and badder than ever and dismembering them is the fastest way to dispatch them. The game even starts with one breathing down your neck, literally, in one of the best beginning cut-scenes in a survival horror game I have seen. You see Issac is a going a bit mad and wakes up in a straight jacket and necromorphs are wreaking havoc around him. When you finally get to the first store where you can buy your engineering suit its an epic moment as Issac dons the famous duds once again. Eventually you learn that this part of the saga is taking place on a space station called The Sprawl. This game world is filled with memorable new levels and challenges for you to make your way through. The whole campaign is a fantastic 10+ hour journey with Issac fighting his inner demons while trying to figure what he must do to save the day. Gameplay is largely the same as in the first title but improvements have been made all-around. Perhaps the best one is the ability to move around freely in the zero gravity portions of the game by utilizing the thrusters on Issac's suit. There are new weapons and suits for Issac this time around. The reliable plasma cutter, line gun, and pulse rifle all make a return as do others. The new weapons are extremely pleasing with the Javelin Gun being an early favorite and they can all be upgraded. Issac gets to try on cool new suits and some of them provide bonuses like armor, stasis regeneration, and more weapon damage. The floating menu/inventory screen is still one of the slickest interfaces I have seen yet. Dead Space 2 amps up the scare factor with ominous music and clever lighting and level design. You WILL whip around and check your six when you hear a noise. With a great story, the uber-disgusting necromorphs chasing you and popping out of the ceilings and, not to mention all the heat-thumping thrilling moments, you will be party to one of the most epic single-player experiences around. Plus your mom will hate it!

9 out of 10 - Game Zombie Editors Choice

Yup that picture above is of a life-size replica of the plasma cutter. Got money to blow? Go for it!

If you beat Dead Space 2 you will unlock Hardcore mode that only allows you 3 game saves for the entire campaign but if you invest the time you will get one of the coolest unlocks this side of the galaxy. Peep the video below to watch Issac's new toy go 'BANG BANG, PEW PEW PEW'



Dead Space movie? I vote yes. Rumors start here.

This is how you will die in Dead Space 2

It the thought that goes into the death animations that I appreciate the most. What a fun part of the development process! Ahhh yes...its the little things.

Game News & Media Morsels

So Black Ops on Xbox360 is currently where I spend my gaming time. It won't hold my attention for too much longer though. Why? Well that's easy. On March 8, 2011 THQ will release the new FPS game Homefront for 360/PS3/PC. I will be getting a copy for my 360. This game isn't in the limelight as much as a CoD game would be or even Battlefield for that matter, but it caught my attention mainly for the reasons outlined in the video below. I think the single-player campaign is going to be great. I will be posting my thoughts on this Friday's coverage by IGN on the multi-player in Homefront. Here is the vid.



Ok so for all of you CoD junkies out there who are counting down to the first map pack release on Feb 1st (360 only) here is Treyarch's sneak peak of what to expect on the multi-player maps.



Zip lines! Yikes! Should be loads of fun for all. Speaking of fun have you seen the commercial dubbed "Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2" yet? No? Well feast your eyes on the vid below. GREAT marketing gimmick. Give EA kudos on that idea.



I love the gore and the scares. Bring it. Alright so on to the next tasty morsel. Last summer a video teaser of a gritty remake of the movie Mortal Kombat was released on YouTube. It starred movie actor Michael Jai-White of Spawn, Dark Knight, and Sucker Punch fame playing Jax as a detective. Some of you may have seen this already, but I just watched it for the first time ever and I was highly entertained by it. I can't wait for the webisodes. Any MK fan old & new should watch this. Comment below.



All of us want better control right? Those guys on the MLG circuit make it look so easy. I am constantly running into uber-CoD players when casually gaming at night. Maybe if I had one of these I could at least stay alive longer right? Maybe? One point for dialing in your resistance on the analog sticks, two points taken away for not being wireless. Click the pic. The jury is out on this one.

Ok so in the lighter side of the news, I wanted to share this fan-friggin-tastic video of a Nintendo inspired Scion xB complete with game console and a projector built into the headlight. I want one.



Lastly, this dope decided it would be cool to tunnel into a game stop after hours and make off with some loot. He was wrong....it is hilarious! I laughed out loud! See ya next time!

Last post for 2010, more news and quips from GZ in 2011!

Today's GZ post is a special one. Not only does it ring in the holidays in a style only myself and my loyal readers can enjoy, but it is also the last post of 2010. Next year I will keep reporting on whatever I deem necessary and worthy of being mentioned here and hopefully I get more feedback from my readers as well as more content contributions. I was considering a name change of the blog too, but honestly I can't think of anything better unless I change it to "Games and Zombies" or something. In any case, I won't be winning awards for blog titles and I am okay with that. I do have some gaming news to pass along, but before I do I wanted to say how hilarious today's picture is. Back in 2008 a guy named Sean Bieri released a series of these on the net and I just found them. It's amazing what turns up when you take two seemingly unrelated topics and google search them together. Marvelous. I put a few of his images in the midst of today's post. There is a funny zombie xmas movie I found that is embedded after the news to top it all off. Enjoy and Happy Holidays from Game Zombie!

Da' News

Valve announced, via its blog, that Left 4 Dead community created content is coming to the Xbox360! Previously this was for PC only, but valve is going to pick the best of the best and make it available for 360 players too! Bravo!

Also the moment we have all been waiting for....more Left 4 Dead plushies! A perfect stocking stuffer!

So Dead Space 2 is set for a February 1st release date in  2011. To get your appetite wet the demo was released on Xbox Live yesterday and to get you drooling some more, here are a few videos.





So Red Dead Redemption won the VGA for 2010 Game of the Year and for good reason. I actually ended up purchasing a copy for $30 on Black Friday and I am glad I did. This game will have so much replay value for years to come. For those that missed out, you can get if from Xbox games on demand over Live. $60 though.

Little Big Planet 2 goes gold for January 18th 2011. This game is going to be viral. It will certainly sell more PS3 systems. I love the first one but I barely scratched the surface of what is possible in it. The sequel will blow our minds.

Destructoid posted a preview of Uncharted 3 and all I can say is I want it now. This will be yet another super feather in the Sony PS3 hat.

Well CoD: Black Ops has officially broke 1 Billion in sales. A stunning achievement that will only get bigger. The first DLC dubbed "First Strike" for Black Ops is due to hit Feb 1 2011. No word on pricing yet. The pack will have 4 new multi-player maps and 1 new zombie map. The weekend before will be free multiplayer weekend on Live for those few out there with a silver membership.

So that is the news. Here is the zombie xmas movie I promised you and one more pic from the Bieri collection. See you in 2011!

Watch this Dead Space 2 Multiplayer Preview

I am REALLY looking forward to this title if only for the Multiplayer/Co-Op experience. This looks great. Enjoy. Head nod Joystiq.

Now Playing: Dead Space (PS3)

Do you like gore? Well? Do ya? Punk.

First time through and I am loving it. This is a great game. Look for a mini-review down the road.

Zombie News No. 27

Ok so I am going to hit the game news running here and mister zombie in the pic above (taken from the cover art of George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" movie) is going to keep an eye on things for me while I keep playing Dead Space. Heh.

It's a bit blurry, but you get the idea.

Dead Rising 2 to include Frank West as co-op playable character - How awesome is that? DR2 is shaping up to be a huge game. Bigger than I think most of us anticipated.

Halo Reach is shipping tomorrow and the reviews are in. IGN, Dtoid, and the rest of them all say the same thing.Basically this is Bungie's masterpiece. A hallmark of FPS gaming. A must have. So what ya waiting for?

Speaking of reviews, Spider Man Shattered Dimensions is out in stores and reviews are mixed among sites.

Dead Space 2 Co-op video alert! - I am playing the first title and I love it. Can't wait for the sequel.



Dead Space 2 multi-player Preview from Joystiq.

Booyah!

Left 4 Dead's new comic for "The Sacrifice" DLC releases part 1 tomorrow. - Great wallpapers! Like this one.

Finally, a Red Dead Redemption sequel has hit the rumor mill after an employee for a service provider of Rockstar Games let the name slip. Co-Optimus has a bit more info for you. What would a RDR sequel look like for you? Hit up the comments!

Stay here for more news!

Zombie News No. 22

If you haven't watched Zombieland yet and you are a self-professed Zombie lover (or hater) then take 98 minutes and watch it. Great flick with some good one-liners that you can quote all day long. I especially like the credits in the beginning of the film. The zombie stripper and the fire zombie are just classic. The rules that our main character Columbus refers to throughout the movie are also funny and memorable when played out in certain scenes. I have yet to watch another film about zombie-like folks called "The Crazies" but I have it on my to-do list. Also I was recently told (head nod Mr. Scott) to pick up a book called "World War Z" by Max Brooks. It's a collection of stories about a fictional world-wide zombie pandemic. I hear very good things about it. Now on to the news!

Game News

Just about everytime you jump into Red Dead Redemption for some multiplayer fun in a Free Roam session, where (as the title suggests) you can roam around freely with the other players, you get shot in the face rather immediately death-match style. Well Rockstar is aiming to fix that wagon with a new patch coming soon.

Have you heard of Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions yet? No? Well start paying attention because our friendly neighborhood web slinger is looking good in his next title.

Joystiq has a preview of Dead Space 2 and from where I am sitting....I still need to play the original! This is also looking purdy good though.

Gears of War 3 is gonna be epic, but the boys in development are letting the players decide the fate of in-game character Clayton Carmine in the story.

Will players let him live or die? One thing is sure. Carmine brings some serious grub-ass-kicking skills to the table.

Switching gears (pun intended) to another franchise, our favorite bad boy Jedi from The Force Unleashed is returning to consoles for a sequel, but just today Gamestop announced a new pre-order bonus that if friggin sweet. Mainly because of the character it unlocks and the story possibilities behind it.

Here is the picture of said character and the description that follows:

"In the cloning facilities of Kamino, Darth Vader created a warrior of unparalleled strength and power by combining the genetic material of Darth Maul, former apprentice of Sith Lord Darth Sidious, with his own apprentice, Starkiller. The resulting aberrant clone possessed traits from both warriors, but the crude fusion of two disparate Force users quickly produced physical and mental instabilities that led to the unfortunate clone’s destruction. For a brief time he struck fear into the hearts of all who faced him, even Lord Vader himself." His name? Maulkiller. How wicked is that?

I was a Transformers nerd when I was a kid. I have the new game in my queue, and this trailer for the DLC that is releasing next week has me pumped to get my paws on it.

Other News

Some good news for PS3 owners and Netflix. A new disc-less version of the service will be releasing for PS3 in the coming months. Putting the disc in every time you want to watch a flick is just crappy. Problem solved (soon).

And perhaps the most interesting news of all, Dtoid reported a story about how Microsoft had it in their master plan to have cross-platform play for all titles between PC and 360. Apparently many moons past it was nixed because....ready....steady....console gamers couldn't hang. Yup. Apparently tests on the idea revealed that PC gamers "destroyed" console gamers every time.

Thoughts? Comment below! Till next time!