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• Dead Space movie still happening, claims director

  During a promotional trip for his latest film, I Am Number Four, Hollywood director DJ Caruso claimed that the planned live-action Dead Space film was still in production.
  Speaking to AreaGames, the helmer who signed on to direct the film back in 2009 admitted ee working on the story./p>

  "We had one attempt of trying to do a prequel, but the story didn't quite work out as well as we wanted it to," Caruso continued. "But if we can capture how - I don't want to say, I guess, how scary or horrifying it would be to play that game because it's really, really fantastic - it'd be fun to make that into a movie."

  You'll find no arguments from us, here. The cinematic action featured in both Dead Space titles - not forgetting rail-shooter spin-off Extraction, of course - makes the franchise an obvious choice for a leap to the big screen. It seems the director shares the opinion of developer Visceral Games, who earlier maintained that the film would be omething really worthwhileand not ust a cheap cash-in

  Publisher Electronic Arts has partnered with producers of the Twilight series, Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, on the film. Fingers crossed these story issues are sorted out and we can bring you more news on this potentially very exciting project.

• Cancelled third-person Call of Duty spin-off detailed at XP event

  Teasing details from the nameless Call of Duty spin-off, once under development at Sledgehammer, have been revealed at the Call of Duty XP event in Los Angeles.

  Talking to Gamerzines, Sledgehammer boss Glen Schofield described the aborted project as a third-person shooter, not set in the modern day. He went on to add "It had a lot of atmosphere like, I should say Dead Space a little bit because you were underground in some places. You know, war is hell, war is scary and that's what we were trying to get across. We did a tonne of research."

  The news is perhaps not particularly surprising both Schofield and fellow studio head Michael Condery set up Sledgehammer after working on Dead Space for EA at Visceral Games.

  The decision to cancel the game was theirs, he insists, and not an order from Activision's high command. The offer came through from Infinity Ward to help on Modern Warfare 3, and after talking it through with the Sledgehammer team, the changeover was made.

  Would a third-person Call of Duty have worked? We'll probably never know. What we do know is that Modern Warfare 3 is now just two months away from its November 8th release date. It'll be out on PS3, Xbox 360,and PC.

• Dead Space 2 named Xbox 360's scariest game

  The acclaimed horror game Dead Space 2 has been named the scariest title on Xbox 360 in a new study by usability studio Vertical Slice.

  Analysis featured on Gamasutra compared EA's sci-fi thriller to a number of other chilling titles - including Resident Evil 5, Alan Wake and Condemned - in order to find out how players reacted to it.

  It was found that both the hardcore and casual gamers who played the games rated Dead Space 2 as the most unsettling, with the experience eliciting various different types of fear response.

  The findings of the study showed the game's expertise in creating anticipation and tension, with periods of creeping build-up increasing the fear when the gruesome undead Necromorph attacked.

  Dead Space 2 was released earlier this year to strong sales and reviews, putting players in control of Isaac Clarke, a mentally damaged man who must flee a vast space station being plagued by an alien life form that reanimates the dead.

  It is available on PlayStation 3 and PC as well as Xbox 360.

  Published: 13/09/2011

• Dead Space 2 - Review

  
  

  

  Isaac's Alive and Kicking

  The first Dead Space should, by rights have been a miserable failure. Designed by a studio known principally for licensed action games, yearly sports updates and uninspired sequels to workmanlike franchises, even the synopsis sounded tired.

  Wearing its influences not so much on its sleeve as slap bang in the middle of its forehead, here was a space horror game that owed its premise and ambiance to movies such as Alien and Event Horizon, and its mechanics to games such as Doom 3 and Resident Evil 4.

  And yet somehow the developer, in selecting the finest ingredients from its influences and introducing a clutch of fine ideas of its own, happened upon a space survival horror game that was both mesmerising and terrifying.

  Dead Space 2 picks up where the first game left off, following the tortured journey of Isaac Clark, a space engineer hero. In the first game Clark answered the distress call of a stranded spaceship, the USG Ishimura, to find its belly overrun by Necromorphs, reanimated human corpses with flailing limbs and dislocated, snapping jaws.

  Three years on from the events of Dead Space, and Isaac wakes in a psychiatric ward on a space station known only as The Sprawl. Now, instead of chasing after the promise of his lost girlfriend as in the first game, he is haunted by her, his decaying mind invaded by hellish visions.

  Aliens

  But not all of the hellish visions are of Isaac's imagination. The Sprawl has also been overrun by Necromorphs and as soon as you break from the leather straps of your strait jacket, you're right back into the action, working your way through dark corridors and eerie rooms as you search for a way out of both the situation and your own madness.

  Much of the emphasis is placed on combat. Isaac has access to various weapons, up to four of which can be equipped at any one time. In contrast to most shooting games, the weak spot on all Necromorphs is their limbs, and the quickest way to kill an enemy is to incapacitate them by shooting off their arms and legs and stomping on their head with a heavy boot.

  Additionally, Isaac can use telekinesis powers to lift objects in the environment up and fire them into enemies. Finally, a 'statis' shot, when accurately fired at an enemy, will stop them dead in their tracks for a few seconds, especially useful for taking down the Stalkers, mangy wolf-like creatures that sprint for your neck the moment you let your guard down.

  It's not all tense shooting on The Sprawl, however, as numerous puzzles block your progress through the game. At times you'll need to use your 'Statis' shots to, for example, slow the shuttering of a malfunctioning door while, at others, you'll need to replace broken batteries with your telekinesis powers.

  The combination of combat, puzzles and, of course, those set pieces battles the first game executed so successfully make for a fresh, intriguing mix of play.

  Sounds of Silence

  Nevertheless, it's developer Visceral's unrivalled ability to deliver an audio-visual treat wherein the game's greatest appeal lies. The sound design is exemplary, rendering the muffled silence of floating through zero gravity space with just as much effectiveness as the stifled groans of unseen enemies.

  Likewise, Dead Space 2's environment artists deliver a smorgasbord of interesting environments within The Sprawl, from tall ceilinged churches with intricate strained glass windows, to horror clichés such a nurseries.

  Best played at its hardest difficulty level with the lights turned off, Dead Space 2 is a ghost train ride of a experience, a tense horror game that plays games with your mind through sights and sounds, before trying to eat it out with a Necromorph bursting through a wall. Survival horror rarely epitomized its terms so well.

  GAME's Verdict

  The Good:

  • Unrivalled atmosphere.
  • Lots of game modes to keep you busy.
  • Exemplary sound design.

  The Bad:

  • Linear design.
  • Relies heavily on horror clichés.
  • Story is of mixed quality.

  Published: 27/01/2011