Sprawl’s Scrawl and The Examiner team up to bring you our latest Game Review of Dead Space 2! I will occasionally be doing gaming reviews for the site, so be sure to click around over there to make our advertisers happy!

Last month, Electronic Arts released Dead Space 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the sci-fi first-person shooter survival horror, which continues the media franchise in its tenth installment that spans two movies, three comic books, and now five video games. Much like our hero precariously stalking down a dark and dank corridor, it can be rather daunting for a new fan to enter the Dead Space universe.

One can’t even begin to talk about Dead Space 2, however, without taking a look at the original. Sure, it isn’t the first piece of lore available in the time line, but it is the original Dead Space game that started it all. Luckily, Steam bundled the original in with the new sequel for a mere $3 during release week. Now that is a price this editor can afford!

Head on over to The Examiner to read the entire review and find out why we gave this Dead Space sequel 4 out of 5 stars!

The game begins with a cliched case of amnesia; so you and the main character are basically on the same footing. Something bad has befallen you and an unrealistic version of Manhattan. Your sole mission is to figure out what has happened to you and to get revenge on the people who did it. Did what? I don’t know, we can’t remember…

So that sets the stage for Protoype. This game is a single-player sandbox style game sort of like Assassin’s Creed or The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. In the usual fashion our misguided hero has amazing acrobatic abilities and superpowers that allow you to transform and morph his body into all kinds of deadly weapons. Likewise, you can absorb the life force of everyone around you, and even take on their physical likeness.

What really sets this game’s storyline apart from others are the moral implications. You are motivated purely by revenge, and you really don’t care who you kill on your path of destruction.
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I hate military shooters. These games have never really been that great, are highly repetitive, and largely stereotypically. I tried to stay away from the latest in the Call of Duty line of games, but with the record-breaking sales numbers and the gross media hype, it would have been neglectful to have not given the seventh game of the Call of Duty line a try. Believe it or not, I had fun. Playing Call of Duty: Black Ops’ single-player campaign felt like I was the star of a military feature film; the Matt Damon, if you will, of video games!

Joking aside, that is how the single-player campaign plays out. You are the star of an episodic made-for-tv psychological thriller. Most of the time you play the role of Alex Mason, ex-military special ops badass that is being mind-probed by some apparently unknown assailant. This allows you to re-live a number of Mason’s memories in the form of 15 episodes that make-up the 9-hour rollercoaster ride through the Cold War Era.
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