Dead Space 2

I am never going into space. Never! I know it's unlikely that we will see commercial space travel in my lifetime (or at all if Einstein's theory of relativity is airtight), but in order to retreat from the horror of this game I just might run away to an island and live a life of coconuts and loincloths. Dead Space 2 ain't no tourist brochure for Outer Space.

Having never played the first game I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the story, but thankfully there is a 'previously on Dead Space' option on the main menu. You play as Issac Clarke, an engineer who wakes up on a colony on Titan to discover that a disgusting biological accident called the Necromorphs have taken over. On his way to safety he also fights against the Unitologists, a cult who worship 'The Marker', a faux religious artifact that is actually a man-made weapon that turns human DNA to sludge. The resulting Necromorphs (terrifying monsters made from re-animated human corpses) spread the chaos as Issac flees through the disintegrating colony while hallucinating his dead girlfriend as a demonic ghost.

The dread in Dead Space 2 is overwhelming. It is honestly the most frightening game I have played since Condemned 2 (PS3). If you have a home cinema you can scare yourself to death by playing this at night, with the lights off, and sound turned all the way up. Every breath, every gasp, every distant rumble will make the hairs on arm stand on end, and some of the stingers (quite clever ones too) will cause your heart to stop beating.

The gameplay is the over-shoulder, run-and-gun type you've seen in Resident Evils 4 and 5. I suppose it is a survival horror too, but the environments get repetitive and it goes on for a bit too long. There are 59 trophies (8 of them DLC) of which I managed to win 51%. Multiple play-throughs are required for the platinum but I appreciate my sanity too much to fight to the end more than once.

I need to play something cute and happy to take the edge of now. Dead Space 2 is not for those of a nervous disposition.

Graphics A Sound A Gameplay B+ Lasting Appeal B