Very few games have snuck up behind me and bit my head off the way Dead Space did last year. A game that everyone had mediocre hopes for quickly became the poster child for creating an atmosphere of horror that permeated every pixel on the screen. And when videos rolled out last week about how Dead Space was originally meant to emerge on the Xbox, tongues started wagging about how the game, when made on the Wii, could actually turn out to be very interesting.

As if to answer a bunch of unvoiced questions, we get a new press release and a trailer earlier today informing us that Dead Space: Extraction is headed to the Wii sometime later this summer. While we’re not sure exactly what percentage of the trailer is in-game and what’s CG, what we’ve seen of the Xbox presentation is enough to convince me that the Wii version could definitely prove to be enough fun to crap my pants all over again.

According to the press release, Extraction is set on the Aegis VII mining colony and presumably runs parallel to the animated comics -- before the USG Ishimura shows up and events of Downfall and Dead Space play out. As the necromorph infestation spreads through the colony, players will get to use the unique motion control capabiilties of the Wiimote, combined with a first-person (yes, you read that right, first-person) perspective to take the necros apart one bloody limb at a time.

And honestly speaking, after checking out the animated comics, Downfall and having walked a mile Issac’s shoes thrice already, I just can’t wait to get on the colony and kick necro butt. The only sad part is, I just know that the poor girl is probably going to get her pretty little head lobotomized by one of them crawling Necro-creating bat-creatures at the end…

After being royally ignored countless number of times, Bangalore finally got its first and much deserved gaming expo in a long time. After wowing the gamers in Mumbai, the PlayStation Experience (PSE) in Mumbai, it moved down south to Bangalore, much to the delight of us gamers here. Held at the Kormangala Indoor Stadium, PSE boasted of an impressive set up that allowed the general public access to a lot of PS3, PS2 and PSP titles, some already out in the market and some just waiting to hit the shelves. The show floor was divided into different zones showcasing different genres of video games from the PS3’s roster.

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Original IPs have been quite the rage with EA these days and it’s hard not to get misty-eyed upon seeing Dead Space, a third-person action/adventure horror escapade developed by EA Redwood Shores, in action for the first-time. Reggie and I were invited to EA India’s office in Gurgaon today to have ourselves an intensive hands-on session with a near final-build.

In the beginning of the game, we’re treated with an in-game cinematic of lead protagonist Isaac Clarke with a space crew heading towards the USG Ishimura, a giant orbital ship that suffered a huge communications blackout for whatever reason unbeknownst to its curious approachers. Eventually, stinky poop hits the fan when your crew’s vessel gets pulled into the Ishimura’s magnetic field and you’re forced to make a landing inside its hull. Voodoo vibes are in full effect, and this is pretty much were you come in.

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For fans of Dead Space that have been eagerly awaiting the next instalment of the wonderfully crafted animated comic, EA has finally released the next episode in the series which continues the gruesome story of the Marker, the Unitology conspiracies and the shocking mass-suicides and takes it one step further with the beginnings of horror, betrayal and infection. With just two more comics and the Downfall movie to go over the next three months, Issue 04 opens the gates of Hell as Marla finally figures out how “death is the key” just as the Ishimura inititates planetcrack, marking the beginning of the end and unleashing the Necromorph infestation, accompanied by the obligatory creepy-as-hell soundtrack.

The 130 MB animated comic is available for download in MP4 format from the Dead Space servers here. (Right click, select Save Target As)

Expect a full-fledged review of the issues so far and its evolution as soon as we manage to get our hands on the actual print comics themselves. Soon.