EA Games' upcoming Dead Space 2

If you're a regular Game Hunters visitor (and we certainly hope you are) then you've no doubt read a lot about EA Games' upcoming Dead Space 2, slated for a January 25 launch on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PCs.

We've recently written about the Dead Space 2 demo, now available, and we've posted the latest trailer to the game, too. And our first impressions hands-on preview is here.

But we know you want more, so we tapped art director Ian Milham to give us a few other goodies about the game to look forward to.

Falling to pieces. Enemy parts sometimes make the best weapons. One of the best strategies in Dead Space 2 is to use the Necromorph's dismembered talons against them. A very good player could use one shot from his plasma cutter to cut off the spear from a Necromorph slasher, and then use his TK (telekinesis) ability to pick up and fire that spear at the Necro to finish him off. This greatly conserves ammo, which is a huge advantage in a game like this.

No product placement. More than 20 fake brands and products were created, along with their logos and advertising campaigns, to populate world of "The Sprawl," the city in space in which Dead Space 2 takes place. From "Lightspeed Hard Bar" the futuristic snack cake, to "Lemon Gun" the refreshing drink bar to "Levitations," the telekinetic bed company, all the brands the player sees on the billboards had to be created from scratch. Most of them are based on inside jokes for the team. The woman pictured in the poster for "Kitty Kitty Bang Bang" is actually one of the voice actors for the game. Posters for the movie "The Clogger" came from team drama about someone …er…. breaking the social rules of the men's room.

Head case. Isaac's helmet was a single solid piece in the first Dead Space, but in Dead Space 2 he needs to talk and emote, so a fully-folding helmet for each suit was engineered. His Advanced Suit helmet features over 40 pieces. If you look closely, you can see little arms extend from his suit and pull the helmet parts down for storage.

You're so random. If you think you'll get the jump on the Necromorphs by playing through an area again after you die, think again. They don't always come from the same "boo!" points this time around. Necros choose new areas to come bursting out of different times.

Get yer goat. Among the expenses incurred in the making of the game: a goat. The artists bought a butchered goat, which was used for reference and filming to provide flashes of imagery for Isaac's nightmare sequences.

By Marc Saltzman