Dead Space 2

With the quickfire presentation rattling through only the topline information, the selection of conventional weapons on offer are largely glossed over, but we can expect a similar array of futuristic technology, with the alt-fire abilities, rotation and upgrade systems that proved so effective in the first game.

Visceral certainly won plenty of admirers for its technical composure last time around, and this week's demonstration suggests the sequel will live up to the lofty expectations placed upon it. It's set three years after the events of the original on one of Saturn's moons, and you get to explore the depths of a mining facility as well as a space city known as Sprawl.

Promising the requisite subtle tweaks and improvements, it's "more organic... a very different look, that's still distinctly Dead Space." The already-fantastic visual sheen is embellished further still by heat haze effects, improved lighting and the aforementioned greater interactivity, which lets you bust up just about anything, should you so wish.

As before, HUD elements will be beautifully integrated via holographic projections and details on your weapons and suit, making an already glorious spectacle less 'videogamey'. Gore is still as uncompromising as ever, with no opportunity passed up to make us wince at the brutality. Guts spill, torsos rip apart. It's wonderfully grisly.

Once again Isaac Clarke will provide the focus of the storyline, but EA reckons he will be much less of an "errand boy" than previously - arguably the one main failing of the original. You also get to know Isaac a bit more in the sequel: "His helmet will retract and you'll get to hear what he says," we're told. "There will be interesting puzzles that relate to his engineer skills, and we'll let players take the initiative."

One of the new mini-games tasks you with overriding a door control system by yanking out the circuit that's controlling it. Delving into a complicated mass of wires, it isn't clear how you succeed, but Clarke gets a nasty electric shock that sends him recoiling in momentary agony when he messes it up, so we'll probably need to figure that one out.

Other plot details are notably sparse, with EA at pains to ensure everything's locked down and unspoiled. Suffice it to say though that "some interesting stuff has gone on", and we can expect narrative consistency and continuity with the other Dead Space properties. "Whether it's the comic books, animated feature, graphic novel, the fiction is completely intertwined."