Crispy Gamer News

Fans of the Dead Space comics - based on EA’s recently released horror survival game set in space - will be happy to hear that all of the comic books related to the game have been re-released in one single hardcover tome.

The Dead Space hardbook serves as a prequel story for the videogame that tells the tale of a deep space mining colony that unleashes a deadly alien life force from a dark rock. The Dead Space hardbook combines all 6 Dead Space comics written by Antony Johnson and illustrated by Ben Templesmith with exclusive cover art by Templesmith, an exclusive bonus art section, and a background section on the major characters.

Those interested in buying it can find links on the Dead Space Blog.

Isaac Clarke is about to get some upgrades if you are willing to spend some cold hard cash. EA announced that Dead Space downloadable content will be released on Nov. 13, giving PS3 and Xbox 360 owners of the game some special gear and new outfits. It’s like playing dress up but with guns and creepy monsters attacking you.. The complete list of upgrade packs after the jump - including exclusives for PS3 and Xbox 360 owners:

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If you don’t mind using Steam and feel that the PC is the best gaming system in the universe, then you may be pleased to hear that Konami’s Silent Hill: Homecoming is now available via Valve’s digital distribution platform. The horror survival game is available for immediate download and instant play for $44.99.

Silent Hill: Homecoming drags players kicking and screaming into the history of Silent Hill, revealing some of the evil that surrounds Toluca Lake. The story follows Alex Shepherd, who returns to his hometown of Shepherd’s Glen to investigate the disappearance of his brother. As he searches for answers, Alex discovers eerie occurrences that make it difficult to find the truth and maintain his grip on reality.

You can get in on the adventure by visiting store.steampowered.com.

Electronic Arts has shipped Dead Space for the Xbox 360 and PS3, with the PC version shipping out on October 20. Dead Space will be in stores in Europe on October 24 for all three platforms. Dead Space is a horror survival game set on a derelict space ship under assault by a strange alien species that wants to kill everything human onboard. Scott Jones has reviewed the Xbox 360 version of the game and has found it to be just “okay.” Here’s an excerpt from the review - which you can read in its entirety after the quote:

Lights flicker. Corpses are littered about. In their dying moments, these dead people apparently found the strength to write helpful and not-helpful messages in blood on the walls. Someone wrote, “Cut off their limbs!” (Helpful.) Someone else wrote, “This ship is f***ed.” (Not helpful, but obviously very true.) The developers do a terrific job of laying on the terror nice and thick in Dead Space’s opening moments.

Read the rest: Crispy Gamer Dead Space Review

The score for EA’s new sci-fi survival horror game Dead Space is being composed by Jason Graves, in association with Rod Abernethy and under the direction of EA Redwood Shores studio. EA claims Jason’s score for Dead Space enhances the horror and tension of the game through extreme aleatoric and extended 20th Century orchestral music techniques.

The official soundtrack for Dead Space will be available on www.ea.com/eatrax for purchase to coincide with the release of Dead Space on October 14. The score features over three hours of music recorded during two different recording sessions. In the first session Graves conducted sixty musicians of the Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra at the Bastyr Chapel in Seattle, and a year later Graves conducted sixty players of the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and twenty voice choir at the world famous Skywalker Sound Scoring Stage. During both sessions, co-produced by Jason Graves and Rod Abernethy, the orchestra was recorded individually by section (woodwinds, brass, percussion and strings) with multiple dynamic levels and variations to be implemented as adaptive layers of music in the game. EA’s audio team designed the music system to be multi-layered so the music could be mixed at run-time based on gameplay and situation.

Dead Space will ship on October 14 for the Xbox 360 and PS3. The PC version will ship on October 20, 2008.

Some good news came out of Burbank this week: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has changed the name of action horror game Project Origin to F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. I am certainly happy that Monolith’s follow-up to the original game now has the proper moniker. The game with the spiffy new name will be published by Warner Bros. Interactive on February 10, 2009 in North America and February 13, 2009 in Europe. Here’s what WBIE had to say about the name change:

“The name addition builds upon the strong game recognition, which we will extend as we move forward reinventing the F.E.A.R. brand,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will continue the legacy of the original F.E.A.R. game with story and combat while adding new twists, gameplay and graphics to expand the players’ experience.”

Project Origin was to be published under the Sierra label owned by VU Games, which was all but abandoned by Activision Blizzard after the merger. WVIE bought back the rights to the game from the company, who was glad to sell it off and move on. I guess it’s a win-win for everyone.

Check out our coverage of the game before it became F.E.A.R. 2 in our Project Origin Preview.

New shots from Konami’s creepy survival horror game.

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