Now from watching the EA and Sony press conferences, you may be thinking that you have already received all the visual goodness Visceral Games had to show for Dead Space 2. Well, you are pretty much correct, at least as far as content is concerned. There really was not much more of the game shown, which is fine with me; I don't want the story ruined before January after all.

So what is the point in reading this Impression?

There were a few minor things that you didn't get to see, more like hear, in the two press conferences. Primarily that what you saw on the big screens was nothing compared to how Dead Space 2 is going to look for everyone that isn't Jack Tretton or Bill Gates. I'm talking about those who are going to be playing on a standard screen or monitor. Simply put, if you thought it looked great there, conventional displays will make your eyes explode and brain disintegrate from the visuals.

Yes, I am eating the words I placed on Twitter while watching the conferences. This tune around, everything was so creepy and, pun not intended, visceral. The same scares that were bland the first time were actually shocking in the demo.

As for what you really didn't get to hear in the two big showings was one of the new elements added to the game; you get to hear Isaac speak and interact with the NPCs. It may not sound too thrilling at first, but whoever the audio director is, they made the script and voice actors sound amazing. Leaps and bounds beyond what you would expect from another survival horror sequel. I was completely impressed.

Finally, two things that have been touched on in the past and lightly addressed in the public showing - the flight control and the story. The flight being the lesser of the two and it pretty much looked like what you saw in Iron Man 2. The story expansion was what intrigued me more.

The way it was described is that Isaac is taking the fight back to the necromorphs after escaping death in the original Dead Space. Why in the name of Hades would he go risking his life after surviving? That made absolutely no sense to me.  Thankfully, I was quickly shown that is the VERY basic description of the game. He isn't taking the fight to them because he wants to - he is doing it because he has to.

From what I gathered, Isaac escaped to a nearby space city that should have been a safe refuge for him. He arrived only to find out that it too has been overrun by necromorphs. Now, to save himself, the city and the rest of the survivors, he has to go on a rampage to destroy the necromorphs and remove the markers from the city. That most likely means we will get even more into the twisted religion created for the game. Now this I can't wait for.

We'll keep you posted on more leading up to the January 2011 release date.