Dead Space 2 - Movie Homages

I'm not the biggest gamer, but every once in a while I have to get my video game fix. When I get a game, I'll play the heck out of it until I beat it or get too frustrated. When I'm done, I'm good for the next 6 months. Recently, DC Universe Online was finally released and I almost got it until I realized there was a monthly subscription fee. For as much as I love Jim Lee, I'm going to pass since I don't want to spend the extra money and don't really have the MMO gaming discipline. However, since I already had the PS3 controller in my hands, I had to get a game. Persuading my decision, there's this intriguing advertising campaign I keep seeing: http://yourmomhatesthis.com/.

If you've seen the commercials, this marketing ploy is for Dead Space 2. I researched the plot for the first game and it seemed interesting. From what I've gathered, an alien construct called the "Black Marker" landed on earth and emits a frequency that prevents a virus from turning dead corpses into mutated monsters known as "Necromorphs." The government and Unitarian Church end up funding experiments in outer space to see what the virus can really do. As expected, things go wrong and the protagonist must escape from a secluded spaceship. Dead Space 2 picks right up from the previous game. The hero ended up escaping, his girlfriend didn't, and he is being interogated by some authority. Suddenly, he wakes up from a 3 month blackout, only to find Necromorphs are invading the facility he is contained in. It now up to you to uncover the mystery and escape hopefully unscathed.

As I've been playing, I don't believe it is intentional, but I do see some film homages (as you can see, I'm trying to link this back to my Tarantino Comics theme). So here are 5 movie homages I've encountered:

1. Alien: "In space, no one can hear you scream." In the game, if you are floating outside the ship, there is no sound. In addition, some of the Necromorphs remind me of face-huggers.
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey: A black monolith arrives on earth, similar to what Kubrick portrayed arriving before the apes.
3. Starship Troopers: Most of the Necromorphs have these horrific appendages, visually similar to the monstrous Bugs.
4. The Devil's Rejects: There are these huge behemoths that can tear off your limbs. If you are killed by one of them, there is a cinematic cut scene similar to Tiny dragging a corpse during the opening credits of Rob Zombie's film.
5. The Unborn: Look at the picture below and hopefully you see what I mean.

I am no where near finished, but this game is a lot of fun. It is challenging and intense. With surprise pop-ups and loud sounds, I haven't been this scared playing a video game since Resident Evil 2 on the original Play Station.

Since video games are a part of pop culture, I going to rate this game. Due to the horror and Sci-Fi elements, I give Dead Space 2: 4 out of 5 stars.