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Ive put about 7 hours into Dead Space 2 so far and I've loved every second of it.  Im glad they moved the game to a setting that allows a larger variety in level design.  The first game was really good but everything looked the same which is the reason I never beat it.  I never felt like I was going anywhere.  Like I said that isnt an issue in Dead Space 2.  There are plenty of areas to the game and all of them have their own unique look.  Some of the missions or chapters require you to traverse the same areas multiple times to complete multiple objectives but every time you go back through someplace there is something different whether its a change in lighting or bodies everywhere its at least slightly changed. 
 
One issue I have in the game is weapons.  I almost dont want to buy new ones because im not sure what works best and how much ammo ill find.  I stick with the starting cutter and I use the javelin gun along with the pulse rifle and not much else.  It hasnt caused an issue so far.  I dont know if its me not wanting to spend the money on anything but power nodes or if its a flaw in game design but it was exactly the same way in the first game.  I think they need to seperate the power nodes from the store or make it so you find guns instead of having to buy them.  Otherwise I dont see myself changing weapons up any time soon. 
 
Speaking of power nodes I found a glitch thats related to the rooms locked by nodes.  I dont know if this works on all these rooms but its happened twice so far and if abused it can greatly unbalance the game.  All you do is make a save, open the door with a node and then take all the stuff.  Make a second save after going in the room, quit and reload the second save.  The room should be full of stuff again.  In one room I managed to gather over 40,000 credits plus items in about 10 min of time.  All I would do is go in the room take all the stuff go out, save/quit and load up again and go back into the room. 
 
I decided to revert to the save before I went into the room the first time because I dont want to ruin my first play through.  I could easily do this glitch and completely upgrade all my gear and buy everything because right down the hall from the node room is a store and bench.  I probably will abuse the crap out of this little flaw on my second play through and maybe once ive got more power nodes than I know what to do with ill be able to convince myself to buy some new guns. 
 
EA has a good thing going with this series.  Its got the creep factor nailed.  No game before or since Silent Hill 2 ever gave me the creeps or made me scared to walk through a door but Dead Space succeeds in this regard brilliantly.  Not only does it have the graphical atmosphere down it has some incredible sound design to go along with it.  Hearing clanging metal and things being knocked around in the distance is always disturbing.  Just when you think you know what to expect or you think you have the pace of scares down they change it up.  Rooms you know for a fact are safe arent, and places you are convinced you will be violently ripped to pieces end up being calm and safe.  This kind of tension is what makes this genre so good and the execution here is damn near perfect.  Not only that but gunplay is spot on.  If this wasnt a horror game it would make a really good action shooter.  Its just very satisfying to play and its the kind of game you dont want to stop playing until you beat it and then chances are you're going to want to play again. 

i think its time to start making some new lists here on Giantbomb.  I started 2 new ones, each only has 1 item so far because im tired but ill add more.  If anyone has any suggestions for new types of lists or items to add to a list feel free to message me.  This is being tagged with Call of Duty cause both new lists have and item that has to do with it in some way.  Now thats impact!

Despite being a child of the 80s and a massive nes nerd as a kid I never got into the Castlevania series.  Even more modern games never held my interest despite being quality games.  This is why I found it odd that I bought the new game instead of Enslaved which I had been anticipating.  I wasnt really sure what to expect.  I knew the combat was God of Warish which isnt a bad thing and I knew Kojima had his hand in this somehow.  While I knew a basic overview of the story from all the games I didnt know what I was in for here and honestly despite being a couple hours into Lord of Shadow I still dont know how it fits in with the series as a whole. 
 
Being that im am only a couple hours in I also dont know how much I like the game yet.  I have no complaints about the combat, although I was hoping for more depth and I might find it as I continue to level up and unlock new things.  My only real issue so far is how linear the game feels.  Now God of War is also very linear but the levels have that massive open feel to them.  Lord of Shadow seems to be full of incredibly narrow paths that feel cramped and while it does sometimes branch they always end up at the same place.  Despite the game being so linear I also get the feeling that im somehow lost.  I know that doesnt make any sense but the feeling is there and I can never seem to shake it. 
 
Based on what I've played some far I would recommend anyone who likes action games to go ahead and pick it up.  The game is fun, its pretty and it has some really good sound design.  I just dont know where the game is going or how its going to end up.  Thats not a bad thing I guess but in this day and age thats a rarity and I suppose the fact that im in this situation might be a good thing and it might change the way i buy games.  Aside from a few min playing the demo a couple weeks ago I havent watched or read anything about this game so everything feels mysterious and fresh. 
 
Im done rambling for now, my thoughts are a bit disjointed and unlcear and ill blame that on the fact that im horribly sick and need sleep.

" aaaaahhhhh man, playing them in order just warrants a HD remake of Halo 1 & 2, with like the reach engine, not a shitty HD download I mean. Imagine a Box set with Halo Reach, 1,2 &3 all in a glorious new engine, I would pay $200 for that.... "

I havent been able to play Reach near as much as I've wanted to.  I've been letting my son and a group of Halo minded boys play it.  So far they have beaten the single player (and coop) 2 times, they have done plenty of firefight matches, some offline slayer, and even some forge.  The funny thing is my Son who is 10 is so interested in the story and making sure he plays it correctly he's started playing in order!  He beat Reach, then he played Halo 1.  After Halo 1 he started playing Halo 2.  Right when New Mombasa gets destroyed he saves and puts in Halo 3:ODST. Once he finished ODST he's going to finish Halo 2 and then beat Halo 3.  He gave Halo Wars a shot but it just wasnt for him.
 
After that he's going to read the books.  Now I know this sounds like I just let him run rampant and play a crazy amount of games but i dont lol!  The weather has been crap so he's been stuck inside with his friends and its actually quite alot of fun listening to all of them play.  Its also gotten him in the mood to read the books which is good.  He's already about 1/4 of the way through The Fall of Reach. 
 
Make me proud boy!

So I noticed the HD streams and ability to download the media now if you are a paid subscriber.  For about 3 seconds i was a little let down by the fact that I had to pay but I quickly got over it.  I have no idea what kind of benefits paying for this site offers but I paid anyways.  It wasnt really to get access to the HD streams it was more of a way to show how much I love this site and its content and I wanted to show my support.  Hell I even went as far as to whitelist this site from adblock when they started running ads and for me that is unheard of. 
 
So I guess all I really want to say is thank you Gamespot for being assholes and thank you Giantbomb staff for creating what has to be the highest quality gaming site with the best content on the web.  The only thing I would really want added is the video game nerd.  Get his ass of GT and bring him over here!  Oh and maybe a full feature android app too.  Im not a big fan of mobile sites.  They always load slower than app's and sometimes can render funky.  A nice dedicated app that can do most things the main site can do would be awesome.

I will buy the HD versions of Splinter Cell provided they are ported from the Xbox or PC versions and not the hacked up, dumb down, uglified ps2 and gcn ports.

Its nice to see the (im cool) Halo haters alive and well.  We all know 98% of the haters will buy the game and probably play the beta.  The other 2% have probably never even played Halo.  I just dont get the hate.  You wont find a more refined FPS whether its in single player or multiplayer on a console anywhere.  Whether you enjoy the story or not the gameplay is honed to perfection and as close to balanced you will ever find in a shooter.\ 
 
I cant wait for the beta.  All the small changes add up for a new experience.

Omg they changed the site a bit!