Dead Space terrifies factory

Sometime in early 2007, Electronic Arts executive producer Glen Schofield called a meeting with his supervisors to pitch them an all-new intellectual property. The result was Dead Space, an action game that combines Resident Evil-esque horror survival elements with a sci-fi setting straight out of the films Alien and Event Horizon. It follows an engineer whose routine repair mission to a deep-space mining ship is scrapped when he discovers an alien infestation that has killed the vessel's crew--and transformed the rest into unspeakable horrors.

Now, almost exactly one year after it was first unveiled to the public, Schofield's vision has become a reality. Today, EA announced that the game's gold master has been sent to the factory. In North America, the game will ship for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 14, with the PC version to follow on October 20. In Europe and the UK, the game will launch on all three platforms on October 24.

As an incentive, EA is offering those who buy the PS3 and 360 versions of the game at launch a free, platform-exclusive in-game suit. Anyone who logs onto the two consoles' respective online stores within two weeks of the game's launch can download a PlayStation-themed Obsidian Suit or an Xbox-themed Elite suit. Both suits will have advantages over the standard in-game armor, providing increased inventory slots and tougher protection against spikes, tentacles, and other space-monster weapons.

Cash-flush Xbox 360 owners seeking the deluxe Dead Space treatment can shell out $149.99 for the Dead Space Ultra Limited Edition. Available only through EA's online store, the package includes Starz Media's Dead Space: Downfall animated movie, a bonus-content DVD, a lithograph, a 97-page art book written and illustrated by the game's designers, Image Comics' 160-page Dead Space graphic novel, and a crew patch for the spaceship Ishimura. The Ultra Limited Edition has not been announced for any other platforms.