Five severed limbs

Four stasis modules

Three plasma cutter upgrades

Two things that might be bleeding babies

And an insidious, self-interested corporate agenda in a pear tree

As if Christmas wasn’t already a terrifying enough prospect, EA’s just announced they’ll be deploying a Dead Space 2 demo on Xbox LIVE and the PSN North America on 21 December, and the PSN Europe the next day.

“The holidays are a great time to enjoy all forms of entertainment, and we can’t wait to give horror and action adventure gamers a taste of what awaits them in Dead Space 2,” says Dead Space franchise executive producer Steve Papoutsis. “Releasing the demo five weeks before launch will not only re-connect players with our hero Isaac Clarke, but will also give them the opportunity to experience firsthand various jaw-dropping scenarios. It’s gonna be awesome.”

The single-player demo is set in the game’s Church of Unitology, where the most unlucky engineer in the universe must square off against Necromorph antagonists with a bunch of cool stuff, including a javelin gun. It’s like a clever metaphor for Christmas lunch or something.