We’re into T-minus 5 days and counting on the Dead Space 2 launch, and the pre-release reviews are shuttling in. Let’s get hyped.

IGN’s awarded the game 9/10, declaring it an “amazing game” in the first sentence, and the “best haunted house attraction ever”. The review also describes the game’s new ultra-sadistic Hardcore mode, where “the enemies are at their toughest, the supplies are limited, there are no checkpoints, and if you die, you restart from your last save. Oh, and you can only save three times in the entire game.” Hands up, everybody who’s giving that a shot. Anybody? Thought not.

Elsewhere, both Edge and OXM UK also went with a 9/10, while PSM3 mag hit it with a 92, OXM US with 9.5/10, and Game Informer with 90. More reviews are likely to start dropping during the week, but it’s already looking like a more than worthy successor to the critically-acclaimed first game. 

Dead Space holds a Metacritic aggregate of 86 / 88 / 89 (PC, PS3, Xbox), and won heaps of awards, particularly for its sound design.