‘Dead Space 2’ a macabre horror game

I'm going to rip off your limbs, and then I'm going to use them to stab you to death. How many times have you said that just today? Me? Never. I'm a peaceful sorta fella.

But in the over-the-shoulder horror game "Dead Space 2," it is my duty to portray Isaac, the gun-toting, arm-slashing engineer, trapped in a deadly space city on a Saturn moon in the year 2511.

Isaac awakes in a mental ward, while monsters are lunging at him in hallways with knives for arms, and some insane guy is cutting his own throat.

Things are about to get gnarly.

For the rest of "Dead Space 2," you play as Isaac, journeying slowly through this cavernous, metallic space city. It is eerily desolate but for those saturnine aliens and half-alien/half-humans who want to eat you. Now and then, you also experience hallucinations/ghostly images of Isaac's girlfriend, Nicole.

This game's confusing storylines are wafer thin. What is this game really about? I've no good idea. Oh, there are some cinematic cut scenes. Occasionally, you see video or hear audio of humans telling you nonsense that isn't compelling or helpful. But I don't know.

So let's focus on the great action.

You shoot alien uglies with basic gun-type weapons, or with a "line" gun that slices them in half, or with an electric spear gun thingy.

You also shoot off their knife-limbs, then pick up those limbs, and using your telekinesis, you harpoon those aliens to death with their own knife-arms.

After you've defeated a baddie, feel free to smash his corpse with a simple kick to jar loose his money and ammo, sending his corpuscles spewing everywhere. (The kick sound goes "splish splash"; sound effects and the music score are macabre.)

This isn't one of those games you fly through, for three reasons. One, monsters are constantly sneaking up behind you, thus you must turn around quite a bit. Second, lights are turned off or low in many quarters, so you slowly look around with your flashlight before taking steps. Three, when you get hurt, you must find health packs scattered in the city.

So the game in a nutshell: You methodically walk through mental hospital wards, subway cars and icy church corridors (yes, but evil, icy church corridors) -- bumping into strewn wheelchairs and Big Wheels; looking on the dark ground for loose ammo; and slicing alien monsters in bloody half -- as you hear background sounds of women and babies scream-crying, and angry animals wailing.

Morbid, yet thrilling. (Plus, it comes with a decent, objective-oriented, online multiplayer.)

I'd tell you more about plot, character development and dialogue, except they're minimal and negligible.

Is that so wrong in a game? Usually.

In this startling adventure, the insignificant plot is forgivable in the same way the original "Halloween" film is. It neglects plot in order to succeed its overriding mission: to scare the pants off ya.

I wouldn't play this game if I were 6 or on heart meds.

("Dead Space 2" by EA retails for $60 for Xbox 360, PS 3 and PC -- Plays fun. Looks great. Very challenging. Rated "M" for blood, gore, intense violence, strong language. Four stars out of four.)

Contact Doug Elfman at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.