Dead Space 2 demo for Christmas?

You may well be in for a treat this Christmas - EA has dropped an exaggerated hint that a Dead Space 2 demo is on its way.

"Can a demo be released as a Christmas gift for us all?" executive producer Steve Papoutsis was asked in a Q&A video on the game's Facebook page.

"A lot of people are asking that question. Gonna have to do some thinking about that," he said, inhaling dramatically through clenched teeth.

"But I would say stay on your toes, stick on the Facebook page and [wink, cluck] you never know."

No other hints were dropped.

Dead Space 2 is due out at the end of January. Judging by Papoutsis' earlier comments in that video, Dead Space 2 is finished and people have played it through - and it's taken them longer to finish than Dead Space 1. And remember, Dead Space 2 also has multiplayer.

Dead Space 2 takes place on gigantic space station Scrawl, which has been overrun by the hideous Necromorph monsters - the same ones Isaac Clarke came across on abandoned mining vessel Ishimura in Dead Space 1. Logically, then, the people in charge of Scrawl have looked up Isaac's number in the phone book and roped him into sorting out their mess in Dead Space 2.

Eurogamer has taken a look at the single-player side of Dead Space 2, talked to the game's makers and, more recently, tested out the brand new multiplayer mode.