The Darkness II Limited Edition includes:

• Custom artwork illustrated by Marc Silvestri
• Free digital download of The Darkness Origins Volume 1 and 2 comics

Exclusive In-Game Items:

• Alternate darkling outfit – “Crazy Abdul”
• Two character ability upgrades:
• Gourmet Hearts: provides bonus for eating hearts
• Relic Hunter: locates collectible items in the world

I’m not sure if there is a special Steelbook or anything like that. It sounds as if there is only some digital Content for the Limited Edition.

Source

• In-game DOOM pack: Bulpdaun SMG skins, Cacodemon body tattoo, two DOOM t-shirts, two DOOM caps
• In-game Spec Ops pack: Hockler machine pistol, Sloani mask, greeneye scope, dogtag tattoo

According to the website listing, the game is set for release on the 5th of May 2011 for a price of £39.99

Most people who bought the Dead Space 2 CE were disappointed to find out that the included “replica” Plasma Cutter wasn’t actually life size. This made it more of a Scale Model than a “Replica” (I think EA needs to buy a dictionary).

If you’re really had your heart set on one, well now’s your chance, Entertainment Earth has one up for pre-order.

This full size replica Plasma Cutter is approximately 11-inches tall x 3-inches wide x 17-inches long. This Plasma Cutter is the original size of the Plasma Cutter utilized by Isaac Clarke in Dead Space 2. It includes a 3.7 volt rechargeable battery with 30 minutes constant use battery life. The plasma cutter is made of metal with plastic parts to accommodate wiring. Estimated weight at approximately 3-pounds. The Plasma Cutter features a built in trigger when activated that reflects the signature 3-blast spot so that the use may line up its target. The Isaac Clarke’s Plasma Cutter features both the horizontal and vertical cutting modes rotating on a 90 degree angle. Ships in a uniquely designed display suitcase. Property of Isaac Clarke is displayed prominently on the outside of the case.

Interestingly the current product image is of the scale model plasma cutter that was included with the CE, you can tell by the shape of the battery door. If the description is to believed this replica will actually be a replica and made of metal to boot. Though at $240 it damn well better be made of medal. Production numbers are unclear but if you pre-order now it will be shipped in March.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While the Codex Edition still has a lot more going for it in terms of collector’s appeal, it’s always disheartening when you spend the extra money up front for bonus content only to have it given away to everyone after the fact.

I will say that I do like the uPlay feature, if you haven’t signed up, it’s worth doing so. Basically you get to spend your achievement points on additional content. Of course this announcement comes after i just blew all of my U points on some new Multiplayer characters and costumes for Ezio last night.

One discerning thing I’ve noticed is that nearly every new EA game coming out has a “Limited Edition” release. These aren’t LEs that are sold along side the regular edition, rather these are “First Edition” releases.

For those who don’t know a First Edition is basically an LE or CE that is the only version of a game that is available around the time of the games release date, where a less special regular edition comes out at a later date. This occurs frequently with books where the First edition is generally more expensive and hard bound while subsequent releases are cheaper paperbacks.

It would seem that EA is employing the book publisher’s strategy by rewarding release-day buyers of their games. Most of these only really provide a few in-game perks, like bonus XP or access to cars and weapons earlier in the game that players of the regular edition would have to play a bit before they could use.

They’ve employed this tactic with Battlefield Bad Company 2 “Limited Edition” already and so far three upcoming games have a similar LE announced:

• Crysis 2
• Medal of Honor
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues or if other publishers will follow suit. I personally will not be adding any of these games to my collection unless I happen to be buying it anyway. I think it’s a great for the average gamer but seems to cheapen the “Limited Edition” title a bit.

Not content with having these be exclusive to the buyers paying a premium for the CE releases the Soundtrack is available for purchase right now for about $6. Of course right now you can only buy the 6-track EP which is significantly shorter than the full length album that comes with the CE, but content is content. At least European collectors get their money’s worth with the inclusion of the first two God of War games. Then again the “God of War Collection” hasn’t been released in Europe and I’ve been enjoying my copy here in the US for some time now.

Here’s hoping Pandoras Box is as pretty in person as it looks in the pictures.

Well maybe not so exclusive…  vg247 reported earlier this week that the exclusive maps would be released to the public “soon after release”, no price for the maps has been announced.

In the excerpts from the article Tim Jones goes on about the importance of the Special Edition to the fans of the IP.

How special the timed exclusivity of the mutiplayer maps actually is will remain to be seen.

These characters will be playable on the revamped Mercenaries “Reunion” mode. So far the Reunion mode roster is slated to include the following characters:

• Warrior Chris
• Folklore Sheva
• Heavy Metal Chris
• Business suit Sheva
• Josh Stone
• Excella Gionne
• Rebecca Chambers
• Barry Burton

In addition to the revamped Mercinaries mode the Gold Edition will also include two new episodes for the single player campaign and new costumes.

The Xbox 360 release will include a regular game disc with DLC content codes to download the new content, while the PS3 version will include the new content on the disc. Those who already own Resident Evil 5 will be able to purchase the new content though the Xbox Live Marketplace, or the Playstation Store.

Not content with making the soundtrack Exclusive to SE owners 2K games has made the Bioshock Soundtrack available for download in iTunes.

the Soundtrack can be purchased in 2 flavors:

STANDARD EDITION:

1. The Boogie Man – Todd Rollins & his Orchestra
2. How Much Is That Doggie In The Window? – Patti Page
3. 20th Century Blues – Noel Coward
4. Nightmare – Artie Shaw & His New Music
5. Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home? – Annette Hanshaw
6. Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition – Kay Kyser & His Orchestra
7. Dawn of a New Day – Horace Heidt & His Music Knights
8. Night and Day – Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra
9. My Heart Belongs To Daddy – Eddie Duchin & His Orchestra
10. Chasing Shadows – Quintette of the Hot Club of France
11. Jitterbug Waltz – Fats Waller & His Rhythm
12. I Cover The Waterfront – Connie Boswell

DELUXE EDITION:

1. The Boogie Man – Todd Rollins & his Orchestra
2. How Much Is That Doggie In The Window? – Patti Page
3. 20th Century Blues – Noel Coward
4. Nightmare – Artie Shaw & His New Music
5. Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home? – Annette Hanshaw
6. Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition – Kay Kyser & His Orchestra
7. Dawn of a New Day – Horace Heidt & His Music Knights
8. Night and Day – Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra
9. My Heart Belongs To Daddy – Eddie Duchin & His Orchestra
10. Chasing Shadows – Quintette of the Hot Club of France
11. Jitterbug Waltz – Fats Waller & His Rhythm
12. I Cover The Waterfront – Connie Boswell
13. Mental Strain At Dawn – Jack Purvis, trumpet solo, with rhythm accompaniment
14. Bei Mir Bist Du Schon – Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, with vocal by Martha Tilton
15. The Trouble With Me is You – Red McKenzie
16. The Skeleton In The Closet – Putney Dandridge
17. We Saw The Sea – Fred Astaire
18. La Mer – Django Reinhardt

Release of the above soundtracks coincided with the release of the Special Edition (really? not even a delayed release?) And for those who pay attention you could have been streaming it live though Rapture Radio since before release. Obviously a digital copy doesn’t hold the same Collector’s Pride that owning the sound track on vinyl does, but seriously, how many of you actually own a turn-table? …and no having one in some dusty storage box somewhere doesn’t count.