Story

Dead Space: Extraction takes place before the events of Dead Space and during the same time as the animated film Dead Space: Downfall. It revolves around a group of space colonists from the Aegis VII colony fighting against the infection of Necromorphs created when the Red Marker is removed. Necromorphs are the violent, alien race who are the major antagonists of the game. The game also introduces a new female protagonist to the series.

Review

Dead Space, an original action/horror title from EA released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, had taken gamers and the press alike by surprise last year with its innovative new take on zombie slaying and twisted, engrossing story. When the next game in the series, Dead Space: Extraction, was announced for Nintendo’s console there was a bit of worry about whether it could produce the same polished experience that the first had delivered.

Rather than dish out a watered down port, EA and Visceral Games have wisely chosen to develop a new and unique experience that picks the best pieces from its next-gen counterpart and tailors them to the Wii’s motion-control features. And pick the best pieces they did because Dead Space: Extraction is a true showcase title for the Wii.

Serving as a prequel, Extraction’s story sheds more light on the mysterious alien Marker that’s literally on everyone’s mind and the parasitic infection it has brought about. You’ll find out first-hand exactly what happened on the once peaceful space colonies and planet-mining ship, the Ishimura. The premise itself is kind of been there, done. Apparently, there’s a crazed religious cult out to reclaim ancient “sacred” markers they believe to be holy and will cleanse the universe, not realizing that they‘re really just unleashing a flood of parasitic creatues upon the universe. Sound familiar? It rhymes with Salo.

Instead of going lone wolf like other shooters, the story mode will take you through different character’s point of views and their struggles as they fight to survive the infection onboard. Some can come off as a bit cliché like the tough-as-nails cop, Miller but others like love-interest Lexine may have you developing a soft spot for. Each come with their own personalities that you’ll come to either love or hate in a good caring or uncaring way. Fans of the first title are also in for a treat as well from a very special guest. And Extraction pulls no punches in its narrative delivering the same insane, mind bending tone and level of quality from Dead Space on the next-gen consoles to make it one of the best story-driven games you’ll find on the Wii.

Extraction’s gameplay is a rail-shooter at heart, albeit with a few twists that set it up apart from similar games on the system like House of the Dead: Overkill. Dismemberment was a big combat feature in the first game and has made the transition over here fairly smooth. Typically in other zombie blasting shooters, a shot the head or a barrage of bullets to the chest usually does them in and your good to move on to the next undead bastard. Oh, no… not in Dead Space. Carefully planted shots here are a must. If a necromorph is coming at you with claw arms ready to slide and dice, you’re going to need to shoot off his arms, not his head, to take him down. Tilting the Wiimote sideways also gives you another mode of fire for your gun to give it a 2-for-one deal . The more careful pace does the action down a bit, but it does so in a good way that makes it feel refreshing from other rail-gun games where you simply blast away .

If you played Dead Space on the next-gen systems, you’ll be happy to know that most of the features have made their way to Extraction. Stasis blasts are still used to slow down enemies and environment hazards, the directional lines are now alternate paths to take, and space walks will have you at zero gravity floating around in an eerie dead silence. The glow worm is one of the new features introduced, acting as a sort of organic flashlight for dark and hard to see areas. Thankfully though, Wiimote waggling is kept a minimum and only needed either to recharge your glow worm or when an enemy get’s a hold of you.

Simply put, this is one of the best looking Wii games out right now and a true exclusive made to tap out the system. The hallmark of the visuals are the fantastic lighting effects that help bring you inside the cold, metallic walls of the Ishimura. Coupled with the lighting effects are detailed and gritty textures, though a bit dull in color but, then again, what do you expect if your inside a huge commercial mining ship. Extraction is easily comparable to its next-gen counterpart, carrying over the graphical style almost flawlessly.

Character models show a good amount of emotion and detail, but up-close you’ll notice they have a slightly more cartoonish look to them with low-resolution textures. Animations and camera work have some nice and swift movement coming from your party and realistic, jerky camera work in first-person view. The framerate also holds up surprisingly well given all the detail that’s packed in the visuals, but it can take a slight dip when the screen gets crowded but isn’t too distracting. Extraction’s production values truly shine by delivering an atmospheric, moody visuals that set it up apart from the other more colorful and bright Wii titles this year.

Quality over quantity seems to be the focus here as the game clocks in at about 5-6 hours depending on the difficulty and if a friend is playing with you in co-op. There are four modes of difficulty available: Normal, Hard, Expert, and Impossible. Hardcore and even casual gamers may easily be able to blast through the Normal difficulty with ease. From start to finish, I had beaten the game without dying once and only had to restart in the beginning because I let Lexine die by accident. The three bosses were no trouble at all either with predictable patterns and a heavy focus on using your stasis charges. Ammo is scattered all throughout the levels and health packs are dropped very conveniently when you start to run low. So if you want to make the most out of the story mode, crank up the difficulty to add on an extra hour or two.

After story mode, there’s not much else left except for a high-score achieving Challenge Mode that takes you through revisited areas from the story and a Bonus Materials feature. Bonus issues [movies] are unlocked playing through the Story Mode and delve more into the backstory of the mysterious Marker. Scenarios are presented in an interactive, graphical novel style complete with a very well written narrative attached to demonstrate the madness that is going on board. If watching the episodes alone at night leave you feeling a bit creeped out, they’ve done their job but, overall, don’t do much to extend the replay value.

Out to prove there can be a place for mature Wii titles, EA and Visceral games have put together a real standout title. Gamers finally get a chance to see their system being pushed to its max, not only graphically but with in storytelling ability as well. By combining the best pieces of their first title and taking advantage of the Wii’s unique control scheme, Extraction is able to distinguish itself from its next-gen predecessor. Like a good roller coaster, Dead Space: Extraction takes you on a wild twisted ride that feels like it’s over all too soon.

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