Dead Space Extraction (Wii) Review
It’s very easy for someone to dismiss a game simply because it’s a genre we’re not interested in, or at least one that hasn’t been perceived as having “depth”. When EA first announced they were releasing a follow up to their 2008 title, Dead Space, exclusively on the Wii, I was excited. Then, they announced it was an on-rails shooter, similar to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and I was kind of disappointed. My excitement was dwindling until, well, I played the game! Dead Space Extraction is now quite possibly one of my favourite games on the Wii, and one of the best examples of how a lightgun shooter can still convey an engaging story while still keeping the gameplay fresh and exciting.
For those not in the know, Dead Space Extraction is a prequel to the original Dead Space game, and, well, if you haven’t finished the original game and are looking to play it, there are spoilers ahead, so skip this paragraph. Dead Space Extraction tells the story of a group of four miners who live and work in a colony on the planet Aegis VII, who have recently discovered what several religious fanatics (known in the game as Unitologists) know as “The Marker”, an artefact that has mysterious powers, and is apparently not a force to be toyed with. What the miners don’t know, however, is that The Marker is known to cause delusions, induce psychosis and even mutate anyone into macabre creatures known as Necromorphs. Dead Space Extraction follows four workers (with a few more tagging along as the journey progresses) as they attempt to escape the colony and the horror that The Marker brings. There is, naturally, a bit of a problem though, and that’s the fact that everyone who is a Unitologist wants to extract the marker as it has a direct role in their “prophecy”, which obviously leads to some distrust between those who want to escape the colony and those who want to bring the cause of destruction with them to fulfill their prophecy. This is an interesting theme that makes you question every character’s motives throughout the game, but wouldn’t really be known if you hadn’t played the original Dead Space.
The way that Dead Space Extraction tells its story is unique, in that it takes place from several different character’s perspectives to tell a story filled with twists and turns. Without giving anything away, players may step into the shoes of a character that is experiencing hallucinations and is clearly going insane, but in the next chapter, the standard squad will meet up with the same character and be none the wiser, bringing the character with them. What I’m trying to say here is that Dead Space Extraction does an excellent job of building suspense by telling the player enough so that they know more than the characters themselves, which is a nice touch. Similarly, there are moments in the game where players will just be exploring environments, but instead of just having a few “dry” periods, the developers have implemented dialogue between the characters that builds characters and fleshes out their backstory. This story telling technique, combined with multiple files (video, text, and audio types) keeps the game interesting all the time, and really helps to truly make this an “experience”, as EA have put it in the past.
Quite possibly the first thing I noticed when first booting up Dead Space Extraction was that the game was very graphically detailed. Almost all of the assets from the original game have been brought over effortlessly, and if I do say so, look pretty much the same, including enemy models. Lighting provides a rather creepy experience, with some lights flickering providing an almost stop-motion animation of an enemy approaching you, adding to the game’s suspenseful effect. Character models are nicely animated with some very lifelike facial expressions during the actual gameplay itself – it was even refreshing to see that the developers got the lip syncing right too. All these elements come together to bring a very well presented product that shows the Wii really is a graphical powerhouse when developers really apply themselves. And all this happens for the most part at a silky smooth 60fps. The only thing players might notice is that the gore is notably toned back from Dead Space, but that’s understandable because there are times in Extraction where enemy counts exceed that of what you’ll encounter in the original Dead Space at any one time.
Dead Space Extraction offers two primary control schemes, with a third available exclusively to the second player (should they wish to join in). Both the standard Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination and the Wii Zapper are supported, though the Wii Remote just feels a little bit more natural and, well, less cumbersome. Aiming is done with the Wii Remote’s pointer, while firing is mapped to the trigger, with reloading performed by the Z button on the Nunchuk. Pressing A on the remote activates the players Kinesis module, a feature returning from Dead Space that allows players to pick up items thrown about the game’s world as well as pick up objects and throw them at enemies to push them back and/or take them out. In addition to the Kinesis ability, players will also get the Stasis ability, performed with C, which slows enemies down and allows for a little bit more precision (as well as slowing down environmental threats, such as a fan blade). Twisting the remote sideways and firing activates the weapon’s alternate fire mode, shaking it charges the “glow worm”, a flare used to illuminate dark areas, while swiping with the Nunchuk performs a “melee” attack, though, to be honest, it’s pretty useless. Players can also scroll through their available weapons by hitting any direction on the Nunchuk. Should a second player wish to join the game, they can play with just a Wii Remote, in which the game maps the Nunchuk buttons to the other face buttons of the Wii Remote.
Dead Space Extraction’s gameplay is what you’d expect from an on-rails shooter, but with a few added twists. First of all, the characters you are playing as are mostly mining workers, so they are armed with tools, not weapons. While these tools do work effectively as weapons, this means that there are parts during the gameplay where players must make use of these tools to, for example, bolt shut a door and prevent enemies from entering a room they are holed up in. Engineers in the group may be called upon to access hacking interfaces to jump start an elevator (in a minigame similar to the classic board game “Operation”.). So, while Dead Space Extraction is a shooter, it is broken up by these nicely paced mini-games and sub-tasks that ensure things don’t get boring. At certain points, players will be given the option to choose which path they can take, though one parth is usually a dead end filled with enemies and/or supplies, while the other is the correct path to take. Finally, it wouldn’t be a Dead Space game without Zero-G segments, and Extraction does deliver. While there is not as much freedom as the original game, during zero gravity segments players will be able to choose where they’ll jump to, as well as pull in floating supplies. All in all, the general gameplay is very enjoyable and never really gets stale, especially considering the fact that players cannot just hammer down bullets and hope that enemies die – players must strategically dismember their enemies in order to slow down their movement to survive properly.
For those wondering if this game has some interesting boss battles, you’re in for a treat. Dead Space Extraction has approximately three boss battles, with two of them being entirely original creations for Dead Space Extraction, and another making a re-appearance from the original Dead Space. Thankfully, these boss battles are some of the best boss battles you’ll ever play in an on-rails shooter, and require you to use all your skills to succeed, rather than just blasting away and dodging occasionally. And while blasting away is good, players will have to conserve their ammo, especially during harder modes, as all the weapons besides the starting one have limited ammo, with upgradeable capacity being available to the player if they spot them and pick them up fast enough. On the topic of ammo, players can also perform a faster reload by tapping the Z button at the right time, sometimes a quick reload can be the difference between life and death.
While the gameplay in Extraction is amazing, action packed, sometimes creepy and dynamic, there’s one major thing that players may find fault with – and that is the speed at which the game runs. While most of the time the characters will be walking slowly, there will be times that the player character looks at a weapon upgrade, a file or something collectible, but quickly looks away from it and prevents the player from picking it up. With no camera control (similar to Umbrella Chronicles) this can be rather frustrating when players can’t reach an item and permanently lose the ability until they replay the whole level again.
In terms of a soundtrack, Dead Space Extractions offers slim pickings. Most of the game is entirely silent with occasional spikes to prime the player to feel more tense. There are a few tunes played during intense battles and the like, but outside of that it’s a rather lacklustre offering. On the other hand, however, the noises that the Necromorphs make when attacking, when in pain and when, well, doing anything, are brilliantly executed in sounding slightly human and slightly alien. The voice acting is also brilliant, with most of the actors delivering their lines brilliantly, and including a culturally diverse cast also adds to the idea that Earth has been forced to unite as a planet and move to space for resource attainment. What I’m trying to say here is that the voice work in the game is superb, not only for the quality, but because it really matches the idea behind the whole game’s philosophy.
When completing Dead Space, there are a few things for the players to return to. First of all, “Expert” and “Impossible” difficulty modes are unlocked, providing players with some extra challenges if they wish to return to the campaign. In addition, the game features six fully animated comic books (also fully voiced), which add more to the Dead Space mythos, and are also unlocked after completing the game. Finally, there are “Challenge Rooms” which provide the player with endless waves of enemies to shoot, cut, and hack their way through. These challenge rooms provide leaderboard functionality, but, unfortunately, do not support online at all, which will be a bit disappointing to some users. Needless to say, though, Dead Space Extraction clocked in for us at about eight to nine hours on Hard mode, so there’s quite a meaty story mode included, that can only get more enjoyable if you add another player, which, by the way, is drop-in drop-out, making it very convenient.
All in all, Dead Space Extraction surprised me. Not only is it not a shameless downgrade of a game that already exists on a more powerful console, it’s an entirely original experience that really breaks the mould of what players would expect from an on-rails shooter. It’s very easy for those who aren’t into the genre to dismiss the game as being too simple and not for them, but I implore you as a Wii owner, it is worth your while to check Dead Space Extraction out, not only for what it adds to the already brilliantly constructed Dead Space universe, but also for the fun and engaging gameplay that it offers. Needless to say, future games in the genre have a lot to live up to.
One of the best games that the Wii has to offer and one of the best spin-offs that feels like a complete standalone experience, rather than a rushed downgraded port. Those who dont enjoy on-rail shooters or at least, dont want to give them a shot dont kid yourselves, try this one out. Im confident that either by yourself or with someone else, youll enjoy it. I eagerly await future games from EA and Visceral Games, hopefully they can raise the bar past the already high point at which it has been set. Let it be known now, that Dead Space Extraction is a brand new, stand-alone experience that every fan should check out.
Graphics 9.0
Probably some of the best graphics youll ever see on the Nintendo Wii. Smooth and silky 60fps gameplay with occasional dips during heavy combat scenes. Models of enemies and characters are superb and match their high definition cousins almost verbatim.
Gameplay 8.5
Fun and engaging gameplay that breaks up the standard shooting action with puzzles that utilise the Wii Remote properly and how they should be. Despite being on-rails, the game is incredibly fun to play, and several new interesting mechanics keep things fresh. Co-op is always good, too. A few camera controls really keep this from shining, though, by artificially extending the games lastability.
Sound 6.5
There isnt a whole lot of music to go with Dead Space Extractions soundtrack, but the weapons sounds and occasional spikes add to the tension the game is trying to convey. Voice acting is top notch and some of the best Ive heard for a while, with an ethnically diverse cast making everything much more believable.
Tilt 6.5
With a campaign that can last anywhere between six to nine hours, theres quite a bit here, especially for an on-rails shooter. Challenge Modes and unlockable comic books give incentives to continue playing, as do missable collectibles, though most players may find themselves frustrated in missing them so may not replay. Higher difficulty modes are welcomed for more seasoned players, and those looking to better themselves.
Value 9.0
Despite most of the setbacks that made me frustrated with the game, namely a lack of camera control, I found Dead Space Extraction to be one of the most enjoyable games Ive ever played, not only on the Wii, but on any console.
