EA
What is it?
A Wii-exclusive, on-rails shooter prequel to last year's sci-fi survival horror title Dead Space.
What we like
Impressive visuals, engaging story, a smart control system and good old-fashioned fun in the shape of dismembering space mutants - or should that be space zombies?
What we don't like
Though there is replay value in the game, it is on the short side. For a horror game, it's never out-and-out terrifying, either.
Judgment
A fun, polished, mature (that is to say, hugely gory) Wii shooter with its feet firmly planted in Dead Space's sci-fi horror universe.
EA
Review
We'll admit it. Early on, we were wary of Dead Space: Extraction.
As much as we enjoyed last year's Dead Space (for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360), it seemed doubtful that an on-rails shooter - that most arcadey of genres - could thrive in Dead Space's bleak, oppressive sci-fi horror universe. And on the Wii? Forget about it.
We needn't have worried. Developer Visceral Games has seen this one through. Dead Space: Extraction is no cheap Wii spin-off game; there's nothing lazy or dumbed-down about it.
It takes place a little before the events of Dead Space, putting you in the shoes of a series of unfortunate colonists just as everything starts going wrong down on planet Aegis VII. In the first chapter of ten, you'll encounter the recently discovered Marker, the sinister relic from the first game, en route to the good ship Ishimura.
EA
From there on, the plot is about a handful of desperate colonists fighting to survive amid the Marker-induced madness and mutation. It's never especially deep but it is compelling all the same, with some convincing dialogue - by video game standards. And there's a grim inevitability about it all since, given the first game, we know things can't end well.
Hampered horror
It's atmospheric, but rarely heart-poundingly scary, although the scenarios are unarguably disturbing and the monsters properly vile. This is partly down to genre. Enemies can't creep up on you when the on-rails camera is obliged to point you in the direction on what you need to fire at. A shooting gallery experience isn't that conducive to creeping horror.
Visually, Extraction has plenty to be proud of. It's a great-looking Wii game, with good textures, human faces and animation. The environments do justice to those of the first game, despite the graphical limitations of the console.
The control system is pleasingly well thought-out, too, making good use of both the Wii remote and nunchuk controller.
EA
Your selection of four weapons (of which there is a good variety to collect) are accessed via an up, down, left or right push of the nunchuk thumbstick.
The monster-slowing stasis power from the first game is present, mapped to the Z button. As before, it's a crucial part of your "strategic dismemberment" strategy: you can waste a lot of ammo with inexact blasting, or you can freeze a creature with stasis and shoot off its deadly limbs.
Control system
The gravity gun - sorry , kinesis power - also returns. It's used to throw obstacles out of your way and smash open boxes with goodies (ammo, health, etc) hidden inside. These goodies, boxed and unboxed, are plentiful, but you'll need to be quick to pick them up before the camera turns away.
Turning the remote on its side accesses a secondary fire mode for each weapon - turning a horizontal strip of firepower into a vertical blast, for instance, to better slice off variously oriented limbs.
EA
There's a neat dynamic reload system that rewards quick reflexes: hitting the button twice with precision timing results in a faster reload. Get the timing wrong, and you're punished with a delayed reload - a stressful penalty when enemies are crowding your screen.
In the dark, you can light your way by shaking the remote to activate a "glow worm" (what they call glow sticks in the future, apparently). If a necromorph gets too close for comfort, slashing with the remote produces an axe attack.
When you pick up audio logs (snippets of ominous narration from less successful survivors) the sound plays through the remote, to creepy effect.
Varied gameplay
Bouts of shooting - which make up the bulk of the game, of course - are nicely broken up with novelties such as zero-gravity spacewalking and rushing to rivet together barricades against an onslaught of beasties.
There are hacking puzzles to open certain doors, reminiscent of BioShock's hacking mini-game but in real-time - you can be attacked while you hack - and crossed with a funfair steady-hand game. Touching red components as you navigate the circuit board causes electric shocks that cost you health.
Add in the two-player co-op mode (good for competitive types) and you've got a fun, varied game with decent replay value. A high-quality "mature" game for the Wii? You better believe it.
Dead Space: Extraction is out on Wii
