Review: Dead Space Extraction
Game: Dead Space Extraction
Format: Wii
Developer: Visceral Games and Eurocom
Publisher: Electronic Arts
There has been something a of a resurgence of light gun games in recent years thanks to the release of the Nintendo Wii. At one time back before the days of flat screen LCD televisions there seemed to be a genuine excitement amongst the masses about the release of the latest Namco TIME CRISIS game, or Sega’s HOUSE OF THE DEAD series. There was little cooler than being able to stand in your bedroom and recreate the arcade experience, holding a plastic gun in your hand, and taking careful aim as you shot people to bits. The latest generation of high definition consoles appears to have moved away from recreating that old school arcade experience, and the representation of light gun shooters have come off particularly worse for wares. Just look at the PS3 TIME CRISIS game to see how far the genre has fallen. However, while the PS3 and 360 have seemingly abandoned the light gun shooter, they have found a new home in the casual arms of the Nintendo Wii.
DEAD SPACE EXTRACTION is the latest light gun game to be released on the Wii, and is a prequel to the excellent DEAD SPACE that was previously released on PS3 and 360. While the original DEAD SPACE was heavily influenced by games such as RESIDENT EVIL 4, and movies like EVENT HORIZON and John Carpenter’s THE THING, this game takes a lot of inspiration from classic light gun games and blends it with the style and sensibilities of it’s high definition predecessor. The story is a prequel, dealing with the events that unfolded on the planet Aegis VII when a large number of the colonists go insane following the unearthing of a stone monument known as The Marker. The colonists begin to kill each other, and the dead bodies are mutated and reanimated in to deformed Necromorphs. You are tasked with escaping the colony and making your way to the spaceship Ishimura that is in orbit of the planet. Impressively the game manages to maintain the high level of dismemberment, despite the Wii’s technological limitations. In order to perform the most damage you need to shoot off the enemy’s limbs. Just shooting their head’s off rarely has the desired effect, and can often make the creatures go in to a blind frenzy. Other features from the original game such as Zero Gravity sections and telekinesis make it through intact, making it feel like an authentic Dead Space experience. All of the weapons from the first game, such as the flame thrower and the force gun, are included as well as an all new pistol. In order to activate the secondary fire mode, you need to twist the remote sideways.
Despite the inferior graphics DEAD SPACE EXTRACTION maintains the same look and style of the original
Extraction is not entirely derivative of the original game and has a few new tricks up it’s sleeve. The game features a series of puzzles that take advantage of the Wii’s motion controls, requiring you to hack in to computer panels. Your task is to guide a laser beam along a set course without veering off of the path, and avoiding obstacles, similar to a Buzz Wire game. You can also create barricades at certain points by firing bolts in to the corners of specific pieces of metal. It is not much, but it serves to break up any monotony you may find in your typical light gun shooter. Having said that, there were a few instances in the earlier levels of the game where I found myself becoming impatient with the numerous scenes in which our characters stop and talk about how scared they are and how they cannot believe that this is happening. I understand that this is done in an effort to control the pace, build an atmosphere, and carry along the narrative, but I have reservations about just how suitable it is to have your character stand still and look at a group of people shitting their pants in a light gun game. Previous light gun games have been very heavy on the action, and less focused on the narrative. However, this only really applies to the first few levels, as the story elements that occur later in the game are far more interesting and surprising, and as such actually held my attention.
There is one new enemy type in this game – a head on the end of a long thin tentacle.
There are 10 levels to work your way through, and about half a dozen characters to play as. However, each character is tied to a specific level, so you will not be able to play as any character you like whenever you like. While it’s a nice touch, it does not really add much to the game, as every character tends to have the same sort of weapons. Speaking of the weapons, they can all be upgraded by finding specific upgrade collectibles in the story mode. At various points you will stop moving and be allowed to look around the room freely. At these points you can usually spot the glowing purple upgrade collectables, which can be picked up using your telekinesis. Other collectables include audio logs and text logs provided by the colonists, or the crew of the Ishimura. A series of challenges can be unlocked by making your way through the game. These usually involve making your way through a specific arena and killing as many Necromorphs as you can as quickly as you can. You also unlock episodes of the animated comic book that was released on Xbox Live and the PSN, which is a nice bonus. There are numerous difficulty settings to choose from with the highest being unlocked once you complete the game. The game will probably take about six hours to complete on the default difficulty, but due to the narrative nature of the game, and it’s linearity, you may find yourself with little motivation to return to the game once you have beaten it. If you are a fan of the original DEAD SPACE, and watched the animated movie, then you may find that this game initially treads a lot of familiar ground. You will be visiting numerous locations from the original game, which can bring with it one of two things; a pleasant nostalgic feeling, or a sense of familiarity which may in turn lead to boredom. For what it is worth, I found myself enjoying the game a lot more once the characters returned to the familiar setting of the Ishimura.
Yes, this is definitely Dead Space.
REVIEW ROUNDUP:
GRAPHICS: 5/5 The character models look very good, with some particularly decent lip syncing. The levels are well designed, and maintain the look at style of the original game. The enemies look suitably disgusting, with an impressive limb dismemberment system.
AUDIO: 5/5 Fantastically eerie music, and some excellent voice acting. The faint sounds in the space sections are particularly impressive. The sound design is of the same quality as the original game, which won numerous awards for it’s sound design.
GAMEPLAY: 3/5 The action can be very fast and frantic at times, and the shooting works particularly well. Each enemy is a puzzle of sorts, as you try to find the best way to dispose of them by shooting off a combination of limbs. The game is full of a number of great twists, particularly at the end of the first and ninth levels. However the game suffers a bit in the first few levels when you spend more time standing around looking at people freaking out, being led around by the nose, than actually playing the game.
LONGEVITY: 3/5 The single player will take a good 5 or 6 hours to complete as each of the 10 levels are fairly long. There are a series of challenges that are unlocked, as well as a series of higher difficulties. Yet, due to the narrative nature of the game, you may find little reason to come back to the story mode once you have completed it.
OVERALL: 4 weeping survivors out of 5. Fans of the Dead Space series will really enjoy this game, while it is still accessible enough for new players. There is a fairly nice variety in the gameplay, and the story is quite compelling, once you get past the first few levels.
[starreview tpl=16]
PRICE GUIDE (correct as of 12th October 09)
My wife wants us to buy a Wii for our daughters at Christmas. This sounds like something I could get for a little bit of fun for me. Nice job.
Yeah, it isn’t half bad at all, especially if you played/enjoyed the original game. Although if I had to recommend one single “grown up” light gun game I’d recommend House Of The Dead Overkill. It may be a bit shorter, but there’s more replay value.
House of the Dead Overkill was so funny and very cool. Americans kept going on about how much swearing there was in it but I think in the UK we’re a bit more used to that.
I think that Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles was a really good game – me and my mate played it through. It was better than Overkill in terms of Strategy but not in terms of fun.
What is Dead Space Extraction like for multiplayer? Does the story make it too slow for that?
I think the challenges are quite good fun in multiplayer, and some of the later levels could be good fun in Multiplayer due to the increased number of enemies.