When it was first announced that the Wii would be getting its own Dead Space title, fans of the original game immediately cried foul. It was fair to assume that like the console's other big 360-to-Wii survival horror down-port Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, Dead Space Extraction would end up looking cheap and playing exactly like Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition.
Those initial guesses couldn't have been more wrong. Dead Space Extraction looks great, nearly as good as its HD brother, and it plays nothing like RE4. Instead, it's more like a cross between a standard co-op on-rails shooter and one big, long, interactive cut scene. Where the original Dead Space was light on story, Dead Space Extraction's story never stops. Every single second of the game is part of a greater narrative, like a sci-fi TV mini-series marathon that you can shoot at.
The question is, would we have been better off with a cheap, RE 4: Wii Edition-style port of the original game, or is this new shooter-story hybrid something superior?
Hit the jump for the answer.
Dead Space Extraction (Wii)
Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Released: September 29, 2009
MSRP: $49.99
Man, so close! Dead Space Extraction is such a near-miss at becoming a new Wii classic that it actually hurts. If the game were just flat-out average, that would be one thing, but in a lot of ways, it's one of the best games on the Wii. That said, Dead Space Extraction drops the ball enough times that I can't recommend it as a full-price purchase to each and every Wii owner out there, regardless of how much I love dismembering mutant zombies.
The first thing you'll notice about the game is the way it tells a story. Dead Space Extraction follows a varied group of characters as they experience a sci-fi disaster of epic proportions. From the initial point of panic to exhausted, half-dead acceptance, the game accurately depicts the process that humans go through in coming to grips with being completely fucked. Where the original Dead Space was a lonely, Alien-esque adventure into the lethal unknown, Dead Space Extraction shows a group-fear experience, à la Aliens or Dawn of the Dead. Special care is taken to keep the game's events unpredictable and believable. The results are more psychologically unsettling than you might expect. Despite the fact that the game's first chapter contains no more than fifteen enemies total, it still managed to give me that creepy, classic horror feeling like few other games ever have.
Part of that comes from the Cloverfield-esque way the game's story is told. Getting a good, first-person look at the game's well-rendered and well-acted characters as they look into your eyes, begging you for help seconds before they are slaughtered, does a lot to make you feel connected to the game's world. It also doesn't hurt that the game actually looks the way a Wii game should. When the specs for the console were first announced, gaming aficionados rightly assumed that most Wii games would look better than GameCube games, but worse than games on the 360. Of course, all Wii owners know by now that finding a Wii game that actually looks better than a GameCube title is a fairly rare thing, but Dead Space Extraction pulls it off. Environments are beautifully lit, enemies are well rendered, and the people emote with surprising believability. Even at its worst, the game never slips into totally PS2-looking territory, and like previously mentioned, it sometimes looks nearly as good as the original Dead Space (especially on an SDTV).
When it comes to sound design, Dead Space Extraction may actually surpass the original, which is no small feat. Other than a few inappropriate musical cues (the soundtrack sometimes lays it on a little too thick), the game's score, voice work, and sound effects are pretty much perfect. Creative use of effects to make the player feel trapped, threatened, and even mentally ill go a long way to keep things unnerving. The way that everything muffles as you take part in combat while encased in a spacesuit; the pained, guttural death cries of slaughtered enemies; and the genuine expression of fear in voices of the game's cast all go a long way toward impressing and affecting the player.
That "mentally ill" part is probably the thing that will truly make Dead Space Extraction a special treat for fans of the original. From the very start, the game works extra hard to show you first-hand what it's like to be "infected" with a mysterious religious ailment that's responsible for all the game's horror. For true fans of the Dead Space franchise, seeing (and hearing) what it's like to slip into pre-Necromorph madness is a must-have experience. Knowing that no matter how well you play, no matter how long you survive, you and every other character in the game could still go homicidal and/or suicidal at a drop of hat provides Dead Space Extraction with a continuous sense of dread that few games ever achieve. Necromorphs are scary and all, but it's the stuff you see regular people do to each other (and themselves) in this game that will really get under your skin.
It's too bad that after a while, the anything-goes, death-filled experience that the game initially offers gives way to continually more cliché and predictable events. After chapter five or six, it becomes pretty clear which characters are going to survive and which ones aren't. I don't want to give it all away, but anyone familiar with the Star Trek "red shirt" phenomenon will quickly learn to predict who they are about to see get decapitated, crushed, or otherwise mutilated. The worst cliché in the game shows up near the end, when it actually presents us with the old "creepy woman singing a nursery rhyme for no reason other than to try to be spooky" routine. Why the game's developers started relying on such tired techniques, when the majority of game's narrative elements are so strong, is totally beyond me.
So far, I've spent most of this review talking about the game's presentation and story. The reason for that is, presentation and story are all the game really tries for. Clearly, the developers of Dead Space Extraction were more interested in making an interactive Dead Space movie than they were in creating a videogame. As far as gameplay goes, there are a few high points. The drop-in/drop out two player co-op, the anti-gravity bits, the variety of kick-ass weapons, and the ability to use psychic powers to freeze enemies and throw stuff around are the first things that come to mind. Beyond that, though, the videogame parts of this videogame are relatively bland. A predictable rhythm of "camera moves forward, camera stops while you kill stuff, repeat" slowly sets in after the first few chapters, and does little to move the on-rails genre forward.
Things actually get more boring when it's time to kill stuff. There are basically four types of enemies (humanoids, fliers, crawlers, and shooters), and the act of killing them all doesn't change too much as the game progresses. A lot of my time playing Dead Space Extraction was spent waiting for the action to end, so I could get back to the "good parts," namely, the story and set pieces. That may be a first for me; waiting for the playable parts to be over so I could get to the next cinema.
Also lacking in the "videogame" department of this videogame are the extremely under-ambitious bosses. There are only three of them in the entire game (plus a cameo from a special friend from the original Dead Space), and though they are all fairly cool and fun to fight, they are too forgettable and easy to take out. A little creative use of psychic powers and targeting of weak points (which are always yellow, in case you need help in finding them), and these bosses will be dead before you know it (or really want them to be). Instead of boss fights, a few of the game's chapters require you to rivet a barricade to a wall, or solder some virtual wires, all while simultaneously fending off in-coming necromorphs. These moments are sort of like trying to play Operation (the wacky doctor's game) and a shooter at the same time. What was clearly meant to be a creative new way to make things tense comes off as more irritating and cheap than anything else.
Adding insult to these various injuries is the game's length. Dead Space Extraction is not quite as short as House of the Dead: Overkill, but not nearly as long Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, which does a lot to keep it from overtaking RE:UC as the Wii's best on-rails shooter. On the plus side, Dead Space Extraction does contain a solid array of extras, including an arcade-y challenge mode, four difficulty settings, and a bevy of collectibles. Keeping with the game's general philosophy of "story over gameplay" Dead Space Extraction also contains six issues of Image's Dead Space comic book, here presented with the added perks of digital distribution, including limited animation and full voice acting. As a big fan of Ben Templesmith, I actually enjoyed watching these comics come to life just as much as playing the main game.
There was a lot of pre-release hullabaloo about how Dead Space:Extraction is not an "on-rails shooter," and instead should be classified as a "guided first-person adventure." After completing the game, I was left feeling that the distinction between the two is pretty meaningless. Sure, Dead Space Extraction tells a good story, but at its heart, it's still an on-rails shooter, warts and all. Fans of the genre, or of the Dead Space world in general, will definitely want to add this game to their permanent collection, but everybody else may want to go with a rental first. There are quite a few one-of-a-kind, disarming (HA!) horror moments to be found here, but not quite fifty dollars' worth. If the game cost ten dollars less, or if it had a few more bosses/hours worth of content, it could have surpassed Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles as my favorite on-rails shooter on the Wii. As it stands, it takes the silver medal in that contest, and a score of...
Score: 7.5 -- Good (7s are solid games that definitely have an audience. Might lack replay value, could be too short or there are some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.)
Contest:
6:00 PM on 10.04.2009
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It's a shame the whole limb aspect doesn't shake up the rail shooter phenomenon too much. Suppose I'll rent it if I can find a copy. Every place around here is more interested in Carnival Games 2 and Guitar Hero 305230652.
I don't want to spoil it for everyone. Anyway, awesome graphics, very short, but still fun anyway. This is the kind of game I would get through gamefly rather than buy.
Also, @DJP3DRO
Dead Space did have a good story. Most of it was just rooted in the viral marketing and backstory than the game itself.
@ Everybody- In case I didn't make it clear in the review, I bought Dead Space Extraction with my own money, and I don't regret the purchase. That's largely because I'm a fan of on-rails shooters and the Dead Space universe, and therefore, the game plays specifically to my interests.
That said, people that aren't fans of the original game or on-rails shooters should rent it first. They may still go on to buy the game afterward, but it's also very likely that they could play through the whole thing in a couple of days and be done with it for good.
If I could replace the "RENT IT!" bumper with something that said all that, I would.
But I can't, so I wont.
Nice review Holmes, I might coax my nephew into getting it for his wii. ;)
I personally found the couple of segments where you have to hold enemies off while using the circuit boards to be inspired. It's frustrating but it's supposed to be and I'm glad they didn't cop out and let you kill the enemies and then just finish the board - you actually have to do both at once.
shit sux.
What I liked:
-Better story and characters than Dead Space.
-A little more suspenseful.
-Lack of locked rooms.
The in-between:
On-rails shooter. Not really a fan of on-rails anything, but it's growing on me.
Didn't Like:
-The character you play can't hold still long enough to pick up anything. God help you if you didn't quickly pick up that ammo the first time it appeared in your peripheral vision as you quickly glance over the room.
-Stupid boss battles.
-Would like more to do than just constantly dismember alien-human-zombie-mutants.
-Still reminds me too much of Doom III.
@ Kal- I have played what I think it a fair amount of Challenge mode. Maybe I should have talked more about that in the review, but since it essentially consists of the same action found in campaign mode except played for points, I didn't feel that there was that much to say.
The mode is fun when you just want to kill, but I didn't find it to be particularly compelling for long periods of time. I had more fun replaying campaign mode on harder difficulties and collecting stuff that I missed the first time.
Eh, wot?
Which military ship? The ishimura? The Ishimura is a mining vessel with a security detail. The USM Valor? The Valor is a smaller vessel, and I don't think any bit of the fiction covers whether or not necromorphs can reproduce without a host body. They can definitely generate tissue, as a necromorph is significantly larger than the human it takes over, what's to say that when they opened that escape pod three or four necromorphs fell onto three or four marines not wearing rig armor, with first aid kits instead of plasma rifles. At any rate, they're DEFINITELY unaware of the dismemberment method of dispatching said creatures. Also what's to say the necromorph didn't leave the pod and disable critical systems on the ship? They manage to tear the port thruster off the Kellion in the opening cutscene. All they'd really need is a hull breach; then a ship full of dead marines crashes into the Ishimura, full of corpses ready to be morphed.
The plot twist? Well, I haven't seen a movie or game in years that managed to catch me completely off guard. Not really since fight club. You deal with that stuff and move on. Which game this year (or last, or the year before) has a better, more emotionally charged twist?
Of course, "would you kindly," but that game is kind of in a class apart.
But thank you for not saying "waggle" like every other reviewer when they have to review a Wii game.
I am two chapters in and so far, it's amazing. It looks great, is highly atmospheric, it's truly like being in a dead space movie, even more so than the first.
The story is better told thus far than the original, it seems more coherant. Seeing scenes such as the riot in C-Sec and the chaos in the colony is highly atmospheric,.
Honestly, this so far has been one of my favourite games this year. Maybe it will go down hill, but so far it's been a great experience. I highly reccomend this to any dead space fans, and wii owners crying for mature games.
With Dead Rising, Mad World, Dead Space, House of the Dead all being solid entries on the system, and RE Darkside Chronicals and Silent Hill looking like excellent slices of horror, I wonder how long people will cling to the failed notion wii has no mature games?
If a game wasn't on the verge of greatness, then I wouldn't have wanted it to be longer. Extraction is a great start, and I truly hope it's not the last Dead Space game we see on the Wii.
So it sounds like your answer was yes, this would've been better as a third-person game along the lines of RE4?
I'm not disparaging Dead Space Extraction but wish we'd see more serious games on Wii that *don't* involve on-rails gameplay. Even as someone who grew up in arcades and really enjoys the genre, you can only play so many on-rails shooters before they get stale. Maybe Silent Hill will help fill the void.
Crawling limbs are missing, yes, and the babies so common in the XBox version aren't leaping off every wall, but I haven't felt limited by choice of targets.
All other dead rising wii reviews compared it obviously unfaourably to the 360 version and ignored the fact that it was using a totally different engine (the resident evil 4 engine). It was built for the wii, on an existing engine, not a straight, stripped down port. You are the only review I can think of that mentioned that and said that it is it's own game and it suceeds in that respect. I liked it a lot, and the comparisions with the 360 version in many other reviews missed the mark. I know that's slightly OT but I felt you deserved props anyway, even though it's beleted.
So roughly six to eight hours to beat the story mode on hard. And I thought the story was overall excellent; it tied into the original better than I expected, and there were a few twists that surprised me a little bit. The only part that disappointed me about the visuals were the spacesuit helmets; aside from that, I was actually stunned by how good several areas looked on the Wii.
Can't wait to go back and get 5-star rankings on the levels I missed them on.
It's true that I'll prioritize them over killing the regular humanoids, but still the technique remains the same.
@ AdamantiumHip- Considering I still get crap for my DR:CTYD review, that means a lot. Although I never doubted the legitimacy of my score for the game (and really, how can an opinion be illegitimate?), the fact that so many other people doubted me on that review was sort of bummer.
Knowing that my opinion made sense to at least a few people is a nice feeling.
Sounds like it will be worth the used get.
Anyway, most reviewers fell into the same trap. Now I have never been one to let reviews influence me, but when I read yours after playing the game and felt it was honestly the only fair review that I have read on the game, to this day. I really respect your opinion because you didn't do what many of the other sites did and give in to pressure to slam it (notice how this happens a lot when a game has gotten a lot of crap from people pre release- Too Human for example, is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be).
I think honestly that most people giving you crap for it either never played the wii dead rising, or never had any intention to and bashed it from day one.
If you have a Wii, I consider this a must own title, unless you are a jaded Achievements whore who has already seen everything.
For the rest of us, this game is a top notch production, with well developed characters, gameplay, and exceptional graphics that surpass some of the low-hanging fruit on the HD consoles of this gen. The only thing missing from this game is all the great "making of" videos you can find on Nintendo Channel or online. If you like this game, be sure to track down the "cast" video, as the characters were closely modeled after the actors--very cool stuff.
As far as sales numbers, it has hit 249,000 according to VGChartz, which is decent for a game EA put very few ad dollars behind. EA should be ashamed of themselves for expecting the tooth fairy to ensure good sales numbers, but I do applaud them for keeping the title in the release channel for this long, and I hope the title can pick up some more long tail sales.
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