Great prequel but comes out a bit too short...
First, the presentation and layout come with ease and anyone will be able to master given just a short amount of time. The weapons are upgraded via shooting specific colored items, which can be done so up to four times, only increasing the amount of ammo the gun can carry. An alt fire can be executed by twisting the Wii remote sideways. All of the games guns from Dead Space return here with a few added on; the Arc, Pistol, and Rivet gun. The Arc being more of an electricity gun shooting a ray of electricity and the alt being a ball of electricity knocking back foes if landed on. The rivet gun, well, it's just a rivet gun. The one gun with unlimited ammo serving as your main purpose gun but being weaker of course. The alt is kind of neat, it serves as a nail gun holding certain metal grates in place in specific game moments. You have to use the alt fire for this, a charged up shot. Then of course is the pistol, need I say more? That being said you only have in the HUD your current gun equipped, how far upgraded, and ammo count. As for other power-ups for a rail-shooter, none. You do however get to pick-up audio and text files helping to explain and further engross the storyline. These do a minimal job at the best, though some are interesting to read or hear but nothing too detrimental. Though this serves it's purpose well since it is a Dead Space game. I don't think having power-ups would of fit in with this game so I'm happy to see it didn't but if that's one thing you were looking forward too it's not here.
The stasis works a bit differently here. No pick-ups for this, it recharges over time BUT you only have 3 shots at one particular time coming in handy for the real quick enemies or for any tight situation. Dismemberment is back so this helps of course with that also. The pick-up mechanism or kinesis is back too and is used to pick up everything you need from upgrades and file logs to random items or projectiles to throw back. All in all the controls work great, are responsive and never felt like that were lacking.
The one downfall, and I guess it's prevalent in any rail-shooter, is the story falls a bit short. I beat the game in about 5-6 hours on normal and do not wish to play through again. The game does offer some challenge modes of the same levels found in the story-mode but since Nintendo isn't a big proponent of the online community in terms of games, what's the point of showing your high score other than to your friends or your family? On that note also, no on-line is available for co-op either.
The story itself is a decent one, not by any means a blockbuster event but if you've followed Dead Space and Downfall the anime movie, then you'll be right at home with this dialogue and plot. Without giving any spoilers the story starts off with the excavation of the Marker on the colony and leads up to the point of the first Dead Space game. Now, knowing what is going to happen since this is a prequel their is a bit of "What is going to happen next" but to a limited degree. That being said, the overall tone of the first is definitely not here, being a rail-gun shooter obviously also contributes.
Even though the in-game story is a bit too short, their are six comics you can view giving some side stories of the events that took place since the excavation and so forth. These are told in a picturesque fashion, uhmm, if you viewed the extras say in 28 weeks later or was it I Am Legend(?), the comics are like that. If you didn't then imagine, rough sketches with some color and then voice dialogue over that and then you can get a good idea of how they might be told. These do offer a gratifying back or side story to the original plot at least IMO.
Overall, the game is fun. Too short but fun. It's what should be expected of rail-shooter. Solid game play, characters, presentation, art style, and some extras. My only PERSONAL gripe is that the story seemed a bit too short and it would be nice to have online leader boards and co-op play other than that just play it and check it out for yourself! Hopes this helps.