Dead Space Extraction takes the on-rail genre and turns it into a refreshing experience worthy of the Dead Space name
Unlike most on-rail shooter games, Dead Space Extraction is heavily story driven. You start out in an introduction playing as one of the miners from Aegis VII, who has no goal other than to retrieve the mysterious Marker. Things quickly go down hill, and after the intro ends, you play as detective Nathan McNeill, who's trying to figure out what's happening on this mysterious planet. McNeill teams up with three other people that are among the planet, to try and track down the forces behind everything that is going on, and eventually make your way up to the Ishimura to try and escape.
The story has the same mysterious feel that the original Dead Space had. Which is a good thing, the story has you interested and engaged from almost the very start. The story is even more enjoyable if you've played through the original Dead Space. There are many references the series' first outing, that people who haven't played Dead Space will not get. Without giving anything away, one of the most notable references is the ending, it ends' literally minutes before the first game begins. If you want maximum enjoyment out of Extraction's story, I recommend playing through Dead Space first. If you have a console that can play it that is.
But the story isn't all you'll experience in Extraction. The Necromorphs from Dead Space return in all their horrified glory. Necromorphs aren't your normal game enemy, as head and body shots do no damage. You'll have to dismember their arms and legs to put them down for good. This is just as intense, if not more, than it was in Dead Space since the game is on-rails, and you have no control over where you move, for the most part.
But you don't have just sit there and watch the planet fall, because there are plenty of mining tools laying around just begging to be used on the Necromorphs. All of the weapons from Dead Space return here, along with a few new ones. One of the most notable new editions is a tool that can shoot electricity. All the weapons are fun to use, but there are also new Necromorphs to counter some of these weapons. So you'll have to extra careful when fighting these new enemies.
Dead Space was one of the most scary and atmospheric games of 2008, and Extraction follows up on that with an excellent performance. As you travel through the halls of Ishimura you'll hear distant sounds of the fallen crew, and the sounds of Necromorphs crawling around the vents above you. The star of the sound once again is in some of the games few parts where you're outside the ship inside a space suit. All you can hear is the sounds inside your suit, which makes for an incredibly real and scary experience.
No on-rail shooter on the Wii can be looked at without mentioning it's control scheme, and Extraction has one of the best as far as any shooter on the Wii period. As you'd expect you use the Wii remote to aim. But the Nunchuck is used also; you use the analog for switching weapons on the fly, and shake it to melee. Stasis and telekinesis both return here. Telekinesis is mapped to the A button, which can be used to quickly grab items to use, or throw at enemies. And Stasis is mapped to the C button on the nunchuck, which is used to slow down items to solve puzzles, or slow down enemies to make them easy to kill.
All of this works very well, and will quickly feel natural. But combating Necromorphs isn't the only thing you'll be doing. You'll also have to reconnect wires and fix other electronics using the Wii-remote. You'll do this by tapping on the beginning of a path, and have to follow it through, but be careful, because you can be attacked while doing this. You'll also get a chance to select a path every once in a while, which can change the experience. The only time the controls don't feel right is when another player joins the game. The aiming cursor is so big that it can get mixed with the other player, and it becomes harder to aim.
Dead Space Extraction also comes with a couple extras. Each time you beat a level you unlock a level in a sort of challenge mode. In this mode you play through areas in the main story line, fighting waves of enemies. This mode is a quick and easy way to experience the intense gameplay of Extraction. Another extra included in the game are a series of motion comics that tell a different story that goes side by side with both of the other Dead Space stories, which gives you even more insight into the Dead Space universe. The story told in the motion comics is just as satisfying as the game's story, and is around 45 or 50 minutes long once you unlock all of the comics.
Dead Space Extraction is in almost every way a great experience. From it's great control scheme, intriguing story, amazing atmosphere, and the same fun gameplay that helped make Dead Space an amazing game, it's hard not to enjoy. This is a game that any hard-core Wii gamer should play. As long as you of age, then Dead Space Extraction should simply not be missed.