Customer Reviews

Dead Space Extraction

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

On-rails shooters usually tend to end up becoming mundane and boring after a while, but as of late, the Wii has seen a couple quality ones, such as Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and House of the Dead: Overkill. Now from EA, we get Dead Space: Extraction, a prequel to the spectacular action/horror/shooter from last year that graced the higher powered consoles. For the Wii, the Dead Space world has been translated from a survival horror game to an on-rails shooter almost flawlessly, and the game is packed with enough action, scares, and shooting action that one can't help but enjoy what they find here. If you've played the original Dead Space, you'll recognize quite a bit of what you find here: from the areas and environments to the weapons, Dead Space: Extraction is simple enough to get into even for those who may be unfamiliar with the original. It should also be noted that for being a Wii game, it looks simply spectacular, and the necromorphs look just as nasty here as they have before. The game's story is enthralling and as you progress through the game further and unlock some wonderfully utilized motion comics, you just get sucked in even more. The only real flaw with Dead Space: Extraction is that aiming isn't always quite as easy or accurate as you might hope for. Still though, as far as on-rails shooters go, Dead Space: Extraction is one of the best around right now that you'll play, and even if you're unfamiliar with the original game, this is definitely worth your time.

Dead Space: Extraction is the best rail shooter I've ever played. To be quite honest, it's possibly the best Wii game I've ever played! The graphics, audio, and gameplay are all superb and represent what all developers should be striving for with this genre.

Visceral Games has pushed the Wii's graphics capabilities to the max on this one. Of course, that's not saying much when compared to the original title on the PS3 and 360. You're not going to see the same lighting or particle effects, but you will be impressed by it's stability and framerate. The environments are actually very detailed, and the characters' facial expressions are pretty realistic.

The sound effects are every bit as eery as the original's. The score provides a heightened sense of tension throughout the game. Like any good horror movie, Dead Space's use of silence punctuated with intense creepy sounds keeps you on your toes.

As you've probably already gathered, this is a rail shooter. The only thing you control is the reticle on screen, what type of weapon you fire, and telekinesis to grab goodies. Even though it's a rail shooter, it doesn't feel too "arcady." There's enough challenge and customization (upgrades, weapons cache, player rating) to keep you coming back after you've finished the campaign. The fact that you can't really control where you go doesn't hurt the experience.

Having played and loved the original Dead Space on the PS3, I was a tad skeptical about how it would translate to the Wii. Those fears have been alleviated! If anything, I'm glad I have a reason to fire up my Wii. Moreover, I'm glad the Dead Space story is being fleshed out. It's creepy, intense, and just plain fun!

Many people might be disappointed about the new direction this title takes Dead Space into, but if you like "light gun" titles and are open to change you just might enjoy this one. That said, I think anybody who has played a little bit of Extraction can dispel the garbage of it being a cheap cash-in. A lot of work went into this title, more than would have been necessary to make a quick buck. It has great voice acting, detailed graphics, and a storyline that answers a lot of questions as to how the disater on the Ishimura came to be. No, you aren't alone for most of the game, and no you don't have complete control over where you are heading (although there are small instances where you can choose a direction on a branching path), but this is still survival horror at it's finest. You won't be jumping out of your seat with cheap scares, but there's nothing that compares to the tension and panic you feel when four necromorphs are bearing down on you and you're blasting away for your life ( I was swearing up a storm and shooting off every limb in sight just to keep them off me!). It doesn't detract from the enjoyment when you pull a 2nd player into the mix for co-op action, either. Hell, you've got computerallies, might as well play with a real one! My brother and I played through a few parts of the campaign with me and having never really played Wii before he was pretty impressed with what he saw. Overall, I was skeptical when I ordered it, but once I was 10 minutes into it I felt it was well worth the money spent!

This game was the first shooter I played on the Wii. It probably wasn't the best first choice but its still a good one. I say that becasue of the difficulty of taking down the Necromorphs. In order to take them down in as few shots as possible, you must shoot the limbs off. For most, it takes about 2 or 3, but as you progress in the game you come across these tentacle-frog-things and they shoot junk at you! And sometimes its hard to see where they are because its kinda dark.

If you are use to zombie games where a simple head shot will take 'em down, this game may want to be the second shooter you buy (it's a practice issue). But since i bought this game I have played other wii shooters and now i find Dead Space Extraction to be easier.

Overall I love the game and it does have creepy moments (when you hear the girl singing in the tunnel you'll know what I mean), but if you haven't played shooters yet on the wii I would recomend holding off for a while. Unless you like a challenge, then by all means go for it. This may have been my first wii shooter and I'm pleased with it, but some of you may find the need for more precise aim to be annoying. 4 stars.

Many games such as Soul Caliber: Legends tried to captalize on its franchise but failed. Luckily Extraction lives up to the Dead Space brands and impresses. This game really innovates the light gun genre in more ways than one. It all starts and ends with great presentation done with well done scripted voice talent throughout the game making you feel more immersed in the world. All the signature elements from Dead Space is done extremely well in the game.

The gameplay is impressive giving you more control than your typical light gun game by allowing you to pick paths during certain segaments and allowing some scenes for you to explore under a time limit to grab objects and such. The telekensis is back allowing you t be able to pick up objects and you still can slow things down by use of the stasis which is done great for many enemies and even for one boss battle, allows you to slow him down while the camera moves around for you to shoot its weak spot.

The controls are done really well and are pretty precise. It does some unique things by allowing you hear the audio logs through the wii-mote's speaker and you can do a melee attack with the nunchuk and as you might expect, shoot with the wii-mote's trigger button, and the A button is used for you telekensis.

Graphically, it can be a bit muddy looking but its still impressive and does a great job setting the eerie mood for the game. The enemies are well animated as are the characters that follow you throughout the game. Its a great Wii game. Its a game that doesn't have to captalize by being a mature game. Its a quality that is only hampered by its short game length. Either way, its worth a play through!

This on-rails shooter serves as an immediate prequel to EA's critically-acclaimed 2008 release Dead Space, which put the player into the magnetic boots of deep-space engineer Isaac Clarke, whose routine repair mission to the planet-cracker vessel U.S.G. Ishimura turned out to be anything but routine.

In Dead Space extraction, the player assumes control of several different characters from the colony on Aegis VII, starting with the removal of the infamous Marker, which caused all the undead mayhem to begin with. Within minutes, most of the colony has begun to experience homicidal delusions, mutations, and an inexplicable urge to grow giant talons and rip former mates apart. The game follows a group of four survivors who attempt to find safe refuge aboard the Ishimura, which as we all know was an epic fail.

Graphics: $9

Considering that this is the Wii, they did a decent job of re-creating the colony and the ship, almost as if the used the same "blueprints" from the original game. You get to visit lots of familiar locales from the original game, but from a decidedly-different perspective ("Wait, there's not supposed to be a wall there...Oh."), as well as lots of new places. Visuals are a decent port from the PS3/360 versions.

Sound: $10

Good voice acting, especially from one of the familiar characters from the first game. I love the Alien-inspired orchestral score and the eerily-silent vacuum of space.

Gameplay/Controls: $7

Controls are good and responsive, and act within the same "always vulnerable" context as the first game (i.e., no pausing the game to access inventory, etc.). Auto-fire is my only beef for the controls, as turning the remote 90 degrees for the plasma cutter is not as easy as it sounds in the middle of a heavy fight.

Regarding gameplay itself, I have never been a huge fan of on-rails shooters, with the exception of a few like Space Gun, Steel Gunner and T2 (yes, a licensed game that wasn't total crap). This is because if you can't pick something up at a specific moment (due to your being, you know, mauled by a slasher at said moment), you cannot TURN AROUND and go back to get it. I can't tell you how many times I yelled at the TV to turn the... heck around to go back and get some badly-needed ammo, or to get in the... stinking airlock. But they at least give some limited freedom of movement and the ability to grab things via kinesis, which at least mitigates the problem.

There were also a few clipping issues during a few boss battles (and yes, I was aiming for the limbs). That, and the camera can sometimes give you motion sickness.

Genre: $7

Like the original game, this one is a hodge-podge of borrowed ideas. Music from Alien/Aliens. Combat system similar to Resident Evil. Improvised weapons a-la Army of Darkness. The first-person perspective of this game is used very successfully in creating a sense of isolation, loneliness and, of course, mortal terror of an impending evisceration. Strategic dismemberment works in a shooter, too.

They also do a great job of filling in all the backstory, and take you by surprise several times. The ending actually tops the one from the original game.

Fun: $8.50

The above-mentioned issues notwithstanding, the campaign still manages to provide lots of frights and satisfying kills. Not concerned about a One-Gun achievement, I was able to become better acquainted with the Ripper and Force Gun. Cackling ensued.

Replay/Value: $6

So, now I'm done with it. I could go back and re-do it for more achievements and unlockables, but... I just ate, and I don't really want to. The campaign was relatively short but satisfying.

Bottom Line: $47.50 out of $60 ($40 out of $50 for the Wii)

Again, not a full-price game, but lots of fun the first time through. If I could go back and re-grade the original Dead Space, I would give both games 4 stars. The original definitely has the edge in replay and technical attributes, this one has it on atmosphere and combat.

I await Dead Space 2 with great excitement.

This is the best light gun shooter on the wii at the moment. Better than Resident Evil UC, Ghost Squad, and House of the Dead.

The story, character development, and visuals are also top notch. Controls are handled extremely well. My only complaint would be the relative short campaign, but this is countered with challenge mode and 4 difficulty settings to keep the hardcore gamer going.

There's a part of me that will always think that wii games are first and foremost designed for kids and any enjoyment I get out of them is a secondary concern or purely accidental.

Oh mama, was I ever wrong...

Dead Space Extraction is on on-rails light-gun prequel to a survival-horror fright-fest (no-joke). Which makes the damn thing nightmare fuel. I know kids are tougher than adults most of the time, but it might be worth mentioning that my very grown-up wife asked me pretty please to stop playing this game at night because it was giving her terror sweats in her sleep. I'm exaggerating... but only slightly. So maybe take stock of your kid's night terror quotient before making that hasty Christmas purchase? Just a little warning.

What makes this game so special, something worth talking about at all, is that it has all the earmarks of an incredibly mediocre title. It's a prequel to a game on different system. It's a light-gun game. It's a Wii exclusive (Ha! Just kidding... mostly). Off the cuff, it seems like something that should be rented for five minutes, set aside and forgotten.

This is soooo not that game. This is a stand-alone title, easily as fun as and as playable as any game i've ever touched. It's a one-off type of story and has the replay value of your favorite horror film: that is, there isn't much new to discover but some scares are even MORE fun when you know they're coming. The graphics are clean and smooth, utilizing the best of what the Wii is capable of without feeling like it's trying to be a PS3 game or something. The lighting and color pallete are mood effective to say the least. And the audio! The ambient hisses of steam, the clicking of claws, the aboslute defeaning silence of empty space! And just try not to twitch when your character starts hearing VOICES IN HIS HEAD! Sorry, their heads: you get the pleasure of jumping through several characters to get several angles on the story. And I'm not gonna suger coat it--they ain't all okay now. It's a testament to the story telling and a level of immersion I wish I saw more often. For crying out loud, you're 1st person in a character that's slowly going mad and whom you have no idea whether or not they're going to survive or be mutilated in horrible, horrible ways!

Ah!!!

Speaking of story telling, as you progess through the game you unlock pieces of a moving comic that acts as a prequel to the prequel: filling you in on happenings just before the start of Extraction. They're nicely drawn out with pretty good voice acting and it makes a fun addition to the story. And in the end, that's what this game is selling and what makes it unique: atmosphere and story-telling. The gameplay isn't anything overly inventive: some nice weapon switching options and the whole "Telekenisis" angle were neat, but it's essentially "shoot the monster". But it's playable, it's immersive, it's clean and crisp. And I seriously had a nightmare earlier this week starring the Necromorphs (or whatever) and I haven't picked this game up in over a month.

Sweet dreams!

I decided to get an idea of what DEAD SPACE was all about after the recent advertising hype for DEAD SPACE 2. I picked this game up very cheap at a local game store (they always have a pile of them used and I had been ignoring it) and got a copy of the DEAD SPACE animated film at WalMart for 5 bucks. I figured the game and the film would clue me in and I think I now have some idea what this well marketed franchise is like. The film was certainly nothing special, not even exceptional animation but the EXTRACTION game was a lot better.

This is a pretty spectactular looking game. I was very impressed by all the detail and excellent character animation in this game. Obviously the designers put a great deal of love and care into the creation of this game and I truly appreciate it. The story line had me quite intrigued as well and I enjoyed getting bits and pieces of the plot and backstory from the audio logs and crew diaries. I was quite intrigued by the religious elements in the story and the sly satire of Scientology. It is very well done. I also enjoyed the variety of weapons and I liked that each weapon could be given an alternative fire process by tilting the Wii remote on the side. I didn't use that feature too often but when I needed it I was very glad to have it. I was also thankful that the game developers tried to bring some variety into what is essentially a first person rail shooter. The little soldering puzzles were a nice distraction from the sometimes tedious task of dismembering Necromorphs. I enjoyed the zero gravity jumping segments and the ability to guide the characters somewhat by choosing which direction to go. The instances where your character finally gets loose to have a brief look around environments was also cool.

This game gets a lot of stuff right but I did have a couple of serious issues with it. (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD)
The level 6 boss battle (some sort of grotesque slug creature) is far more difficult to dispose of than anything else presented in the game and a boss of that extraordinary difficulty does not belong so close to the middle of the game. It is quite frustrating to beat this thing and a slight mistake in the procedure can lengthen an already overlong battle considerably. This brings me to my next HUGE COMPLAINT about this game: YOU CAN NOT SAVE YOUR GAME AT A CHECK POINT if you have to stop playing during a level. You will lose all progress and have to start the level from the beginning if you do not finish the entire level. At the very least there should have been check point saves before the boss battles (and there are only two in the game plus one mini-boss sort of thing). Level 9 is almost an hour long BEFORE you get the final boss (and of course just as I got to it the first time my play was interrupted and I had to stop which meant I had to play through, [while watching extensive unskipable cut scenes] all over again). That really sucks. There are a few other minor issues such as the size of the reticule obscuring far away targets and an overall sameness in most of the enemies. Some might be fat and pregnant, some might have tails while others have wings, but the majority of them look like burn victims with lobster claws. They were interesting during the first few levels but they got old pretty fast.

I really admire the way this game truly brought something a bit different to Wii players and no one can deny that it is inventive and (for the most part) very well done. I suppose my real complaint about it is that I just didn't have that much fun playing it. It is relentlessly grim and without any sort of humor. It takes itself far more seriously than it has any right too. I really missed being able to kill enemies with a simple head shot as well. There is something hugely satisfying about taking aim and blowing up an enemy head with one shot (ala DEAD RISING, RESIDENT EVIL etc.). I only noticed one type of enemy that could be killed with a head shot in this game (and that enemy was basically a GIANT HEAD on a serpentine body). The rest of your enemies must be killed by "dismemberment" that isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds like since most of the time it amounts to shooting off lobster claws. You can shoot it in the head or body all day and it won't die but remove those claws and it's a dead monster. Goofy. It wasn't too satisfying to me.

I seem to have a lot of complaints about this game but considering the way pro reviewers at IGN and Gamespot etc. smothered it with praise and all of the hype, hype and more hype advertising and product tie in, I really expected it to be better. More likely, I just like horror games to have more of a sense of fun and adventure than this did.
At times it seems awfully slow (and even dull) and it can feel like work to play it. Weapons and health are often hidden and in short supply and constantly having to be looking around for them and hitting the A button at anything that flashes gets tedious. I certainly acknowledge it is a high quality game, it just wasn't one I found much fun in. I doubt my Mom would hate it. She would probably just look at it with mild disinterest and go on about her business. And since when do adults (for whom the game is supposedly intended) care what their Mother's think about video games? The recent AD campaign for DEAD SPACE products is genuinely dumb but the sheer amount of the ads worked on me (as did the spectacular reviews). I'm a sucker for advertising I guess. I'm still glad I played it and got some enjoyment out of it but I doubt I'll be buying anything else in the franchise. I can understand why many people like it but I don't think it is a game for most Wii gamers.

Okay I haven't played any On the rails shooters until this. This game was awesome, and it was so cool. None of the characters even come close to compare to Isaac, but they are cool.

Sound: 9/10, Not the best sound I have ever heard, but i think its damn good.
Graphics: 10/10, I'm not gonna cut the score for not having super great graphics (it is WII), for a Wii game it has over the top great graphics.
Fear Level: 0/10, So not scary its not move at your own pace so it wasn't scary at all.
Overall Appeal: 9/10, Great game, EA should be proud to call it a Dead Space game. All Wii and PS3 owners should own this (sorry Xbox 360 you got excluded out of the awesomeness).