Behind The Curve - Dead Space: Extraction Review

So there's a lot of content on the inter-webs regarding new stuff. I know, because I spend a lot of time scouring blogs like Kotaku to learn about the latest releases, and to keep on top of the recent developments in my areas of interest. Unfortunately, most products are most expensive when they're brand new, so rarely do I get to experience anything while it is still new. A lot of gamers are this way I think, especially with video games, which compared to traditional games, experience a dramatic decline in sticker price as they age on the shelves of retailers. A title that costs $60 at release can easily be $30 within 6 months, depending on how popular it is. This being the case, I rarely play one when it's new, on account of the fact that I can sometimes buy 3 or 4 old titles instead of buying a new one. For example, if I wanted to I could go out and buy Dead Space 2 which came out today for $60, or I could go ahead and buy Dirt 2 , A Boy and His Blob , Vanquish , and still have a few bucks leftover for an after lunch coffee.

When I was younger, before all my dreams were crushed, I used to think the ideal job would be writing game reviews. I mean, to a 14 year old it sounds pretty awesome to play games all day and write what you thought about them. While the reality of that situation is a little more on par with the reality of being in quality assurance for a major publisher then it is with having free reign to the enjoy the bounty of the chocolate factory (wow that just sounds dirty when I read it back), Web 2.0 has given me the ability to live my childhood dream without having to slog through some grueling 60 hour JRPG to make ends meet. To that end, I'm going to write about some of the media I've enjoyed recently, and you can be sure that it's stuff that's been out forever and is dirt cheap now.

Dead Space: Extraction
(Wii, PS3)

The Wii exclusive prequel to EA's mysteriously under-performing multiplatform science fiction action-survival-horror game Dead Space, Dead Space: Extraction takes advantage of the excellent pointing capabilites of the Wiimote to deliver a pretty riveting on-rails shooter. With a story that picks up just before the events of the original, you play mostly as P-Sec Detective Nathan McNeil, as he tries to hold together a group of survivors trying to escape from a mining colony that is overrun with horrifying monsters referred to as "necromorphs", who begin appearing after the discovery of "The Marker," a bizarre obelisk found on the planet. There's a pretty diverse cast of principal characters which include a sleazy colony overseer with ulterior motives, a hardened soldier, and the helpless female love interest. The graphics are pretty decent for a Wii game (awesome overused cliche!), and sound effects taken directly from the original Dead Space will instantly put fans on edge. On top of that, the story moves along at a nice pace and the dialog and voice acting are high quality, so all in all this game earns fine marks for presentation. Additionally, the game is set in some kind of awesome British future where everyone has an English accent, which I think earns it some pretty legitimate science fiction street-cred.

The gameplay has it's roots in classic arcade light gun games like House of the Dead , so you'll spend most of your time blasting on-screen necromorphs, reloading your weapons whenever you have a moment of respite. Extraction implements a Gears of War inspired perfect reload system which allows you to get a faster reload if you hit the button again at a predetermined time indicated on the reload timer around your aiming reticule, so even reloading your weapons is an engaging activity. The weapons are mostly direct ports from Dead Space, and feature a variety of mining and maintenance equipment that have been re-purposed to cleave the limbs off of necromorphs, which it turn out is the most effective way to slay them. Your basic weapon is an unexciting rivet gun, but there are some more exotic guns thrown into the mix, like the ripper which shoots a buzz saw blade out and suspends it spinning in mid-air about 5 yards in front of you, the plasma cutter which shoots horizontal or vertical cutting lines, and its big brother the line cutter. In general, the shooting is well executed and satisfying, mostly due to the jerky movements of the necromorphs, which can make hitting them a challenge sometimes. You also have a stasis power that allows you to freeze enemies in place for a brief time, and a telekinesis power that's used for solving environmental puzzles, catching and throwing projectiles back at enemies, and also for grabbing a sometimes impossible number of ammo packs, weapon upgrades, and audio/text logs.

The campaign is split into about 10 chapters, each being roughly 25-40 minutes in length, and will take you just 5 or 6 hours to finish. After that, theres some unlockable difficulty settings and a challenge mode which is basically just a collection of high-score shooting galleries set in different locales from the campaign. The enemies come in a multitude of shapes and sizes, and in general they're pretty terrifying, but once you realize that the best thing to do is just shoot their joints and use your stasis to freeze the faster guys so you can proceed to shoot their joints, the combat can start to feel a little stale. This is compounded by the fact that during the game there are only 2 boss encounters, and one of those is an unintuitive mess that will leave you scratching your head while a giant plant monster bashes it in. In the end though, for the price I paid for it ($12.36 + tax), I'd have to say that I totally got my money's worth, and that it's pretty much a mandatory play for fans of Dead Space. Many people who purchase the limited or collectors edition of Dead Space 2 on PS3 will get this game for free, and it's also available for $15 on PSN so if you have a Move controller there's no reason not to play it on that console.

Next Time on Recidivism and Moral Inertia...