Despite the nagging feeling that there ought to have been something more to Dead Space: Extraction, I couldn’t help but enjoy it every step of the way. Even the story was sufficient enough, something I wasn’t expecting after watching the mediocrity that is Dead Space: Downfall. I actually cared about some of the characters by the end, as if they were more than cardboard cut-outs there to push the plot along.

Unfortunately the game’s start isn’t quite so good. Those unfamiliar with Dead Space will have absolutely no idea what is going on except there’s this spiraling rock thing that’s been dug out of the ground, it makes some big explosion and then everyone’s all trying to kill each other. It took a few plays of this level to realize that the character you are playing as is going mad as well. They don’t really explain it until the end of the level and it’s so brief you barely catch. In fact, I’m still not sure if that’s what happened or just what was perceived by others. This isn’t a trick of clever design, either. It’s simply a neat idea that could have used a bit more work in execution.

Wait, damn, this is the sort of thing I was supposed to discuss in the last entry.

Anyway, once you get into full swing the plot becomes straight forward. Get everyone together to head to off the colony and onto the Ishimura, and once you realize the ship is completely screwed to just get the Hell out of Dodge (what does that phrase even mean? Hold on, let me Google… ah, that’s interesting. Back to the review). If you played Dead Space you are pretty much familiar with what’s going on. The only surprise is going to involve a key point to one character, though nothing ever comes of it in Extraction. It is a nice twist to the story and opens up a lot of excellent possibilities in the future. Otherwise, if you haven’t played Dead Space, well, nothing is really going to spoil the game for you.

Actually that’s a lie. The big yet predictable twist is completely given away, but it’s not like that was a shock to anyone in the first place.

So in terms of plot, Extraction is…well, it’s certainly present. It adds very little to the setting and provides a vehicle to push the game forward, and you’ll be interested in what happens well enough, but by the end of the day you’re not going to think “gosh, I sure did like Extraction because of that there story. I think I’m going to play it again just for that!” No, that is not at all the case.

I will give the team credit for making me jump a few times and even shoot at things that weren’t there. Even the original Dead Space didn’t do that, though at the time I was often surrounded by noisy roommates talking about making margaritas and all that other “normal” College stuff I never cared about. Didn’t really help set the tone the developers were going for. Of course, there’s always a difference between jumps and suspense and real horror. Anyone that’s ever read a Lovecraft story can tell you that much.

It’s time I start beating around the bush, though, and get to the actual gameplay. Well, Visceral didn’t exactly have a tough job to do here (well, as far as the design process goes. Game development is tough to the extent of masochism, after all). You take a rails shooter, combine it with the trigger-pulling elements of Dead Space and you have a competent game.

Extraction follows the tried and true formula set forth by Duck Hunt so long ago. Things appear on screen and you try to shoot them. Though instead of some asshole dog laughing at you for missing the target you get an ugly mutilation of a man trying to give you the most uncomfortable hug of your life. Or perhaps a molestation? It’s hard to tell with the screen shaking so much. I must admit it’s a shame more games haven’t implemented something like that asshole dog mocking you, though. I mean, we’ve all felt angry or even saddened when we lack the skills to accomplish something. That dog laughing at you suddenly provides an outlet for that rage. Instead of yelling at the game, or even the developers thereof, you take out your frustrations on the dog. Screaming obscenities and threatening to take them to the vet for a little snip-snip butch-to-bitch procedure if he doesn’t get back down in the bushes. It’s ingenious and yet hasn’t really escaped the 1980’s.

Wait, what? Oh, shit, Extraction. I’m sorry. This crap happens to me sometimes.

Anyway, ugly things jump on screen crying like a Banshee in heat and you got to shoot them. Only you don’t aim for the head or their fleshy torso. You use whatever tools are at your disposal to blast their limbs off until they finally stop moving. Now, while this practice can become as formulaic as aiming for the head (shoot the leg off, then take the arms as they are slowly crawling towards you) it becomes a bit more troublesome when multiple enemies suddenly show up. Some will take precedence because they are faster or, perhaps, capable of firing projectiles from a distance. Or there’s the problem the Jolly Fat Man, where one stray shot to his Belly Full O’ Evil will unleash a swarm of creatures that can only be referred to logically as those mother-fuckers.

Dead Space: Extraction also has no problem throwing more foes at you than you can handle. That is, until you bring control over time into the equation and start tossing stasis around. The key to survival in Extraction (for skilled players on Hard mode or above) is to know when to use stasis to slow certain foes down, perhaps buying some time to take care of the riff-raff before dealing with a greater threat or to make it easier to aim for those constantly moving vulnerable joints.

In other words, everything that made combat in Dead Space interesting and different manages to do the same here. The process hasn’t been screwed up at all, providing a rich flavor of peanut butter to the chocolate that is rail shooters.

Like the original Dead Space the gameplay is also broken up here and there to vary the experience. It doesn’t happen quite often here, and using zero gravity just doesn’t have the same feel to it, but shooting down asteroids somehow provides an interesting change of pace from, um, gunning down undead. Hrm, maybe not that much of a change of pace at all?

There are the hacking puzzles, however. Not really a big distraction, you generally need to keep the Wii remote on a white line and avoid hazards that may often cross over. This is most interesting to take on when you’re forced to hack something while monsters are coming at you. In fact, if there is any reason to play the story mode in multiplayer, this would be it. The hacking is not much of a mind-bender and easy enough on its own, but once you have a horde of creatures coming after you it is appropriately hectic, easier to make mistakes and leaves you vulnerable. In fact, I’m surprised they didn’t include this one or two more times to spice things up a bit more.

Kinesis has been turned from a nice little tool to an essential and frequent part of the game. Sure, players used it frequently in Dead Space, at the very least for some puzzle solving, but now it is the only way to pick up all the items in the map. If you want ammo you need to grab it with stasis. If you see explosives then you grab them with stasis and throw them. The feature allows players to pick up objects from any distance, and also requires a little less precision most of the time grabbing at a general area. Of course, I say most of the time because there are also moments where you’ll be bouncing the stasis out like a paddle ball in a desperate attempt to nab that blasted ammunition.

That makes up the majority of the gameplay experience. On occasion you’ll be given a choice to take one of two paths, which either wind up at the same spot or allow a detour to discover items and rewards before continuing on. Otherwise it’s the straight forward train ride of gunning down everything in site, grabbing whatever shines as a beacon to be picked up and hacking when you need to.

This is, of course, perhaps why the challenge maps are so entertaining. They take out the story and all the waiting and simply shove wave after wave of monsters at you for as long as you can survive. It cuts out the fat and provides nothing but the fine lean meat of gameplay. If you have a friend that wants to jump into something or wants a new experience, this provides it for you. Just drop in (which can be done at any time) and start separating arms and legs from torsos.

Before I finish this at the conclusion, I’d also like to note an interesting moment towards the end of the game where you’re forced to do harm upon yourself or die. I’m not going to get into specifics, but it required the use of a relatively useless ability throughout the entire game (so useless that I not only forgot to mention it in the negatives, but I don’t feel the need to discuss it at all). I was driven mad as a timer counted down, frantic to try and free myself until a notification popped up and informed me to use the forgotten tool. That notification leaves you just enough time to survive, escaping death.

It’s an interesting case of unintentional genius. If you happen to figure it out, then it’s nothing special or major. There’s no tension, just a regular execution of an action to get things done and proceed on. However, by placing that notification at a moment that I just barely escaped with my (digital character’s) life gave the moment such suspense that it pulled me into the moment more. It would be great if more moments like this could be provided in games, though unfortunately being an interactive medium means there’s so much to try and account for that you’ll never provide the same experience.

Anyway, to get to the point, Dead Space: Extraction is not the best game you’ll ever play. But it’s value isn’t merely that of “a fun game” or “a hardcore title on the Wii”. The greatest use of this game is to introduce “those darn casuals” to the deeper world of video games. While it does nothing new for experienced players, it provides enough good things, both in terms of gameplay and story, as to show people that there is more to this medium than saving the Princess or getting a Tetris.

The biggest stumbling block to getting into hardcore games is the complexity of the controls. I’ve witnessed it myself. Having to maneuver two analog sticks intricately in a game where aiming is a necessity (as it so often is these days) provides a lot of trouble. It’s counter-intuitive until you’ve built up the muscle memory and skills for it to be second nature. Imagine if a baby were to try and walk forward while looking to the side. They would surely cross their tiny flabby feet over and tumble frequently. That’s the sort of chaos that can be expected when a new player tries to look and walk at the same time. They’ll wind up staring at the ceiling as their virtual avatar charges forth towards enemy lines.

A tactic that, in reality, may actually be frightening considering just how nuts and absurd it is.

Dead Space: Extraction takes care of all of that for you! Of course, while it provides no real training as to aiming and moving at the same time, especially with analog sticks, the game will begin to teach the player how to multi-task and memorize button positions and functions. At first it will be a lot to deal with, needing to shoot off limbs while so many foes come after them. They won’t even think to use stasis until they’ve finally gotten the hang of calmly aiming and taking down your foes.

Meanwhile, the story will not only provide an interesting (albeit probably confusing at first) universe to learn about, but present depth. Considering the advertisements for most games, your average Jane and Joe assume things haven’t moved past Super Mario Bros. or Quake II. Extraction would catch them up, introducing them to characters with at least some depth to them, even some romantic interest about even if it goes unsaid and the potentials of interactivity. Being forced to harm yourself in order to survive will likely become etched on their memory as something incredible, the sort of thing they might describe to a friend at work in an excited frenzy.

The only problem is when those matters of choice come up. “How do I know which path to choose?” they ask. “You don’t, you just gamble” you may respond. “Can I go back?” This is one of the things a lot of non-gamers don’t comprehend, I’ve discovered. They don’t get the concept of skipping some of the content, or making choices that may turn out differently when you go through a second time. This is a calm introduction. “No, you can’t, but when you replay you can see things differently. It makes it more interesting if something different happens the second time you play as opposed to a film, where the same thing happens each consecutive viewing”.

In other words, introduce them to the actual potentials of interactive entertainment. It isn’t meant to be constant like film, book or television. It’s an experience that can be different each time you go in. Even games that become as formulaic as Mega Man X fail to play the exact same each time.

This is the greatest value that Dead Space: Extraction has to offer. It is a more ideal tool to introduce “hardcore” gaming than most other titles out there because it carries so many elements of the medium in a mature fashion (something that is tough to say about most games), while retaining the easy to use control mechanics of a Wii rails shooter.

It is doubtful we’ll be seeing a sequel to Extraction any time soon considering its sales numbers, though I’d blame the marketing before I would finger the Wii. However, it would be nice to see more games on the system trying to provide a similar experience that can be introductory to new adult gamers while simultaneously being fun for veteran players. It sits alongside Resident Evil 4 as how to make a “hardcore” title for the system well.

If only developers would focus more on making competent games such as this, capable of being fun for as many players as possible, instead of trying to build the “next big thing” that only crowds the market with the same old tripe.

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