Dead Space: Extraction

Worst. Boxart. Ever.

Available on – Wii

Visceral Games have also done – Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Dead Space, the upcoming Dante’s Inferno, and Dead Space 2

Not the norm

Lightgun shooters are often fast paced arcade jaunts through curious locations, shooting hundreds of bad guys with little or no consequence besides a score numbering in the thousands and a multiplier of times awesome. Extraction on the other hand, is an emotive story driven first person ‘experience’ in which your shooting prowess moves the journey from one plot point to the next, creating a nail bitingly intense seven hour story with plenty of satisfying shooting.

Anyone who has played Dead Space, or seen the gratuitously sweary ‘Downfall’ anime will know what’s happened, but for the uninitiated a mining operation has discovered a mean, ominous looking ‘marker’ on a planet that some religious types take a keen interest in. Before long an intense case of rabid dementia breaks out amongst the mining crew and eventually they start turning into gribbly space zombies, or ‘Necromorphs’ (sounds rude).

What unfolds is an entertaining plot that sits alongside the anime and full game as a side story of potentially huge importance for anyone looking forward to 2010’s Dead Space 2, playing mostly as McNeill the P-SEC officer (intergalactic FBI) you buddy up with bad ass Gabriel ‘one liner’ Weller and ‘Is she underage?’ Lexine as they attempt to escape the infestation alive. All of the characters present great voice work and convincing progression through the game with some genuinely well scripted events, it makes a welcome change to the usually solitary video game horror scenario.

BLAMMO!

But what’s really important is how entertaining the combat is, dismembering necro’s in Dead Space was fun but Extraction sends far more enemies at you with a remarkable amount of visual prowess for the little white box, and the weapon selection is deliciously visceral and pleasantly diverse whilst the scarce ammo will have you swapping around them depending on situations, slowing enemies down, hurling explosive barrels at them, tearing them up with saw blades, burning them in cleansing fire, and blasting them back with pure force whilst limbs and claret scatter around the grimy, intricately detailed locations. Welding mini games also break up the killing, or cause additional sweat inducing pressure whilst fending off a never-ending wave of opponents.

All guns have two modes which you hold the Wii mote normally or on the side to activate.

It must be said though that whilst the combat is brilliantly brutal it won’t come frequently enough for some people, be prepared to sit back and enjoy some conversation or to plod down a quiet corridor with nothing happening as this is primarily a story driven horror game and far from the arcade action of the more immediate House of the Dead or Ghost Squad.

Challenge rooms on the other hand, unlocked through playing the main game, simply ask you to off waves and waves of the gangly limbed monsters intent on munching your face simply in the name of score. The lack of online leaderboards is a hindrance as to the appeal of this mode, but as a means to simply enjoy the relentless combat the mode is appreciated.

For those willing to give it the time Dead Space: Extraction offers one of the best looking, most satisfying experiences on the Wii, or on any platform for that matter, and a potentially important chapter in one of gaming’s most interesting new franchises. That and Weller is an absolute bad-ass whom you must meet, “man up, sweetheart”.

8

Remote waggling is kept to a minimum, with only the glow worm (torch) being a little irritating.

For your consideration: Dead Space: Extraction is now cheap, like £15 cheap, and really shouldn’t be missed. It would also really suck if anything about Dead Space 2 spoils the plot of this game, so go play it now!

Gametrailers shat-tastic GOTY awards debacle.

For the uninitiated, check out Gametrailer’s GOTY awards here:

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/gametrailers-game-of-the-year/12440

Like many gamers I always partake in the ridiculing and tomato throwing of mainstream sites and their GOTY lists, but more often than not I can find some semblance of credibility in their nominations and victors, and Gametrailers is normally bang on the money and a series of awards I can fully get behind, probably due to the flickering images distracting my admittedly short attention span away from their criminal inaccuracies and blatant pandering to the mainstream, however this year either through them being complete tossrags or my growing irritation towards mainstream media they made me, actually, really angry (just ask anyone who’s spoken to me recently).

First of all the grade A offender, the complete list of facepalm that is the Gametrailers ‘Best Wii game of 2009’:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/best-wii-gt-goty/60269

Right, that list features The Beatles Rock Band, DJ Hero, Modern Warfare: Reflex, Mad World and New Super Mario Bros. Two HD ports, one shit HD port, one alright overly violent brawler, and a brilliant game, were GT asleep for half the year?

Just a quick brainstorm and I come up with House of the Dead: Overkill, Wii Sports Resort, Dead Space Extraction, Resident Evil: Darkside, Marumasa, Little King’s Story, Punch Out!!, even Download stuff like Lost Winds is better than Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition! Come to fuck Gametrailers, show some effort rather than just plucking titles you remember were good, and also on wii, from the last couple of months. Motherfuckers.

Now onto the really embarrassing section, the PS3, 360, PC, and GOTY lists.

You know, I feel sorry for the writers. Writing four different ways to describe Batman and Modern Warfare 2 and three for Assassin’s Creed 2? Torture on the brain. But honestly GT, do you even try to understand something like the PC? Is Batman really one of the best games on the PC? I’m not decrying Batman, far from it, I’m just saying it’s not the best use of a mouse and keyboard or a permanent Internet connection compared to something as tailored as Left 4 Dead 2, or Dawn of War 2. Heck even Plants vs Zombies is a more accurate nod than Bats as a game that truly uses the PC to its advantage, but what more you have the nerve to mention Resident Evil 5? A game surely tailor made for a control pad, and a poor imitation of a four year old game? Just because you don’t play PC games doesn’t give you a right to claim the system lacks exclusives whilst blindly overlooking gems such as Torchlight, Tales of Monkey Island, Killing Floor, Empire Total War, think about it next year yeah? Else you might find siege tanks parked outside your offices.

So onto the console lists and a serious question – what, on a multiformat site, should the catagory ‘best 360 game’ en tale, ask me and I’d say best game for the system that takes real advantage of the system and showcases what makes that system unique which makes these lists all the more annoying. Assassins, Batman Modern Warfare 2, and Street Fighter 4 appear on all three lists leaving space for one true exclusive, with the GOTY list being identical to the PS3 list. After GT bummed Demon’s Souls in the early days of the awards it doesn’t even get a short list nod? Mixed messages GT!

And what’s so annoying here? Well what makes Modern Warfare 2 the best 360 game as opposed to one that takes advantage of the extensive online features and built for the system such as Forza 3, or on PS3 how does it show off Blu-Ray better than Uncharted 2 and its luscious visuals? The individual platform GOTY should be the game that does that system the real justice it deserves.

And then the GOTY award, well if that isn’t the most predictable list of the year I don’t know what is, you’d have already watched a less dramatic version by checking out the PS3 video. And do you know why the win for MW2 is so annoying? GT states in the very opening that ‘To be a nominee you cannot be a one trick pony, glossy on the outside but ugly on the inside, or reliant on the tried and true’.

‘Or reliant on the tried and true.’

The opening to your video basically says MW 2 should not win this award, and yet it does, and many  far more deserving games are left in the wake of a pretty standard, albeit very fun, sequel to a two year old game that does little to change what has come before.

In short, from their reasoning, Batman should have won.