As far as gameplay goes, there are a few high points. Clearly, the developers of Dead Space Extraction were more interested in making an interactive Dead Space movie than they were in creating a videogame. The reason for that is, presentation and story are all the game really tries for. So far, I’ve spent most of this review talking about the game’s presentation and story. The way that everything muffles as you take part in combat while encased in a spacesuit the pained, guttural death cries of slaughtered enemies and the genuine expression of fear in voices of the game’s cast all go a long way toward impressing and affecting the player. Creative use of effects to make the player feel trapped, threatened, and even mentally ill go a long way to keep things unnerving.

Other than a few inappropriate musical cues (the soundtrack sometimes lays it on a little too thick), the game’s score, voice work, and sound effects are pretty much perfect.

When it comes to sound design, Dead Space Extraction may actually surpass the original, which is no small feat. Even at its worst, the game never slips into totally PS2-looking territory, and like previously mentioned, it sometimes looks nearly as good as the original Dead Space (especially on an SDTV). Environments are beautifully lit, enemies are well rendered, and the people emote with surprising believability. Of course, all Wii owners know by now that finding a Wii game that actually looks better than a GameCube title is a fairly rare thing, but Dead Space Extraction pulls it off. When the specs for the console were first announced, gaming aficionados rightly assumed that most Wii games would look better than GameCube games, but worse than games on the 360.

It also doesn’t hurt that the game actually looks the way a Wii game should. Getting a good, first-person look at the game’s well-rendered and well-acted characters as they look into your eyes, begging you for help seconds before they are slaughtered, does a lot to make you feel connected to the game’s world. Part of that comes from the Cloverfield-esque way the game’s story is told.

Dead space extraction wii