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Hot off last year's critically acclaimed space-based horror game, Dead Space (Xbox 360 and PS3), EA returns with a prequel, Dead Space Extraction, a Wii exclusive due in Fall 2009.
Thankfully, Extraction isn't a cheap Dead Space remake for Wii. It's an original game that has been in production for the last year and chronicles the events that lead up to space ship USG Ishimura's infection that turned the crew into heinous monsters. The narrative introduces a new heroine and is told from multiple perspectives as space colonists on the Aegis VII mining colony struggle to escape the deadly infection.
Unlike the third-person perspective and free range controls of the original, Extraction on Wii is far more controlled. The camera perspective will be first person, while the game will follow prescribed "on-rail" paths. Are you already imagining Alien meets Jurassic Park in a mine cart? This design choice doesn't have to be a negative if the game includes a compelling storyline and transfers the gorgeous graphics and tension-filled atmosphere everyone loved from the original to Nintendo's system in a convincing fashion.
This Dead Space game also offers drop-in, drop-out two-player cooperative mode (take that Resident Evil 5!). If a second person wants to join your game, they just grab another controller and press a button to drop into the game. They can also leave whenever they like, while the original player can continue playing -- an important feature necessary to retain the game's important atmosphere and continuity. Additionally, Extraction includes all of the original game's "weapons," aka modified space tools, plus a handful of new ones.
You might be thinking, "Ugh, that sounds like a watered down Dead Space on rails." Don't go there just yet. With an original, creepy storyline, a user-friendly co-op mode, and new characters and weapons, Extraction will, at the very least, strike another blow to the Wii's family friendly image.
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