I wrote a while back about my excitement for Dead Space: Extraction, even though at the time many were disappointed by its very nature as an on-rails shooter. I defended the title as being one of the best looking rail-shooters of all time, and now I can finally say that I was not wrong. Having played the game I can safely say that it is possibly the best light-gun style shooter of all time, and a great game in its own right. The reviews seem to agree with me so I hope everyone will at least check it out. If you are a fan of rail-shooters or the original Dead Space then it will be well worth your while.



The thing about Dead Space: Extraction is that it really raises the bar for other games of its genre. The game creates a truly cinematic experience and still manages to offer the scares, even though you are guided the whole way through. Ammo is a precious resource like it is in most survival-horror games, which means you have to rethink the way you play this "shooter" of a game. That is indeed what makes it great as it has broken the expected barriers of the genre. The game makes me think of other titles that dared to take their respective genres to the next level and reinvigorate the stale formulas of yesterday. It's a necessity to evolve in order to keep things fresh and players interested.

It's always exciting when a game defies expectations. Past instances of this are games like Goldeneye 007 and Half-Life, which raised the bar for first-person shooters, or the Tekken series for fighting games. Earlier than that we had games like Final Fantasy for role-playing games and of course Super Mario Bros. 3, which set a new standard for platformers, and videogames in general for that matter! Even early on, a little game called Galaga broke the mold of all the other Space Invaders clones saturating the arcades by offering more depth and strategy than any of those simple fixed shooters. It's interesting to contemplate which games are just another game and which ones achieve the true greatness that all their peers will emulate.

I stand by my assessment of Dead Space: Extraction being one of these genre changing titles. Visceral Games really has something to be proud of; plus they've set a great example of how to convert an existing franchise to Wii by embracing the platform's strengths and not ignoring the heart and soul of the property. I am excited to see more games from the Dead Space universe no matter which platform they crop up on. In the meantime I'll be enjoying Extraction for all it's worth and sharpening up my skills for future on-rails shooters that will evolve even further than we can yet imagine.