Dead Space Extraction Co-Op Review - Page 2

Where Dead Space Extraction really shines though is its flexibility in co-op, allowing another player to join in at any time.  They'll get their own cursor on the screen and in no time will be slicing necromorphs apart with you.  If they need to go, they can simply quit out and you can continue on your gory way.  During co-op the puzzles in the game require both players to work together to complete them - each players will complete a small subsection of it and then the other player completes the next - and so on.   The puzzles are similar to the carnival games where you can't touch the walls or a buzzer goes off.   It's amazing how much tension and forced communication this adds to some of the chaotic situations the puzzles are placed in.  You'll frantically try to hack a door closed to stop an impending necromorph onslaught, yelling back and forth - "GO IT'S YOUR TURN!"    Players also share health, which really aids in the heat of battle, as only one player needs to pick up the health to heal the whole team.  

If there's a downside to Dead Space Extraction it's that the on screen cursors tend to cover up a lot of the action, sometimes making it difficult to see the enemies.  In a game where pin point accuracy for strategic dismemberment is so important, I found it odd that most of the targets are covered up by blue or red cursors.  Visceral seemed to focus so much on the immersion of the game, and the cursors sort of break this, it's a minor quip, but one none the less.  For an on rails shooter Dead Space Extraction has some serious meat to it, with the campaign taking around 6 hours or more to complete on normal.  If you're a completionist you'll want to go back through again on the harder difficulty levels to not only unlock more content, but find more hidden objects you may have missed.  The on rails nature of the game makes exploration nearly impossible, so if you catch a glimpse of a log or a weapon upgrade and fail to pull it in, you'll need to replay that level to catch it.  Every level you complete unlocks challenge missions as well as chapters of the animated comic to watch. 

Overall Extraction is a solid title that's bolstered by an excellent co-op experience.  For Dead Space junkies there's a lot of story to be told, and the unique aspect of having it from different characters brings something new to the table.  It's an odd choice for the Wii, as the game is incredibly violent and bloody, and even at one point contains some polygonal nudity.  So yes, you can have a great mature title on the Wii, and yes you can create a survival horror game using an on rails formula, Dead Space Extraction proves not only can you do it - but it can be fun.

Tags

• 2 player co-op
• dead space extraction
• reviews
• nintendo wii