A video game is only as good as its controls. And since on-rail shooters limit control (not to mention pacing), many gamers are quick to dismiss the genre. So why on earth would you want to play Dead Space Extraction’the latest in an increasing number of light-gun shooters for Wii’when the original game lets you roam free, in high definition even?
Extraction executive producer Steve Papoutsis says its all in the camera. “When we let people play the game, they hardly notice the change in controls, due to the impressive camera work,” he said in an email Wednesday. “They walk away saying it feels authentic.”
Furthermore, Papoutsis says anyone can enjoy Extraction, whether new to the series or returning for more. “Veteran Dead Space players will get to experience an all new story, and new players will get a great entry point into the franchise with quality visuals and great controls crafted specifically for the Nintendo Wii.”
Dead Space Extraction arrives Sept. 29 on Wii. The game is published by Electronic Arts, carries a mature rating, and retails for $50.
I like it.
There's something weird about the HotD style 'rail shooter' genre. It's such an odd little throwback. Most games in the genre just tend to be shooting galleries where you either hit the target or don't. If you don't then you either just fail to get the points, or you get hit, then the target disappears. It was always pre-scripted with no deviations.
This Dead Space game looks different. If you don't hit the targets, they jump at you and stay on you 'til you shake them off, then you've got to kill them before they do it again. Things also seem to react differently depending on whether you've got your glo stick lit or not. It seems, from the videos, as if it plays like a FPS would if you were given control over the targetting, but not over the movement. To me, that's very different from rail shooters in the past: it actually feels like your character is in the world, not just a reticule taking pot shots from behind a screen.
What Camera Work? In most of those shots in the video the player was completely stationary – the camera only moved significantly in the very last part.