Those familiar with the original Dead Space already know how this story ends or, more specifically, what was discovered at the onset of the first game. Extraction is a tragedy in motion. Yours and the fate of your companions were determined before you even picked up the remote, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to change it.
There are no princesses to save on Aegis VII. There isn’t a heroic tale to apprise. You just can’t win this time. You can only hope to survive.
For a few hours, at least.
Extraction is heavy on narrative, and the impending doom haunting your journey through Aegis VII and the shadowy annals of the USG Ishimura gives Visceral Games the unique opportunity to tell a story not about the triumph of good over evil, but the unsettling futility of good. Grim as it may be, it’s a refreshing approach to storytelling in video games, and its dark, nihilistic narrative is always engaging.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by the toe…impale, devour, repeat
This plot-driven design is representative of modern development trends. Games are evolving more cinematically than ever, and their stories have become increasingly ambitious and prominent. Even so, one typically wouldn’t expect much story from an on-rails shooter, a genre of games-on-autopilot consisting of simple, mindless action.
Extraction bucks that trend. And yes, it does it on rails.