Visceral Games in on a two-part mission with its upcoming Dead Space Extraction and it's an important one. The first part is done: they've gone and created a great-looking, dynamically frightening console game designed to scare you right under the couch (while also laying the groundwork for future Dead Space titles). The second part is a bit tricky, meaning it's all up to YOU to assist by buying the game and experiencing all that hard work put into the project for yourself.I had the great opportunity to sit in on a live (and informative) Q & A session with a few members of the dev team, who all spoke passionately about the game while dropping a few interesting facts about developing it as a Wii exclusive.
Visceral's Steve Papoutsis (Executive Producer), Wright Bagwell (Creative Director), John Calhoun (Senior Designer), Jonathan Hackett (Art Lead / Direction), Shereif Fattouh (Associate Producer) were all on hand and during the discussion it was clear that with DSE, they're adding to what they hope could turn into a long-running sci-fi/horror anthology of sorts. We found out that the Dead Space time line stretches some 200 years, so there's a rich backstory that will allow Visceral (as well other development teams) to create many new adventures in the game universe. In case you didn't know yet, DSE also ties into the first game, the animated feature and comic books, so fans of those works will be more than pleased at what's coming.
Visceral's Steve Papoutsis calls the game a "guided FPS experience" with a twist. Instead of one path through the adventure, the game allows for multiple story branches and different items and weapons upgrades to find based on which direction players decide to go at certain junctions. As you're always pushed forward in a (very cinematic fashion, mind you), reaching the end of the game doesn't mean your game is over at all. It was also explained that Extraction's unique gameplay mechanics were created ground up for the console. The game retains the core experience of Dead Space: horror, pacing, and strategic dismemberment while bringing everything to life using the Wii's intuitive controls. In terms of pacing, scripted paths lets the developer dictate the game's pacing as well as the different types of scare moments.
While Issac Clarke, Dead Space's lead character isn't in DSE, ill-fated main squeeze Nicole Brennan is part of the game's storyline. John Calhoun noted that this prequel takes place three weeks before the events in Dead Space and while we don't see exactly what happens to Nicole, players will get to see her as a person pre-infection. Additionally, her story jump starts the whole Dead Space saga (which makes it in a way, equally as important than the first game). According to Calhoun, the plot holds quite a few surprises for fans of the first game. There will be all-new Necromorphs as well as the return of some found in the original. Players will also see areas from the USG Ishimura in different states than in Dead Space, including some rooms that will be affected by their actions in Extraction.
In terms of the technical aspects of working with the Wii hardware, I knew it was a non-issue as it's hard to find a good developer that doesn't realize a system's limitations before they set out to work on such a large project. Nevertheless, the question was asked by one of the other editors, and it got quite an answer. From a graphics standpoint, Visceral was able to do everything they wanted artistically and more including a number of really interesting things with the hardware. Everything from hand-animating the game camera in order to immerse players more deeply into the movement to adding multiple paths mentioned above through the game to increase replay value. Content-wise, the game doesn't hold back at all from the gore found in the PS3 and 360 original. The point was made a few times that "This IS a Dead Space game - nothing has been dialed back... This is a visceral experience, definitely a mature game," which seemed to quiet a skeptic or two on the line.
It was also noted that from the beginning the game was always going to be a "cinematic FPS". The team discussed bringing over controls from original Dead Space and translating them to first-person, but as the Wii allows for light gun style aiming, it felt a lot more interesting to use the motion controls completely rather than simply bringing over a traditional FPS or third-person action/shooter experience. As the game was developed before the advent of Wii Motion Plus, it neither uses nor needs the extra assist the add on provides more recent Wii releases. Camerawork and the overall tone of DSE was inspired by movies such as The Blair Witch Project (like it or hate it, it's one effective chunk o' fright when it works) and we were told that "not every one of the characters may survive the game," something that will definitely add a load of suspense to things as players try to survive.
In addition to a long single-player campaign (that should take about 10-12 hours to complete the first time out), there's a drop-in/drop-out co-op function that lets two players jump off the couch in tandem. A question was asked if this mode would make the game too "easy" or something like that and I almost fell off my chair. The idea of co-op ties into the story of multiple persons trying to escape the same intensely horrific situation. Two players may have more firepower, but the cinematic nature of the game just means there's also two more players for Necromorphs to kill, if both get too freaked out during an intense boss fight, for example. I'm not sure how the game will handle any potential scripted deaths of its playable characters in co-op play, but that's what a review is for, right?
One of the more bizarre rumors about Wii development is that Nintendo wants to keep the Wii strictly a family-themed games console and actually dictates what developers can or can't put in their M-rated games (despite mature-themed games NOT being targeted toward the family audience). Unfortunately, some games journalists have fallen for this rumor hook, line and sinker and it taints the quality of some Wii coverage I've seen and read. As noted at this year's E3 and a few other places, Nintendo absolutely wants "hardcore" players as part of its user base. Therefore, games such as DSE are important milestones for the company as it tries to show it can reach every type of gamer out there. As I've mentioned elsewhere, the reason for so many more "casual" Wii games on store shelves is the simple mathematics. The "hardcore" gamer is still only a small percentage of the console's user base and while you guys WILL see more games geared toward your tastes, business sense says Nintendo needs to keep the majority of users happy as well.
Once you play them or see them in action, it's clear that "M"-rated horror games such as Dead Space Extraction, Cursed Mountain, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Ju-on: The Grudge, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles and others aren't aimed at the Wii Fit or "granny games" set at all. They're each created from the ground up to take advantage of the hardware and controller and should be respected for what they add to the console's library (and to the history of motion-controlled games as well). Personally, I can't wait to play (and review) Dead Space Extraction fairly from the point of someone who "gets" what a developer is trying to do not just with the hardware, but with the story they're intending to scare the crap out of you with (and multiple times at that).
Dead Space Extraction will be in stores on September 29, 2009 - i'll be back with a full review around then - stay tuned.
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