Dead Space: Extraction

Also faithful is the weapon loadout system. With space for four weapons (one of which, the Rivet Gun, is mandatory), you have to decide en-route what to swap out and what to keep. You might prefer the range and single-shot reliability of the Plasma Cutter, or go for the up-close multi-enemy takedown approach of the Flamethrower or the lightning bolt-spewing Arc Welder.

As with all on-rails shooters, there are plenty of blink-and-miss-it collectibles, and everything from ammo to weapons, health and ship logs are available if you're vigilant and accurate enough with your telekinesis ability to grab them as you pass by. Every now and then, you're afforded a small window of opportunity to look around with the Wii remote and snatch any items stored in lockers, and so on, but for the most part the game makes you work hard for your booty.

One area that definitely benefits from the on-rails nature of Extraction is the overall pacing. Sometimes you creep along agonisingly, other times it feels like the enemy onslaught is never going to end. There are few occasions where you don't come away feeling like your scraped through by the skin of your teeth, and even on the game's lowest 'Normal' difficulty, there's a definite sense of achievement when you get through.

Replayability is always one of the most attractive aspects of on-rails shooters, and Extraction certainly scores highly in this regard. With a couple of branching pathways in every level, hard-to-reach logs and improved gradings to go for, there's a decent incentive to go back and see what you missed. Another important facet to mention is the game's excellent drop-in-drop-out co-op play, which should make the tense slog all the more enjoyable for many.

In addition to an exciting story mode is the game's score-based challenge mode, which unlocks gradually as you play through the main event. Set in the game's main environments, you face 10 waves of Necromorphs, with the idea to clear them as quickly and accurately as possible without being grappled with or taking too much damage. Even after you've had your fill of the main story mode, it's an exciting diversion which serves as an excellent accompaniment.

On top of that, the game also unlocks six 'comics', complete with voice-overs to shed even more light on the Dead Space fiction. Certainly, if you found the narrative an appealing part of the original game, then you'll be very impressed with the amount of effort Visceral Games and Eurocom has gone to in order to make you care about the characters and events.

But as well as crafting an engrossing and relentlessly exciting videogame, Dead Space: Extraction also scores extremely highly in the technical department, ekeing an impressive amount out of the generally under-utilised Wii hardware. Few would have expected Nintendo's console to be able to do the richly detailed environments of Dead Space justice, but it does so with aplomb. Likewise, the Necromorph character models are faithfully replicated throughout, the boss segments are every bit as overwhelming, and the human avatars are excellent. With some creditable voice-acting and lip-synching present in the game's many cut-scenes, there's no question that it succeeds in its goal to be as cinematic as possible.

After showering Dead Space: Extraction with so much unreserved acclaim, it's gratifying not to have to report too many niggles along the way. Admittedly it's not the longest game in the world, clocking in at about six hours for the entire main campaign, but it's worth discounting that on the basis of a decent amount of replayability. It's also slightly irksome to have to play each chapter without the ability to save your progress - particularly if you're stuck on the tricky boss encounters - but thankfully the chapters are generally short and sweet enough that you won't mind starting again if need be.