Dead Space: Extraction

Dead Space: Extraction is a prequel to the first Dead Space, telling what happened on the Aegis VII colony and aboard the Ishimura before Isaac Clarke ever entered the story. Instead of free movement, though, the developers reached for the rail-shooter format: the camera guides the player through the scene on its own, and their job is to aim, shoot, reload and above all survive. A choice that could have felt like a cheap console add-on turned out to be a surprisingly good fit, because it let the storytelling keep exactly the pace and the shots meant to instil fear.

The weapons are carried over from the main series, and the franchise's basic rule still applies: necromorphs need their limbs shot off, not their heads targeted. The plasma cutter, the ripper and other tools each have two firing modes, on top of which stasis slows enemies down and kinesis pulls objects toward you and hurls explosive canisters. The whole game can be played by two people at once, and the second player can join at any time, making it one of the best couch co-op experiences on the console. The story is told from the perspective of several alternating characters, so the loadout and emphasis of each chapter change too.

Technically, this was one of the best-looking titles on Wii, period. Dark corridors, dynamic lighting, flickering flashlights and detailed enemy models showed just how much the console could deliver when the developers focus on tightly framed scenery. The sound plays with silence and sudden clattering just as well as the source material, and the claustrophobic wreck atmosphere works without reservation. Critics received the game very warmly and often cited it as an example that even a rail shooter can have a full-fledged story. Commercially it was a disappointment, though the game was later released on PlayStation 3 with Move support. Today it's one of the strongest horror experiences Wii has to offer. Anyone who sits down to it with the lights off and decent sound gets a surprisingly intense few hours of fear.