Dead Space: Extraction — deadspace

"Dead Space: Extraction tells the untold story of the Aegis VII Colony through a handful of survivors battling to reach the orbiting USG Ishimura amidst a horrific infection. As their allies mysteriously fall victim to dementia, it becomes clear that protecting a young girl granting them a bizarre immunity may be their only hope for survival."

—Dead Space: Extraction description on EA.com

Dead Space: Extraction is a 2009 rail-shooter and the prequel to Dead Space, exclusive to the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3. Unlike the main Dead Space games, Extraction is an on-the-rails shooter, meaning the player does not control the protagonist's movement.

Plot

Setting

Dead Space: Extraction takes place prior to the events of Dead Space. Set in the year 2508,^{[note 1]} the story follows a group of four survivors, Lexine Murdoch, Nathan McNeill, Gabe Weller and Warren Eckhardt, who try to escape the nightmare of the Necromorph outbreak on the Aegis VII Colony and the USG Ishimura. The story intertwines with the story of Dead Space and sheds light on certain events of the plot.

Characters

Sam Caldwell - A playable character for the first chapter, Sam is an engineer on Aegis VII tasked with removing Marker 3A from its pedestal. Throughout the first chapter, the player controlled Sam as he tried to reestablish the power and life support to the colony during the unexplained murders of his teammates and the miners down in the Megavents.
Lexine Murdoch - The girlfriend of Sam Caldwell, Lexine is a surveyor on Aegis VII present during the second Necromorph outbreak on the colonized planet. She accompanied the survivors to the USG Ishimura in the hopes of finding refuge from the terrors spreading through her home. Lexine had an apparent immunity to the effects of the Red Marker and experienced odd headaches and bouts of nausea on the Ishimura.
Nathan McNeill - The main character and protagonist of the game, Nathan is a P-Sec detective overseeing the investigation of the murders committed by Sam Caldwell. He took on the responsibility of protecting Lexine after insisting that she should accompany him and Gabe to safety.
Gabe Weller - A security officer aboard the USG Ishimura, Gabe and his team are assigned to a body retrieval mission on Aegis VII when the outbreak occurred on the colony. Alongside Nathan, the sergeant protected Lexine and Warren Eckhardt from the hideous creatures that inhabited the Ishimura.
Warren Eckhardt - A CEC executive director aboard the USG Ishimura, Warren often provided the group with access to rooms and areas blocked to those without executive clearance or permission. Warren took a seemingly neutral position on the issue of Unitology and is quick to defend them from accusation.
Dr. Nicole Brennan - The Senior Medical Officer aboard the USG Ishimura, Dead Space: Extraction saw Nicole in an active role of duty before her death. Nicole oversaw the health and status of the survivors during a routine quarantine check. For a time, she accompanied them through the ship to a possible area of safety after encountering the "small infection" that plagued the ship and it's crew.
Dr. Karen Howell - A botanist who worked on the Hydroponics deck on the USG Ishimura, Howell is a playable character in the seventh chapter of the game. A survivor of Hydroponics, Howell teamed up with Lexine (Separated from the group) and fought to escape the Ishimura before they are overcome by the infection.

Plot Summary

The story begins with a small crew of miners, among them is a man named Sam Caldwell who are helping to extract the Red Marker from Aegis VII. The crew began to suffer hallucinations including Sam who killed many others in a severe state of dementia which caused him to believe that they are attacking him. Before he can escape, a P-Sec squad arrived and killed him.

Some time later, Detective Nathan McNeill who is working on the case file of the rampage met an old friend, Gabe Weller, now serving on the USG Ishimura. As the planet cracking began, the power went out and the colony descended into chaos as they are attacked first by psychotic colonists under the influence of the Red Marker and then by Necromorphs, monstrous reanimated creatures made from the bodies of the dead. They also discovered Lexine Murdoch, Sam's girlfriend (As seen in a short prologue) and agreed to take her to safety. The group raced to find a shuttle and eventually found one in the Megavents, thanks to a man named Warren Eckhardt, an executive from the mining company. The four of them flew to the Ishimura for help, but the Ishimura wanted them to return to the surface. The group refused which resulted in the Ishimura shooting them down with its cannons, causing the shuttle to crash into the Ishimura and forcing the group to spacewalk to a nearby airlock.

After entering the Ishimura, the group discovered that the ship is infested with Necromorphs. As they attempted to move to the Bridge which they believed to be safer, they encountered Nicole Brennan in the medical bay who elected to stay behind in case anyone else arrived. The rest of the group continued on, but they soon fell into the sewage system where Lexine is attacked by Swarmers and is pulled into a water tank. The group assumed that she died. Dr. Karen Howell discovered Lexine who somehow survived and the two found McNeill, Eckhardt and Weller. McNeill, Weller and Lexine continued on while Howell attempted to shut down the sewage system, guarded by Eckhardt, but Howell is soon killed by a Necromorph tentacle due to Eckhardt fleeing and locking the door behind him. When he found the others, Eckhardt lied, saying that Howell died fighting off a swarm of Necromorphs.

In order to search for a shuttle to get off the Ishimura, McNeill and Lexine split up from Weller and Eckhardt to search multiple shuttle bays. Weller and Eckhardt found a shuttle, but Weller caught Eckhardt finishing a recording of a message to a member of the Church of Unitology. Weller watched the message. Eckhardt said that he was sent to find a person who was immune to the effects of the Marker and who could protect others from its effects as well and he believed that Lexine is that person. After Weller is done watching the message, Eckhardt shot Weller and told him of his plans, only to be killed by a Leaper while his back is turned. McNeill and Lexine found Weller and escaped on the shuttle right after McNeill shut down the power to the cannons on the Ishimura that were preventing them from leaving, although he had to cut off his arm in the process after a monster's quill pinned it to the floor. As they escaped, they heard a transmission from the USG Kellion which included the 3 crewmen, Zach Hammond, Kendra Daniels and Isaac Clarke. Lexine tried to warn them away, but they did not receive the message and the Kellion entered the Ishimura, starting the events of Dead Space.

In the epilogue, Lexine is shown being attacked from behind by a Necromorph. There was official confirmation that this Slasher is indeed the infected corpse of P-Sec officer Nathan McNeill.^{[note 2]}

Gameplay

Unlike its predecessor, Extraction is a rail-shooter utilizing the Wii Remote, PlayStation Move controller or standard DualShock 3 to aim and shoot at prospective targets. Features such as Stasis, Kinesis, Zero Gravity and concepts such as dismemberment return and are still key gameplay elements. The game introduces new characters, weapons, enemies, puzzles, and locations aboard the USG Ishimura, and also includes drop-in/drop-out co-operative multiplayer gameplay (meaning that a second player can enter or leave the game at any time without significant interruption).

The game features old weapons, like the Plasma Cutter, Flamethrower, and Pulse Rifle, as well as introducing new ones, such as the P-Sec Pistol from Dead Space: Downfall, and the Arc Welder, a weapon that discharges a cone of electricity. Like in the original game, all weapons can be upgraded.

When played with a motion controller such as the Wii Remote or the PlayStation Move controller, functions such as aiming, melee attacks, and secondary firing modes are handled by motion input. Melee attacks are executed by swinging the Nunchuk left, right, up or down, and secondary firing modes can be entered by twisting the motion controller sideways. The motion controller can also be used to look around in areas where the game allows you to by aiming to a specific area and the camera will pan in that specific direction.

A new item, the Glow Worm, provides illumination for a limited time, and is activated by shaking the controller. When the game is played with a standard DualShock 3 on the PlayStation 3, all control inputs are appointed to buttons, (with the exception of the Glow Worm). On Nintendo Wii, audio logs play through the Wii Remote's speaker. Extraction also has some features more akin to adventure games, such as puzzles and branching pathways.

Enemies

In addition to the standard forms of Necromorphs of Dead Space, Dead Space: Extraction features four new Necromorphs exclusive to the game:

Standard Form

Colonists : Inhabitants of Aegis VII who have gone insane from the effects of the Red Marker. They attack with their fists and are significantly more durable than normal humans. These are the only enemies which are not Necromorphs.
Flyer : A winged Necromorph capable of flight. Its main form of attack is assaulting victims from above. Flyers are first introduced in Dead Space: Extraction.
Grabber : An immobile Necromorph with an extremely long, muscled neck, a jawed head and a serrated spine. It grabs victims with its head and pulls them to the serrated spine to kill them. Grabbers are first introduced in Dead Space: Extraction.
Slasher : The most common form of Necromorph, it attacks using two large blades sprouted from the victim's hands. Female Slashers can spit out projectiles. It has an enhanced form which is encountered later in the game.
Infector : A bat-like Necromorph with the sole-purpose of infecting corpses with a proboscis and turning them into new Necromorphs. The Infector can create standard and enhanced forms of the Slashers.
Leaper : A Necromorph more commonly found in Zero Gravity areas, it attacks with its large tail, a fusion of the victim's legs and intestines. It also has an enhanced form encountered later in the game.
Drag Tentacle : A long and thick tentacle with a glowing yellow pustule. Drag Tentacles drag victims to their deaths, usually into holes in walls or ceilings.
Swarmer : Tiny Necromorphs, which appear to be reanimated flesh, that travel in large groups and can jump at victims and rip away at their flesh.
Pregnant : A large hulking Necromorph that carries a payload of Swarmers along with two large scythe-like blades.
Exploder : A small, thin Necromorph with an appendage containing a highly explosive organic compound which rivals its own size.
Lurker : Reanimated infants that prowl the corridors and are often found in Zero Gravity. They attack with three barbed tentacles that fire quills.
Brute : A very large and powerful Necromorph that can charge with great bursts of speed, using its weight and strength to crush its victims. Only one Brute is encountered in the game.

Advanced Form

The Spider : A gigantic, armoured-spider-like Necromorph with two large arms that can fire barbs, and giant tentacles. It has long tube-like mouth that can reach out and latch onto its victim. Once onto its target, many small pustules start to grow inside the mouth, bursting and hurting its victim. At times, glowing sacs attached to a tentacle will appear from its mouth and burst to release Leapers. The Spider is first introduced in Dead Space: Extraction.
The Urchin : A giant, formless body surrounded by multiple tentacles which it uses as whips. It can project explosive sacs at victims. The Urchin is first introduced in Dead Space: Extraction.

Chapters

Marketing Promotion and Release

Comics

Main article: Dead Space: Extraction (comics)

Written by Antony Johnston, the comic book adaptation of Dead Space: Extraction focuses not on the four survivors of the game, but Nicole Brennan before and during the events of the outbreak on Aegis VII and the Ishimura. Nicole fights to solve the riddle of the Necromorph pathogen and the possibility of a cure after she discovers the oddities in Lexine's brain wave patterns.

There are two variations of Extraction for PS3: the variation that is part of the PS3 Limited or Collector's Editions of Dead Space 2, while downloaded to the PS3, still requires the physical disc to be played. The other is a simple download from the PSN and does not require the disc.

Trivia

When you take the first letter from each chapter just like Dead Space they form the words "W.A.R.R.E.N. L.I.E.S." revealing Warren lied about not being a Unitologist. This may also be an easter egg reference to Warren Ellis, who co-wrote the first game.
As with nearly all Dead Space media, the game opens with a transmission that foreshadows the rest of the events, albeit, in Extraction, the transmission is much more pleasant than the other opening vidlogs.
Similar to Dead Space, the ending is left ambiguous to viewers, leaving people to question the final ending until the next game of the series.
The game cover features the image of a woman (Lexine Murdoch) with a horrified expression firing a Plasma Cutter with Nathan McNeill behind her, both of them are presumably fighting off Necromorphs. The horrified woman image briefly became a meme on Joystiq.com.
- This cover was replaced by new artwork viewed from the PlayStation Store that depicts Nathan, Gabe and Lexine.
In the second Chapter, "Another Day at The Office", the Visceral Games logo can be seen in the morgue, shortly after the Chapter begins.
In episode ten of True Blood season two “New World in My View”, the character of Maxine Fortenberry can be briefly seen playing Dead Space: Extraction.^{[note 3]}

Gallery

Screenshots

Concept Art

Miscellaneous

Notes

↑ Dead Space: Extraction takes place three years before the events of Dead Space 2, the latter taking place in 2511. Steve Papoutsis' reply via Twitter was most likely a typo or oversight
↑ The in-game footage is unclear, as the last scene of Extraction simply depicts a Necromorph attacking a lone Lexine. However, Dead Space Executive Producer Steve Papoutsis clarified McNeill's fate while answering some fan questions. In addition, there is no mention of McNeil whatsoever in the Severed DLC.
↑ https://youtu.be/qMZrzvXraQQ?si=-OMfcBpt-ojHNTK1

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