I picked up Dead Space: Extraction yesterday, along with a copy of the PS3 version of the original Dead Space.  I elected to start Extraction first since the game is shorter, and I'm interested to see if the horror in Dead Space is still able to hold weight if I play the prequel first.  So far, I'm really liking it.
 
I'm about halfway through the game and playing on Normal difficulty.  I refuse to call it the "guided first-person experience" EA's marketing reps tried to nail into our heads, but for a rail shooter, it's very advanced.  The pacing and camera angles feel more like the movements of a person than watching something filmed on a steady-cam and there are more tools at my disposal than the basic strategy of gun ---> bigger gun ---> BFG.  It's possible to slow enemies down by using a stasis attack, which really helps when dealing with crowd control even with its limited use, all weapons have basic and alternate fire which can be switch back and forth from by twisting the Wii Remote, and debris can be cleared and moved using the kinesis beam, which doubles as the tool for gathering weapons, ammo, and health.  One of my favorite touches is the way that the audio logs are piped through the Wii Remote speaker; they come in clearly despite the speaker's low quality.
 
As someone that thoroughly enjoyed House of the Dead:  Overkill earlier this year, Extraction is giving me more of what I want, which is a solid on-rails experience that benefits from being designed for a home console rather than being targeted as an arcade release.  The story is well-told if stock horror movie fare with some standard character archetypes filling the lead roles, but the cast is likeable.  I kind of wonder if Isaac in the original Dead Space will be as likeable given that his face is masked.
 
I imagine that it won't take me much longer to beat the game.  Another evening or two in front of the Wii is probably all I'll need, but I'd say that this is definitely a game I'd play through again.  I should also give the Challenge Mode a shot once I've beaten the story.
 
The game also comes with an unlockable six-issue Dead Space video comic book.  The copyright attached to it is 2008, so I don't know if it was previously published in paper form, but it tells a story regarding other characters on the colony as sanity breaks down.  It's interesting, but unfortunately the art has a lot left to be desired, and the voice acting isn't as sharp as that found in the actual game.  Still, it's not a bad bonus earned for progressing through the game.  I still have two chapters to unlock, so hopefully it ends with a bang.

I picked up Dead Space: Extraction yesterday, along with a copy of the PS3 version of the original Dead Space.  I elected to start Extraction first since the game is shorter, and I'm interested to see if the horror in Dead Space is still able to hold weight if I play the prequel first.  So far, I'm really liking it.
 
I'm about halfway through the game and playing on Normal difficulty.  I refuse to call it the "guided first-person experience" EA's marketing reps tried to nail into our heads, but for a rail shooter, it's very advanced.  The pacing and camera angles feel more like the movements of a person than watching something filmed on a steady-cam and there are more tools at my disposal than the basic strategy of gun ---> bigger gun ---> BFG.  It's possible to slow enemies down by using a stasis attack, which really helps when dealing with crowd control even with its limited use, all weapons have basic and alternate fire which can be switch back and forth from by twisting the Wii Remote, and debris can be cleared and moved using the kinesis beam, which doubles as the tool for gathering weapons, ammo, and health.  One of my favorite touches is the way that the audio logs are piped through the Wii Remote speaker; they come in clearly despite the speaker's low quality.
 
As someone that thoroughly enjoyed House of the Dead:  Overkill earlier this year, Extraction is giving me more of what I want, which is a solid on-rails experience that benefits from being designed for a home console rather than being targeted as an arcade release.  The story is well-told if stock horror movie fare with some standard character archetypes filling the lead roles, but the cast is likeable.  I kind of wonder if Isaac in the original Dead Space will be as likeable given that his face is masked.
 
I imagine that it won't take me much longer to beat the game.  Another evening or two in front of the Wii is probably all I'll need, but I'd say that this is definitely a game I'd play through again.  I should also give the Challenge Mode a shot once I've beaten the story.
 
The game also comes with an unlockable six-issue Dead Space video comic book.  The copyright attached to it is 2008, so I don't know if it was previously published in paper form, but it tells a story regarding other characters on the colony as sanity breaks down.  It's interesting, but unfortunately the art has a lot left to be desired, and the voice acting isn't as sharp as that found in the actual game.  Still, it's not a bad bonus earned for progressing through the game.  I still have two chapters to unlock, so hopefully it ends with a bang.

I think people are stuck on the term rail shooter, but you sort of get that style of gameplay in other genres.  Shmups are often technically rail shooters, since the places you go and the enemies you get are all set up for you in advance.  And some rail shooters allow for multiple paths, just like the shmup Einhander did.  It's all down to how good the frigging game is :)
 
Is the game tiring to play after a while?  I mean, like for the arms?
 
The only thing that would bug me is having a comic book on the TV.  Maybe if the thing was unlocked in some sort of portable form...

" @ahoodedfigure: It's not really tiring.  Most of the action is pointing and shooting.  There are rare instances where you need to shake the Nunchuk to break open pathways.  There's also a device called the glow worm which is used to light up dark areas by shaking the Wii Remote to charge it.  Aside from that, the only remote shaking I've had to do is during a basic quick time event to shove a necromorph that's tackled me off, which happens infrequently enough that I'm not in danger of my arm falling off.  And the comic book isn't really a "book."  It's more like a panel is displayed with voice over, followed by the next panel and so on until the end of the "issue." "

I really want this game. Brandy from this site had a nice review of it on her review site. I'm looking at a holiday buy, much like last years buy of the original Dead Space for the Xbox 360 version.