There’s a clear skill present in constructing a narrative around a series of arbitrary computer hacking minigames, so certain props are in order, just not enough to forgive a visual presentation that, to put it blatantly, sucks. The “motion comic” cut scenes were universally awful and the animation had the consistency of a cartoon from the 80’s outsourced to Korea and accidently transformed into a flipbook. Unfortunately we’re treated to a plot that constantly mines reasons for Franco to go hacking into and out of stuff across The Sprawl. Watching The Sprawl succumb to a Necromoprh outbreak through the eyes of an IT guy (Franco) and his semi-hot lady friend (Sarah) could have provided an interesting perspective on the imminent disaster. The story is actually Ignition’s highest card, though that’s not saying much. Anyway, what’s presented is a collection of three minigames loosely connected together by a brief narrative prequel.

The disconnect from the usual freak show is awkward, but apparently such is the sacrifices for a five dollar product.

Fable 2, Dead Rising 2, and the upcoming Red Faction: Armageddon are all sporting this method of buzz-generating entertainment, and EA’s looking do to the same with their best new IP of the current generation.įrom a gameplay perspective, Ignition has almost nothing to do with slaughtering Necromorphs or 3rd person strategic dismemberment. One of the hottest trends over the last few years had been to release a downloadable precursor for a big budget game. It’s practically Dead Space’s job to casually conceal its latent, macabre splendor.ĭead Space Ignition is a prequel of sorts to Dead Space 2. Finally, the Dead Space 2 multiplayer beta, something I assumed to be nothing more than a bullet point for the back of the box, wound up being a ton of fun. Dead Space Extraction flopped commercially, but it was a great game and sported some of the finest visuals on Nintendo’s underpowered console ( read my review from last fall!). The original Dead Space beat Resident Evil 5 by six months and still holds the title as the current generation’s premier survival/horror. Its ability to constantly under-sell and effortlessly over deliver is the secret best thing about Visceral Game’s Dead Space franchise.

Dead space ignition review