In this licensed first-person shooter, you play as a member of the Mobile Infantry fighting against waves of arachnids. While Starship Troopers: Extermination is still a work in progress, it has taken a lighter approach. With only three trooper types and only two mission types available at the time of writing. It has actually been quite successful, and Offworld Industries is now focusing on the main build, which is pretty solid.
In Extermination, you’ll do your part within a platoon of up to 16 players, with the mobile infantry dropping planetside to take the battle to the bugs. Combat is mixed with resources retrieval and light construction. We’ll need a lot of teamwork to advance and set up bases. It’s been refreshing to see that most players are working together even if they don’t have communication capabilities. As you drop with the mobile infantry, you’ll need to rely heavily on your Morita assault rifle as well as the vanguard troopers around you. Throughout the game you’ll encounter countless bugs. All of which look familiar from the film series, including Drones, Warriors, Tigers, and Plasma bugs.
Our experience with the gameplay has been great so far, but we would love to see more weapons and abilities. Based on the loadout screens, these are on the way. There are waves of arachnid aliens bearing down on you in the game. This really captures the spirit of the film’s mobile infantry. At the moment, switching between combat and building feels awkward. Having multiple players work together on placing and constructing is another thing that seems to bring people together, and while it is a little repetitive, it is also very entertaining. While it has a few difficulty levels, random players are working well together to defeat the arachnid menace.
It’s also worth mentioning that the visuals are pretty decent for the most part. Especially given the fact that it is an early access game. The frame rate drops towards the end of battles can’t really be ignored. And there are so many bugs and troopers involved that it’s going to require ongoing optimization. However, outside of that, things are still looking pretty decent most of the time. There is also a lot of outstanding audio so far. From the in-game call outs to the epic music, the sound really stands out. Towards the end of battles, the frame rate drops a little bit, but the soundtrack soars to make you feel like a very heroic character, and I am very grateful for it.
There is not much story behind the game. It primarily consists of online co-op multiplayer, based on objective-based gameplay. It would be nice if a storyline was developed for this game. Right now there is none in the game yet, only a few weeks after it was released in early access. Our opinion is that Replay will really grow, but at the moment it is not as extensive as you might expect from something like an alpha/beta game. Even so, I have to say that it’s definitely fun to jump in. I’ve found myself sucked into the game over and over again, even though at the moment things are pretty repetitive at the moment.
The overall impression is that Starship Troopers: Extermination is doing well. The team has laid a strong foundation. And as the development continues, I hope to see more and more things being added to it. If you’re looking for early access games in general, this one is definitely worth getting into if you enjoy the concept. We will be keeping an eye on the situation so that we can give you a detailed review after the game launches. Keep an eye out here and we’ll be giving you more info on Starship Troopers Extermination a little closer to release.
