Starship Troopers: Extermination has a lot of potential, and that’s not to say it’s bad and should be avoided. I put about 10 hours into it before I realized that my whole day had gone by as I got sucked into shooting endless hoards of bugs with my teammates. The game is in beta right now, so it’s pretty barebones, but if you’re a fan of Starship Troopers, you can get your money’s worth out of it. Here’s a quick review and look at Starship Troopers: Extermination.
Gameplay
The game itself basically answers the question, “What would life be like if you and 15 of your friends were dropped into the thick of it?” And that’s basically the entire game right now. Lobbies are 16 players max and revolve around you completing one of two objectives while defending yourself from hoards of bugs.
That might not sound fun, but there is a certain charm to mowing down murderous bugs from behind your ragtag defense setup that makes it a blast—literally. The game has a base building mechanic that is fairly intuitive and easy to use. You can build walls, bunkers, ramps, towers, and more to try and hold off against the onslaught until your evac arrives.
Different Gamemodes
Currently, there are two game modes, Attack and Secure and Defend the Ark. Attack and Secure is the worse of the two, in my opinion, but it’s not bad. You essentially build refineries and bring the ore it harvests back to your home base. It can be tedious yet hectic as you try to haphazardly carry the canisters back to your base while zig-zagging the Arachnids.
Defend the Ark is more my style and sees you and your squadmates trying to secure and defend an Ark at a decrepit base. This mode really allows you to get into the building aspect of the game and create defenses to hold off the hoard of Arachnids until the Ark is done doing whatever it does and your evac arrives.
If you die, you can be respawned by another player at the same spot if they reach you quick enough. Otherwise, you have to respawn back at the base and wait, which isn’t all that long. However, if you’re in the middle of getting evac’d, there is no respawning, so make those bullets count, maggot.
All-in-all, the shooting in this game is fun. There are different classes to choose from, and each class has its own progression with new unlocks and weapons. You can definitely see how they can progress and add to this game once it’s fully released. Remember, it’s early access, and while those words tend to spark fear in gamers these days, Starship Troopers: Extermination is decent enough right now to warrant the $24.99. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of gamers feel like waiting 6-12 months and seeing how the devs do with new updates and content.
What’s Bad About Starship Troopers: Extermination?
In its current state, we can’t help but see some glitches and bugs (not those) that you will definitely encounter while playing. They aren’t a huge problem, but it is a reminder that this is an early access game with a lot of work needed to turn it into a full-fledged Arachnid killing simulator. It does a good job right now, but it can definitely be better with a few tweaks and added content.
One of the more common glitches we’ve encountered is bugs spawning inside buildings or objects, making them near impossible to kill. This usually isn’t a problem, though, since they typically can’t hit you, and there’s never really a requirement to kill every bug.
We wouldn’t necessarily say that this is a bad thing, but it does feel slightly hollow when it comes to that signature Starship Troopers’ humor we’re so used to from the film. There are attempts at it, and there are definitely some design choices that were influenced by the films, but honing in on the humor and brutality of the mobile infantry could do wonders for the game.
Should You Buy Starship Troopers: Extermination?
In its current state, we feel safe recommending it if you have a group of friends you know would sit down and play it. It is priced less than a full game at just $24.99, but there is definitely a lack of content once you start hitting that 15-20 hour mark, as it does get old eventually. The devs have stated their intentions already to continue updating and adding more content, and there’s definitely a good base for that in the game’s current state.
If you’re not a fan of Starship Troopers or shooters aren’t really you’re thing, we’d say stick away from this one for a few months and then see. It’s certainly not a game you should drop everything you’re playing for, but it is a fun shooter with decent potential.
