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We have a bug situation here - Starship Troopers: Extermination

594 View2023-05-22

It was 1998 when a film called Starship Troopers was released, which tells the story of Johnny Rico after completing his graduation and joining the infantry to serve his nation. Undoubtedly it was a very "adult" film for me at the time, this being a film that mixes encounters against an alien species, with giant legs that are more reminiscent of spiders, and a lot of blood. I say this because Starship Troopers: Extermination moved me so much that I had to quickly watch the movie. In fact, this title could be an experience that glorifies endless hordes of enemies, just like the movie, but it's a little more than that.

Starship Troopers: Extermination is an intense first-person experience with up to 16 players on the same battlefield, where the main objective will be to build a main base, extract its content, be it ore or information regarding the enemy, and escape the confusion generated until then. Being a game focused on its multiplayer PVE experience there is no story associated with it. I had the experience of testing this title before and after seeing the film and without a doubt it is possible to apply hours of fun even without having seen the film but... after seeing the film it is indeed a treat to contemplate all kinds of constructions, the pre-mission screen, the weapons and the whole frenetic environment of the hordes so well constructed and applied.

It all sounds pretty simple on paper but in fact, things can get quite complicated in a short time. To reach the main objective, it is necessary to complete a couple of secondary objectives that essentially involve recapturing specific areas surrounded by several hordes of aliens. After recapturing these points, it is necessary to reach the refinery area and build defenses that can delay the advance of enemy units. I say delay because eventually they always reach the core of the base. It is quite difficult to stop these enemy hordes that undoubtedly do justice to the film, both for their immense number of units and for the diversity of elements of the same species that present different attacks. Thus, It is possible to see enemies that apply melee damage, smaller enemies that move faster but are easier to kill, and larger Arachnids that shoot a kind of blue rocket, applying immense damage to the built defenses.

At the moment this is the only game mode available, being this an early access title it is expected to see the release of new content and who knows even a different game mode. Imagine a game mode where the objective was to capture "The Brain Arachnid". It would definitely be a welcome addition.

The player will have at his disposal the possibility to choose one of three different classes. The Hunter (Assault Infantry), the Bastion (Heavy Infantry), and the Operator (Support Infantry). Each class has a primary and secondary weapon, a specific slot for "utility" and two perks that are specific to the class. The Hunter, as the name implies, is the class focused mainly on damage. It has skills that make it possible to move faster, a jump pack, and perks that help in the offensive field like extra ammunition, among others. The Bastion, is focused on Heavy Armor and which has the possibility of carrying a machine gun. And finally, the Operator, focused on supporting the group since he is the only one who can heal. Of course, as each class evolves, it is possible to unlock new perks, although many of them are still under development.

One of the problems I found in Starship Troopers: Extermination was the lack of information given in the tutorial. The tutorial only reflects the moment of construction of the base and not what each class does in specific, the mode of combat against enemies, or even what button to click to do a certain task. Anyway, maybe I'm being too "picky", or maybe it was something deliberate to prepare the player for the adversities he might encounter as portrayed in the movies.

For now, it's enough for us to imagine what could come in the next few months of Starship Troopers: Extermination's production while taking several hours of fun out of a title that appears to be quite complete in its gameplay. “COME ON APES, DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER?!?”

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