Step into the mechanized combat suits of the Deep Space Vanguard to take on the relentless Arachnid menace. Inspired by Robert A. Heinlein’s thought-provoking sci-fi and Paul Verhoeven’s subversively entertaining film adaptation, Starship Troopers: Extermination transports players into an all-out war between humanity and bug swarms.
As a fresh recruit in the mobile infantry, you’ll embark on solo missions to learn the ropes, guiding a squad through underground tunnels to destroy hive nests. But where the real action begins is in the online multiplayer. Join up to 16 other space marines in massive battles across alien worlds. Work together to complete objectives, hold defensive positions, and call in extraction before the bugs overrun your forces.
Success depends on your chosen class. Take on the role of Guardian for heavy armor and impenetrable fortifications, or specialize in demolition as an explosives expert. Medics revive fallen comrades while engineers construct bases. As the rounds progress, waves of never-ending bugs crash against fortified strongholds in an all-out battle for survival.
When not fighting alongside allies, test your mettle solo in Hive Hunts. Traverse caves with just three other troops, hunting bug eggs and facing swarms alone with no defenses. Base building also features, allowing cooperative construction between rounds. So enlist today, soldier! The arachnids won’t wait while you brush up on tactics.
Testing your Mettle
The solo campaign introduces you to the Basic Trooper experience before heading into the larger multiplayer skirmishes. As a fresh recruit, you’ll undergo training missions leading a small squad through subterranean encampments.
Your objective is simple: clear the tunnels of insect nests and warrior bugs. Unfortunately, the AI allies tag along less to assist and more as burdens. Glitches frequently cause them to get stuck scrambling over rubble or ceaselessly climbing empty walls. You’ll often find yourself sprinting back through twisted passages, trying to persuade a stuck soldier to rejoin through convoluted commands.
Without a’respawn ally’ button, lost comrades essentially remove that firepower for the remainder of the mission. This proves seriously detrimental on the harder difficulty levels, where a few unanswered attacks mean instant elimination. And forgetting a squadmate halfway through means restarting the entire process.
Locations lack character too. Dreary tunnels fill most levels, with objectives as plain as’reach other side.’ Enemy diversity also disappoints—you’ll face variations of the same bug enemies throughout. Some iconic Starship Troopers creatures, like the brain bug, are noticeably absent.
Perhaps most disappointing is the failure to capture anything of the source material’s satire or humor. No witty lines emerge to amuse during the generic shooting and wandering. It seems the campaign solely aims to teach gameplay through tedious repetition rather than crafting a compelling narrative experience.
All in all, the solo portions disappoint more than they inform. After a tutorial mission or two to grasp the basics, it becomes far better to just jump straight into the larger-scale multiplayer to experience Starship Troopers: Extermination at its best.
Steeling Your Nerve in the Storm
When joining the battle online, Extermination offers several multiplayer sandboxes to test your mettle against the swarm. Primary draw is Horde Mode—akin to other ‘hold the line’ classics but with added building between waves. Teams construct fortresses while respite lasts, fortifying weak points before the next frenzied onslaught. Organization is key to turning the tide.
Class diversity lends tactical nuance through careful specialization. Level roles individually for distinct strengths, yet resetting means starting fresh. Guardians erect barricades amid chaos, medics revive without pause, and demolishers rain hell. Positive, but resets frustrate experimenters.
Issues undercut coordination. Inconsistent ragdolls often pin players under mountains of the fallen foe. And clans seeking recruits find tools lacking—a network needing polish.
Elsewhere, the tight squeeze of Hive Hunts trades fortification for intimacy. Walls disappear as tunnels narrow your guard. Four scour caves alone in these darkened depths, facing beasts twice dispatched only by teamshot. Pressure rises.
Yet through coordination or cunning alone, fun emerges. Together, bugs fall before focused fire in these skill tests against a never-ending onslaught. Faults exist, but in multiplayer Starship Troopers: Extermination captures valiant last stands against impossible, unrelenting tides. Here, at its best, war shines most cooperatively and chaoticly against the insectoid abyss.
When Bugs Collide
At its core, Extermination lives up to Paul Verhoeven’s vision of entomological chaos. The ‘Carnage system’ works wonders, dumping mounds of lifeless carapaces to really drive home the unrelenting scale. Yet interaction leaves room for improvement; corpses act as unpredictable terrain, trapping many an ill-fated trooper.
More bothersome, though, is stuttering performance on modern hardware. Even beefy PCs flounder under hordes, reducing gunfights to a jumbled mess. Shaky framerates undermine needed precision—a killer in such perilous situations.
Weapons lack meat too. Guns fire with negligible impact; enemies rag-doll in unfulfilling ways. More variety could spice things, yet the brain bug and winged warriors remain conspicuously absent from this bug bestiary.
Personality also strangely goes missing. While nailing Verhoeven’s atmosphere of operatic violence, Extermination overlooks the chance for humor or heart that made the movie iconic. Voice acting and squadmates stay stoic cut-outs.
Potential flashes, but polish seems sacrificed. Complex building feels clunky as control, and populating worlds with points of interest could breathe life in between frenzies. When bugs collide in signature Starship Troopers spectacle, technical troubles undermine the battle royale below.
When Bugs Clash, Victory Ain’t Guaranteed
With swarming hordes of insects and online combat for 16, Extermination captures Starship Troopers’ epic warfare feel. Yet rough spots hold it back from greatness.
Glitches plague the solo missions, and unrefined shooting lacks punch. Bugs behave bizarrely too, clashing in confusing piles. While carnage ensues on a massive scale, lag drags down intensity.
Its classes offer variety, but individual leveling means restarting the grind. Coordination in public games is an ordeal without social features. Maps lack life beyond waypoints as well.
Potential shines through, evident in its stylized soldier classes. With refinement, this bug blaster could stand proud amongst sci-fi co-op kings. For now though, only diehard fans can look past flaws to mine enjoyment from its big battles.
Most would fare better waiting for patches first. In its unfinished state, Extermination brings knives to a nuke fight, where others have crafted precision weapons of war. With luck, future fixes can boost it closer to capturing cinema’s satirical spirit on the digital front.
The Review
Starship Troopers: Extermination
Starship Troopers: Extermination captures the epic scale of its cinematic inspiration, but ultimately fails to formulate a cohesive and polished experience worthy of the source material. Plagued by bugs both literal and figural, its potential is undermined by inconsistency and a lack of care in both design and execution.
PROS
- Captures epic scale of battles against endless insect hordes
- Distinct soldier classes provide tactical nuance.
- Base-building defense segments can be thrilling.
CONS
- Bugs plague every facet of gameplay.
- Solo mode is a chore rather than an engaging narrative.
- Disjointed online coordination and lack of social features
- Maps feel vacant and soulless.
- Constant performance issues mar intensity
- The progression system punishes varied experimentation.
