Starship Troopers is one of those franchises that you either love or hate, but I personally love it. Some people cannot get enough of the cheesy one-liners and commentaries on the military-industrial complex, while others just see it as schlocky sci-fi and nothing more. Despite this, it’s a name that has stood the test of time.
As a massive fan of the original film, I was incredibly excited when I received a review copy of Starship Troopers: Extermination. Finally, a chance to live out my dream of slaughtering endless bugs with my buddies. Of course, there have been plenty of Starship Troopers games that tried to capture the magic and failed, so will this one be different? Let’s find out.
Come on You Apes, You Wanna Live (Game) Forever?
Starship Troopers: Extermination will no doubt be compared to Helldivers 2, which in and of itself gave off major Starship Troopers vibes. Let’s clear the air immediately: these two games are different and can indeed co-exist.
As someone who hasn’t played much Helldivers 2, I won’t be directly comparing the two, but suffice to say, each one brings unique elements to the humans versus bug war. Starship Troopers: Extermination offers both a single player campaign and an online live service multiplayer that supports up to 16 players at once depending on the mode.
Let’s start with that campaign. The first chunk of it launched with the game, and during the mission briefings, you get to hear new dialogue voiced by Johnny Rico himself, Casper Van Dien. That’s, unfortunately, the best part of the campaign.
While a “chapter 2” of the campaign is coming via a free update later on, the single player missions you get out of the box feel like less than an afterthought. They play out in repetitive environments, with minimal context, and basically have you perform standalone objectives that you’d find in the multiplayer.
You do get an AI squad in single-player, but they don’t say or do much. It all just feels like a glorified tutorial, and with how short the missions are, it doesn’t feel like you’re really completing a story.
I played the first few missions, hoping it would open up or change in some interesting way, but it’s just the same standalone objectives and a lot of underground caves in the beginning. Certain missions in the campaign can feel harrowing as groups of enemies swarm, but even these numbers pale in comparison to what you’ll see in the multiplayer.
I can’t imagine the Chapter 2 update to the campaign will be any better, but I sincerely hope they have some unique mission types in store, because right now I could not recommend buying this game for the single player portion, it’s not worth the entry price on its own.
Single player woes aside (though I am still happy they got Casper Van Dien), most people will know Starship Troopers: Extermination for its multiplayer. This is truly where the game shines, and while it has some rough edges, when it works, it works!
Setting up your character allows for visual customizations, a loadout menu, and classes to specialize in what you bring to the table. With six classes total, I primarily played as the Guardian because I enjoyed using their ability to set up a barrier around you and unload hundreds of rounds into encroaching bugs.
The other classes feel distinct with their abilities, and you’ll get a sense of progression as you play thanks to unlockable weapon upgrades and cosmetics. There are, of course, microtransactions, but they never feel intrusive. In fact, the cheesy ads you see for the in-game store just add to the overall Starship Troopers vibe, so I don’t mind them.
There’s an in-game tracker of the overall war and the current objective in the live-service story, and while it’s nothing spectacular, it comes with some cut-scenes to catch up on what’s happening and global stats about how many bugs have been killed by the community.
All of that aside, let’s talk about the gameplay. Multiplayer matchmaking for me was hit-or-miss in terms of the wait time, but I played matches across the various maps and modes, with the full 16-player experience being my favorite.
You can get your bite-sized horde mode here, or smaller defense-oriented missions, but the real treat is when you drop in with 15 other players and collect resources before building an impromptu base to withstand a full assault.
This is the longest type of match, but it’s also the most satisfying. Switching between shooting and building is easy, and the various types of structures and defenses allow for a nice variety of base layouts to protect the core of your fortress from the bugs.
The tension that builds as you prepare is unleashed in glorious fashion as bugs assault your base during the final stretch of the match. The game’s proprietary technology also ensures that the bug’s bodies don’t vanish when they die.
This means you get piles and piles of dead enemies around your base, but it also means that you’ll need to climb over them to escape. What’s more, bugs can use their fallen brethren to climb over your walls.
After you successfully defend the base long enough, you’ll get word about extraction, which disables respawns while you and your teammates run for the dropships. This final sprint is incredibly tense, and holding out with your team until everyone arrives and the ships take off is an adrenaline rush every time.
As I said earlier in the review, when Starship Troopers: Extermination is firing on all cylinders, it’s quite the experience. In its current state, however, this isn’t always the case. I’ve encountered bugs, frame rate drops, lag, and even a weird issue where the brightness setting didn’t work in performance mode (this fixed itself in a restart).
Despite being in early access on PC for a year or so, the game still feels unfinished on the console. That being said, I think with time and patches, it could become reliable to the point where the experience I described above is the norm. It’s one of those games where you need to look past the rough edges, and if you’re a diehard Starship Troopers fan, that won’t be difficult.
Figuring Things Out for Yourself is the Only Freedom Anyone Really Has
From a presentation standpoint, Starship Troopers: Extermination does many things right. The music, the menus, the mission briefings- all of them- ooze the same look and feel as the movie. The weapons, enemies, and bases also share a similar design language that feels like it came straight from the source material.
To continue the joke from the header above, when choosing whether you want to join up and become a citizen, you have to use that freedom to make up your own mind, but just make sure you’re here for the multiplayer and not the campaign.
I’ll see you on the battlefield, soldier. Now have fun, that’s an order!
Final Score: 6.5/10
Review code provided by the publisher
Article by – Bradley Ramsey
Insert date – 10/22/2024