Starship Troopers: Extermination is a PvE first-person shooting game recently released by Offworld Industries, the developers of Squad. This game started as a mod for Squad and was so successful and loved by the community that it was turned into a standalone game. In this game, you can play with up to 16 players to go out on the battlefield and fight monstrous bugs that you could only imagine in your worst nightmares.
If you are from the 90s, then you must know this IP (intellectual property), as it started with a great movie and some decent follow-ups that remain as a cult franchise. While Starship Troopers: Extermination is not the first game of this IP, it is so far the most developed and accurate one, with some fantastic graphics, references, and great gameplay.
Stick with us, and learn everything you need to know about Starship Troopers: Extermination in our review to decide whether or not it is a game for you.
What is Starship Troopers: Extermination?
Starship Troopers: Extermination is a cooperative first-person shooter game where you and other players must team up to defeat swarms of enormous insects trying to ravage you at every corner of the map.
Set in the Starship Troopers universe, the game follows the battle between the human forces and the alien Arachnid species. Players assume the role of a Mobile Infantry soldier tasked with exterminating the alien threat on various planets and collecting resources for the Terran Federation.
The game combines elements of first-person shooter gameplay with tactical squad-based strategies, immersing players in an intense, high-stakes conflict.
What We Like about Starship Troopers: Extermination
The fact that one has to shoot giant bugs in this game is already a huge selling point for most people; however, other than this, Starship Troopers: Extermination shines in many areas, including the awesome gunplay, great visuals, and a customization system that keeps you engaged, and a lot of respect for its source material.
Great Gunplay
Starship Troopers: Extermination is developed by Offworld Industries, the creators of Squad, and it shows as they made great gunplay that feels like a triple-A game. Shooting guns at anything feels good, but shooting them at a giant bug is even better.
Good Visuals
While animations still need to be improved, the visuals in this game are unique, and it will take you way back, watching the landscapes of this planet while fighting insects.
Visually, Starship Troopers: Extermination captures the gritty, futuristic aesthetic of the original Starship Troopers films. The game’s environments are detailed and expansive. While there is only one map at the moment, the one we have looks excellent and much like what we saw in the movies.
The character models and animations are realistic, heightening the sense of immersion and danger as players confront the relentless Arachnid hordes.
A Welcome Class System
Instead of just giving us the typical copy-and-paste space marine, Offworld Industries created three different classes with their weapons and abilities.
First, we have the hunter class, which is the spear of the team, as this class is capable of moving fast and killing targets quickly. Then we have the Defense class, which is tasked with being the tank that protects the team’s rear with heavy guns and fortifications. And last, we have the Support class, which can work as a medic and a lethal attack force as it can be equipped with powerful scoped rifles at very early levels.
Decent Customization Options offer a Reason to Stay Engaged and Improve
Even though it’s just a PvE game, we were excited to see that Starship Troopers: Extermination allows you to customize your character for each class and adapt every operator to your play style.
It feels a lot like the customization systems you have come to expect from AAA competitive multiplayer games like Call of Duty. The great part about these customization options is that it gives a reason for players to come back and keep playing. Moreover, it doesn’t appear that there are any OP weapons, meaning these options will just improve the variability and add to the tactical choices available to the player.
Starship Troopers: Extermination is Loyal to the Movies
Starship Troopers: Extermination is a fantastic game for fans of the movie franchise, as it stays true to the original cinematic universe. Moreover, the game captures the essence of the films by maintaining the gritty atmosphere and dark humor that made the movies so memorable.
Players can appreciate the authentic character designs and realistic animations that bring the Mobile Infantry soldiers and terrifying Arachnid foes to life. The game also features iconic weapons from the movies, allowing players to dive deeper into the Starship Troopers world.
Combat in STE is Just as Intense as the First Movie Shows It
Beyond visual and thematic similarity, the game captures the movies’ intense and frantic combat. You don’t play as a hero but as a grunt. Expect to be taken by the Arachnids often, especially as a new player. It’s ok, though, as you can readily respawn and get yourself back into the fight.
By staying loyal to the source material and building upon it, Starship Troopers: Extermination delivers an immersive gaming experience that both longtime fans and newcomers to the franchise will undoubtedly enjoy.
GIANT BUGS!
This is either your worst nightmare or a dream come true. If it’s a nightmare, you can now overcome it by fighting giant bugs with fire and bringing hell to their nest.
If your dream always was fighting giant and scary insects, then you should play Starship Troopers: Extermination right now, and you won’t be disappointed.
There are five unique bug types at this point in the game’s Early Access release: Drone, Warrior, Gunner, Plasma Grenadier, and Tiger Elite.
Beyond having several of the Starship Trooper franchise’s most iconic enemies (thank god nothing too creepy from the 2nd film yet), the game also features swarms of enemies that are a “blast” to fight. They are large and powerful, so it often takes many allies to bring down one bug before it’s too late.
PING System
A Ping system is always welcome in any game as it allows players to communicate easily without saying much. This is very valuable in a game with lots of intense action.
Large-scale Maps and Battles
Starship Troopers: Extermination in Early Access offers a massive map where large swarms of bugs will pop up to attack your team. The objective locations are somewhat randomly assigned, which helps make use of the large map and make it more replayable. After the game goes into full release, we expect to see many more maps.
Like the game’s maps, STE features large-scale battles. With 16 human players and dozens of bugs on-screen at the same time, it’s as frantic and intense as any fan could hope for. The intense battles true to the franchise were maybe what we enjoyed most in our review of Starship Troopers: Extermination.
Game Modes
There are currently three game modes in Starship Troopers: Extermination.
AAS
In this game mode, you must capture points across the map, set up defenses, extract resources, and reach an extraction point.
ARC
In this game mode, you must defend a base while gathering materials to get intelligence on the bugs’ tunnels.
Horde
This game mode is not available yet, but it is one in which you must build a base and try to survive for as long as possible.
What Can Improve in Starship Troopers Extermination
While this game is entertaining, even in its Early Access form, some of its concepts can get old quickly; here are our thoughts on what needs to be improved.
- More maps, as there is only one playable map with variations in the game
- More classes and a variety of weapons
- A weather system to make the matches more scary and tense
- Add actions during a match that reward the player that completed them
- More variety in enemies
- Improved animations
- Better sound design
What to Expect In the Future
While Offworld Industries has not yet released a roadmap, these are developers we can trust as they have a great history with their previous titles and for being active and not letting games die.
Here are some possible things we could expect from them in the future:
- A Roadmap to Keep the community informed
- More maps
- New game modes
- PvP modes where some players take control of the bugs and have to prevent the Soldiers from completing their objectives, something similar to the Versus mode from Left 4 Dead.
- Overhauls on their current systems
- More Mechanics
- More weapons and classes
How to Play Starship Troopers: Extermination
Starship Troopers: Extermination is only available on Steam for $25. Remember that the game is currently being sold in Early Access, and the price may increase upon its full release.
Is Starship Troopers: Extermination Coming to Consoles?
While there is no set date, Offworld Industries have expressed their interest in porting this game to consoles, and it is likely to happen once it is out of Early Access. We looking forward to completing another review of Starship Troopers: Extermination on consoles soon.
This is what they wrote in a FAQ answer:
“The Starship Troopers: Extermination team is focused on the Steam Early Access launch. We know the demand for a console release, but our current goal is to first work towards its release on PC. However, not even the Ministry of Paranormal Warfare of Military Intelligence department knows what the future holds!”
When is Starship Troopers: Extermination Full Release
It isn’t known when Starship Troopers: Extermination will be released in full. Based on Offworld Industries’ history, it could take at least 6-8 months in the worst-case scenario, and we recommend expecting the game to be on early access for a year or more.
Remember that these great developers usually take their time to release significant updates with barely any issues, and they are filled with great content and fixes.
Final Thoughts on our Review of Starship Troopers: Extermination
Starship Troopers: Extermination resembles what most of us loved about the Starship Troopers franchise when we were younger. This game has a bright future, and patience will bring nothing but amazing things to it, as there is a lot that can be done with it.
We highly advise you to support these great developers and try this game. We have been having tons of fun with Starship Troopers: Extermination during our review process, and we are confident you and your friends will as well.
Stay tuned, as we will cover this game in the future with guides and other content. Let us know down below in the comments what topics you would like us to cover about this game or any other great first-person shooter game.
The only good bug is a dead bug. Good luck!
This review can also be found on OpenCritic.com.
Starship Troopers: Extermination is a cooperative first-person shooter developed by Offworld Industries. Set in the Starship Troopers universe, players team up to fight monstrous bugs. The game features great gunplay, visuals, customization options, and loyalty to the franchise. The early access version offers one large-scale map and two game modes. Developers plan to add more content and improvements in the future that will undoubtedly make this good game terrific!
