Starship Troopers: Extermination Preview (Steam Early Access)

by Jim Smale · Published May 30, 2023 · Updated May 30, 2023

For our Starship Troopers: Extermination Preview, we play a 16-player co-op FPS that puts us on the far-off front lines of an all-out battle against the Bugs! Squad up, grab your rifle, and do your part as an elite Deep Space Vanguard Trooper set to take back planets claimed by the Arachnid threat!

Starship Troopers: Extermination Preview Pros:

Gorgeous graphics.
10.03GB Download size.
Steam achievements.
Full controller support.
Graphics settings – window mode, resolution, resolution scale, fps limit, master quality, anti-aliasing, view distance, shadows, post-processing, textures, effects, motion blur, SSGI, Intel XeSS, and a field of view slider.
Can rebind controls for both keyboard and controller buttons.
Three classes – hunter (assault infantry), bastion (heavy infantry), and operator (support infantry).
Loadout for each class covering – primary, secondary, utility, grenade, and two perks slots.
Earn EXP and level up for new unlocks. Each class has its own level and exp rewards.
First-person shooter gameplay.
Nails the atmosphere of the film.
The bugs look just as they do in the films.
Boot camp is a repayable tutorial section.
You can build walls, bases, ammo drops, etc on the fly.
The building involves selecting what and where to build then you use your repair tool to actually build it with a progress bar.
Multiple people can help you build to do it faster.
Four total difficulties but only three are available right now.
Full friends list integration with invite-to-party options.
Four game types – quick play (join the best game), ARS is capture territories, Arc, and horde mode.
Loading screens are posters and adverts from the film.
Opening fed net newscast that sets up the level perfectly.
Four regions – US West, US Central, US East, and Europe West 2.
You get told the game type and what you need to do on the opening loading screen of a game.
The final part of any mode is getting to the extraction ship within the time limit and holding the ship for others again within the time limit.
16-player Co-op play.
Uses friendly fire which is authentic.
Objectives can change or pop after you finish the previous objective.
Player rank is the main account rank and unlocks new modes.
Full base building mechanic.
A lot of the set pieces are tower defense in that you have X amount of time to build up defenses before a massive horde appears.
Feedback from shots.
Thrilling exciting gameplay.
Five sets of squads to join.
Getting the unlocks gets very addictive as each reward feels earned but also potentially game-changing.
Optional side objectives can appear for bonus rewards.
Comms are handy but not essential as it does have a full ping system.
You can quite happily just jump in blind and get unlocks and fun from it.
Down but not out state for X amount of time where you can be revived.
Dying is only permanent at the last stage otherwise you choose where to respawn.
One for the fans of the film.
Day and night missions.
Works really well with the controller.
The explosions and destruction of bugs are very film realistic.
Excellent powerful soundtrack and special effects.
Spectator cam when dead or down but not out.

Starship Troopers: Extermination Preview Cons:

Any lag makes it really hard to play.
The tutorial is just about basic controls and mechanics and doesn’t prepare you for the gameplay.
Early gunplay is not great and feels loose.
Had several crashes when changing graphic settings.
The first few games are just pure chaos in a confusing way.
A lot of the time it feels like you are just following people.
The menus are not great or responsive at the moment.
No Steam achievements.
You don’t get menu feedback like notifications of new u locks in Loadout slots.
The big learning curve for everything.
Doesn’t feature any characters from the film in any capacity.
You don’t have any customisation options just the Loadout.
The building has a slight learning curve.