Check out our review of Exoprimal, a brand new multiplayer game from Capcom, featuring a butt-load of dinosaurs!
We take a look at the gameplay, game modes, characters, story, and more to reveal if it’s a game you should check out.
Also the dinos, we make sure we take a look at them. Because dinos are rad.
Transcript
For years now, we’ve been bemoaning a lack of video games featuring dinosaurs. Heck, we even made a video talking about the best dinosaur games, where we prove that no matter the genre, our prehistoric friends deserve a place.
That’s why when Capcom announced Exoprimal, we had to give it a go.
It’s a pretty simple premise. In the not too distant future, vortexes in spacetime have resulted in swarms of dinosaurs wreaking havoc, bringing humanity to its knees. In an attempt to turn the tide and save the day, the corporation Aibius has developed a hyper-advanced (not at all menacing) AI called Leviathan that can predict the location of future outbreaks.
To test humanity’s defence capabilities, Aibius and Leviathan have drafted a swathe of pilots to man Exosuits in a series of increasingly bizarre tests and experiments. This is where you come in, as you’re thrust into the battlefield, fighting for your life while trying to work out what Leviathan is really up to.
Now, normally I’d be wanting to side with the dinos rather than humans. What can I say? I love a comeback story. But with that not an option, and Capcom having a strong pedigree of dinosaur games, I was still excited to see what Exoprimal was all about.
Would it live up to the hype? Watch on to find out…
So what exactly is Exoprimal? Ostensibly, it’s a multiplayer team shooter in a similar vein to the likes of Left For Dead and the like. Not only will you have to survive some quite ludicrous numbers of dinosaur foe, but also complete tasks such as defending strategic vehicles and escorting high value assets to safety.
I’ll admit from the offset it can be a little overwhelming. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself struggling just to stay alive before worrying about any of the other objectives. But this is where good teamwork is really rewarded, as once you and your team get the hang of it, you’ll soon be working as a well oiled machine. When it all comes together, there’s honestly few feelings in gaming more satisfying.
The thing that really sets Exoprimal apart from other games in the genre is that it isn’t PvE, it’s PvPvE. Let me explain…
All the while you’re fighting dinos and completing tasks, you’ll be competing against another team to get the best time. While you won’t be interacting much during the bulk of a match, completing certain tasks will make your opponents’ life more difficult, like throwing an extra bunch of raptors their way.
My personal favourite is the Dominator item, which will temporarily let you control a T-Rex to absolutely crush the enemy team. I told you I wanted to play as a dinosaur, didn’t I?
During the end game, both teams will be dumped into the same zone to complete one final objective, with the first team to finish winning. This is the only place you can take down other Exopilots alongside the dinos, and it makes for some truly tense finales. And if you’re on the losing team at the end of the game, you get messed up. Really messed up.
When it comes to working as a team, you’ll all need to quickly learn the different types of fighters you can man. While there’s plenty of Exosuits to pick from, they fit under three main categories: Assault, Tank, and Support. Assault has a selection of offensive-based options, Tank is your heavies who can shield others and block enemies, and Support are your healers and buffers.
Being someone who plays most shooters running around like a headless six foot turkey, I tended to enjoy the Assault class most of all, but you’ll definitely need an even spread to assure victory. Fortunately, you can change your Exosuit mid match, meaning you can have a fairly comprehensive go at all of them within the first game.
Speaking of which, most games take around 20 minutes to complete, which is pretty much the sweet spot for this kind of experience. It offered enough variety without overstaying its welcome, and there’s enough variation between each game that I don’t see myself getting bored anytime soon.
Now that’s those boring stinky humans out of the way – what about the assortment of dinos? You get a healthy variety of prehistoric beasties to tackle, from Triceratops to Pteranodons. Each poses different challenges, particularly when you come up against the mutated NeoSaurs. Yep, if dinosaurs weren’t threatening enough, why not drop in some super buffed ones to spice things up?
Each NeoSaur has different abilities, from explosive self-destruction to teleportation. And the Neo Tyrannosaurus is so bloody tough that you’ll need to form a temporary alliance with the other team in order to bring it down.
So add in the variety of missions, different classes of fighters and a plethora of dinosaurs to take on, and you can see why you’ll be playing for sometime before you exhaust every possibility.
But this might be an issue in itself for some players, as it can be a bit much at times. The amount of information on screen, whether it be numbers, text, voice over or action itself can become overwhelming, and while I enjoyed it, I can see why it might put some people off. If there was ever a video game equivalent of an energy drink, this would be it.
Ultimately Exoprimal is a game that will live and die based on its player base; if it’s not widely adopted, I can see it becoming hard to find an online game in a few months’ time. I hope this isn’t the case, but if you’re at all interested in checking it out, I really recommend playing it sooner rather than later while the servers are still active.
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Tom Baker
I like Star Wars, heavy metal and BBQ Pringles.
