Exoprimal

If there is one thing Capcom know how to do, it’s to give the player a weapon and say hey, here are some big beasties, go crazy. Taking some inspiration from its other franchises, such as Dino Crisis and Monster Hunter, along with concepts from titles like Overwatch and Back 4 Blood, there is a mixed bag of fun to be had here. 

Exoprimal does well to scratch an itch I didn’t realise I had when it comes to the vast destruction of dinosaurs, attempting to interlace an interesting single player story between a repeated multiplayer gameplay arc consisting of other real-world players. Pitting futuristic fighters against prehistoric predators in PvPvE based combat, this game is far from a dino-snore.

This is an abridged version of my video review, which we’ve embedded below.

The game begins with a news bulletin, one that does well in smoothly hinting toward the game overview as well as eluding to class selection. The year is 2043, and in a fashion similar to that of the film Pacific Rim, pilots are trained to ‘neurolink’ into specially designed exosuits, designed by the corporation Aibius, in order to defend humanity against dinosaurs. At the heart of it all is a highly advanced next generation AI named Leviathan, because nothing bad ever happens in a story that involves really smart AIs… or dinosaurs for that matter. 

After one training ground tutorial, we’re soon thrust into the action in a faux match with AI players. The gameplay arc is fairly simple. In Groundhog Day fashion, you take part in 5v5 team based ‘wargames’ designed by Leviathan, that each consists of two segments – The first requires you to complete several objectives faster than the enemy team, each time one is done ‘The Watcher’ tells you whether you are faster or slower than the opposition, with red ghosts showing how far ahead or behind they are.

Upon completion you then undergo interdimensional travel to the second section, which is where things get a lot more interesting. This can either consist of further PvE objectives or a mix of PvP. Missions can include objectives such as escorting NPCs, pushing/defending the payload, or my favourite – the carnage module. There is nothing quite like the sight of seeing quite literally thousands of dinosaurs descend from the sky as you ready up every bit of kit you have, essentially re-enacting the Ice Age.

Conclusion

Overall Exoprimal is a good time. It succeeds at giving you that almost pick up and play overpowered feeling of blasting through waves of enemies, whilst also keeping you gripped to a story that, although can be confusing at times, is rather clever and interesting. Once you power through an initial lacklustre few hours, you’ll be rewarded with an excellent third-person shooter, and an urge to rewatch the Jurassic Park films.