Lots of multiplayer games based on famous film franchises have emerged recently. There are Illfonic titles like Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Cold Iron Studios’ Aliens: Fireteam Elite, and more. Now, the satiric sci-fi franchise Starship Troopers is getting that treatment with Starship Troopers: Extermination.
Developed byOffworld Industries, which gave us Squad and Beyond the Wire, Starship Troopers: Extermination is a co-op shooter where four squads of four fight hordes of Arachnids across five areas on the planet of Valaka to gather resources to build and defend their home base. There will be Assault, Support, and Defense character classes, meaty progression systems, many base-building options, and a ping system so players can communicate as they build and fight.
Released in 1997, Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi film Starship Troopers cemented itself as a cult classic thanks to how it uses its pulpy setting to critique fascism, patriotism, xenophobia, and more. The film’s cult popularity has enabled the film to become a franchise, receiving multiple sequels and video games, with real-time strategy game Starship Troopers: Terran Command just released in June.
Starship Troopers: Extermination’s mix of first-person shooter and base-building elements is certainly intriguing, but it still remains to be seen if this multiplayer game will carry the same satirical bite about warfare that the film had or if it just glorifies the violence for the sake of gameplay. That’s an issue these licensed multiplayer games consistently must grapple with, and few have managed to overcome it.
Starship Troopers: Extermination will enter Steam Early Access sometime in 2023.
