Second Extinction (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Publisher: Systemic Reaction
- Developer: Systemic Rection
- Genres: FPS
Game Features:
Dinosaurs have been my favourite thing since.. well.. forever. When I got my first N64, FPS games became my go-to genre, and when Turok Dinosaur Hunter was released in 1997: I was in fusion heaven! Fast forward 25 years and Systemic Reaction is on the scene to deliver us Second Extinction on PC, and whilst I get to grips with the beta, I promise: I will post no spoilers!
Requirements:
- *64-bit processor and operating system.
- OS: Windows 10 (64-Bit versions)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-3570 or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X (Quad-core is minimum)
- Memory: 12 GB RAM.
- Graphics: Nvidia GTX 780 3GB or AMD R9 280 3GB.
- Storage: 30 GB available space.
- Works on Steam Deck "with some issues" (and caveats)
Second extinction begins with you dropping onto the planet via an escape-pod-looking vessel, and planting you firmly in the middle of intense wave-shooting action. You have the choice of six uniquely augmented individuals including Jurgen with his low profile and scent mask abilities to avoid creature detection, Sunetra with her scientific research perk highlighting critical weaknesses on enemies, and Ortega who has battle-hardened weapon mastery, dash and an adrenaline overdose trigger.
Personally, I preferred some characters over others, not because of ability, but because of the overly daft dialogue, namely, Amir becomes quite grating listening to his incessant chatter, but its personal preference what class or type of player you want to assume the guise of through this rip-roaring dino-blaster.
Throughout the game, you get options to change loadout, develop new weapons through R&D and craft passive nerfs and buffs based on materials you scavenge in between the blasting. With the organs and body parts you harvest from the dinosaurs, you can effectively create augments that will add resistance to various elemental attacks such as corrosion, fire, electric or even necro, which comes in very handy blasting the crazy variants of each creature.
Dropping into the action on the Savanna environment put me immediately in mind of Far Cry 2. The lush muddy grassy plains mixed with dried-out sun-damaged foliage, the reflective pools, the sunset feeling across the horizon and the ever-increasing risk of being murked by something you didn't spot in the bushes. The Savanna expedition lets you choose several objectives, to effectively ease you in, and these include basic seek-and-destroy missions and downing drones to gain map data.
The Tundra biome is a little more complicated and a little more realistic with its frozen wastelands, shipping containers and ports left eery and lifeless thanks to the dinosaur influx. Thankfully you're fully loaded and tasked with clearing it up these forsaken places and surviving long enough to obtain the technology available and any intel recoverable.
The first thing I noticed when setting this up on my Steam Deck was the complexity of the buttons and the need to compromise on what features you want available at your fingertips in order to play a reasonable amount portably. The net result was that though it is extremely playable, and I mean addictively playable--the game simply works better with more buttons clearly available, aka, on a keyboard and mouse.
With movement on the WASD keys and melee on the V key, it's a rather big stretch over to the P key to talk to teammates. Given that this game can be played as a squad or individually there is a big need to communicate and keep an eye on each other's back. The G key is mapped to grenades, the H key to health, the F key is a situationally functional key that interacts with objects, place devices and more, and the X key is used to call in assistance or drop in equipment when required.
The mouse buttons operate exactly as expected by default, with the left mouse to fire, the right to aim down sights/scope, and the mouse wheel switching between your main weapon and your sidearm. The middle mouse button can be used to emote and call for assistance too, which comes in handy when you have completed your objectives and need an evac, or if you get hosed down, pinned down and surrounded by hoards of acid-spitting dinos!
Graphically the game runs like a dream and looks incredible. Running it on my Steam Deck it looked fantastic, but on my Laptop with the Nvidia 3060, it really comes to life. The game rarely stuttered, jumped or slowed down no matter just how frantic or how many enemies appeared on the screen. At one point I tried counting how many raptors I could get chasing me across the map, and I'm pretty sure I hit 30+ of them, with some acids, some alphas and some armoured bulls all in one insane on-screen blood-orgy.
Across the screen you get light-refracting water droplets, blood spatter, and dirt and grime build up depending on the terrain, and the reflections of the surroundings are superb. The water surface reflections appear possibly raytraced, with a high level of detail in the reflected image, and it just runs so well whilst you're avoiding a swooping dasher, or worse, a gigantic 15ft tall pterodactyl-looking creatures!
If you think you can climb to the top of a lookout tower and feel safe, think again. I attempted to outrun a bull (Triceratopsian) that was charging me only for it to attract a shedload of raptors that began to scale the structure I was at the top of. It was truly exhilarating to have these little heart-rate-spiking moments punctuate the game, whereas the typical gaming formula means you can hide out in spots like this and not take any damage, so it's nice to know there is nowhere to hide.... ever....
Boss fights take the form of incredibly OP titanic dinosaurs on the map, that you have to take out without dying. The mains are Tyrannosaurs and Therazineosaurs with smaller sub-boss-esq battles with modified versions, such as electric, acidic, or hideously necro-toxic variants of the other standard animals.
Essentially this game is an explorative-driven wave-shooter with bite. When I say bite: I mean fierce, meaty, gnashers coming at you from every direction that gives you the entire Jurassic Park feeling of wonder, awe and terror all in one bundle. The beta matches I took part in were utterly enthralling and the feeling of exploration and intense action is superb overall.
As a result: I'm a big fan of this game, though it does become quite repetitive it is a constant fight-or-flight style game that forces you to tackle massive creatures head-on or take down wave after wave of grunt with very little else so really do. It would have been great to see some more variation in the enemies with mostly raptors everywhere, flying and over-mutated versions popping up and bulls rushing you at every point.
I also noticed some raptors, side-by-side, performing the exact same animations at the exact same time, which was annoyingly immersion-breaking given how organic the battles feel when they break out. It's not all bad though, because you can blast the dinos to pieces, popping skulls and blowing off limbs, and whilst there is gore satisfyingly piling up around you: the bodies do sadly vanish after a little while.
With the plethora of dinos that existed perhaps we will see more missions added via DLC that bring us head to head with some more of Earth's fiercest prehistoric killers of all time. Second Extinction is definitely a grower, more than a show-er right now, with heaps of varied contract missions and a great party game: Second Extinction is certainly a title to watch across future updates!
Verdict
- Superb environments full of detail and lushness really set the scene.
- Plenty to unlock in the armoury via R&D.
- 29 trophies to unlock.
- A little repetitive in places.
- Not enough enemy variation.
