Exoprimal is an upcoming online shooter from Capcom that pits players against hordes of dinosaurs. In its first very limited closed playtest, the game shows a solid foundation for a PvPvE shooter. If it sticks with its strengths like the time attack-style objective racing and interesting class design, it could be well worth sinking your teeth into.
The premise for Exoprimal is campy and fun. You play as an agent working for Aibius, a company doing science by hurling mecha soldiers at hordes of dinosaurs that appear out of thin air at the command of Leviathan, a villainous artificial intelligence. The gameplay boils down to two teams of five players competing and sometimes collaborating to kill dinosaurs like velociraptors, T-Rexes, and triceratops as fast as possible.
The beta had four mech suits to choose from: two DPS Assault suits named Deadeye and Zephyr, the Tank Roadblock, and a Support healer called the Witchdoctor. You can swap suits whenever you want, but as multiplayer custom dictates, nobody ever wanted to tank or heal despite on-screen warnings about team class diversity.
The game modes are varied and fun. One match was basically a series of horde encounters where Leviathan would lead us to one part of a destroyed city, spawn in a bunch of dinosaurs, and tell us to kill them as fast as we can. Another mode involved racing against the clock to complete objectives while fending off waves of dinos.
Graphically, Exoprimal isn’t the most groundbreaking game, but it’s colorful, nicely detailed, and smooth. The time-traveling, dinosaur-blasting premise firmly positions it as one of the strangest multiplayer shooters on the horizon.
Overall, Exoprimal isn’t spectacular at any one thing–not right now, at least–but the sum of its parts creates a surprisingly compelling casual arcade shooter. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of PvPvE games or just want to blast some dinos.
