Gamescom 2024 Snack: Starship Troopers: Annihilation

Many people have said while playing Helldivers 2 that it reminds them suspiciously of Starship Troopers. The Helldivers developers have also cited this cult as an inspiration. So it’s ironic that more players will see this Annihilation and say: This reminds them suspiciously of Helldivers 2.

The similarities are striking. Although Starship Troopers: Externation will be an FPS (unlike the third-person Helldivers 2), you’re also a space trooper who’ll be fighting alien scum in online co-op missions. Here, too, that means blasting until green pulp dangles above your screen and finding the perfect gear to keep any alien lifeforms alive.

As a fan of online co-op shooters, I pray to the gaming gods that this Starship Troopers game is absolutely fun. It also seems to borrow a lot of elements from Aliens: Fireteam Elite. It was only after playing the full demo that I became less excited. Unfortunately, more anxious.

The core gameplay in Extermition is pretty straightforward. You quickly dive into a game with clear mission objectives and try to move forward as a team. Unfortunately, enemies act like headless chickens and you are quickly swarmed by the unintelligent AI. Battles get messy very quickly and my screen can’t always be followed properly. Sometimes enemies would just crash across my screen. The gunplay didn’t sell me right away.

The great old voice acting from the original cast is a big plus but it only carries over to experience so far. The mission areas during the two missions I did also became monotonous and felt very rough. Some objectives load late and cause confusion.

Starship Troopers: Exterminating seems to have the right fundamentals in place to deliver a fun co-op experience with friends, but it has a lot more to do if it really wants to leave a lasting impression.