Dino Storms and Hero Shooter Make a Pretty Great Multiplayer Combo | Exoprimal Review

WACO, Texas (KWTX) -

Exoprimal - Published by Capcom - Developed by Capcom

For: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X and Windows PC

Released: July 14th 2023

*Code provided by publisher

-Review on PS5-

The hero shooter genre has had plenty of entries into it at this point. With massive successes such as Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch it’s not surprising that we have had some games that have tried to hit the mark and missed. Exoprimal has a fresh take on the genre with a unique PvEvP gameplay design. Some interesting exosuits with a variety of abilities that can be quick swapped to change team comp in a moment’s notice are pitted against not only hordes of dino both large and small but other pilots as well. In a frantic battle to be the best squad just to “Enjoy bonus existence”, there are many avenues to victory.

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This is accomplished by first choosing your exosuit. There are three categories for you to choose from the beginning. Assault is your typical damage dealer, excelling at directing pain at whatever dino happens to dare cross your path. Whether you want the close-up melee glass cannon of Zephyr or the long-range specialist Vigilant you can be effective at any range. Next are the Tanks. If you want to laugh in the face of a T-rex, then uppercut him with a giant sword you’re in the right place. Finally, the keystone to any good squad is the supports. From raining blasts that damage enemies and heal allies from the sky to rolling around on skates with swappable pistols to rend and mend. There is not a shortage of ways to heal those pesky DPS who, let’s be honest, probably have a hero complex. Along with the special unique skills each suit has you also have rigs available which any suit can use. While not game changing, having the right rig at the right time can absolutely help in a pinch. If you think you’re going to have a hard time picking just one, good news! You don’t have to. You can freely switch to any suit in any class with any rig at most anytime with a short delay; this allows you to rapidly change your team comp to whatever situation arises.

Now that we’ve talked about the suits let’s get into the meat of the gameplay. In its basest form this is a hero shooter. You pick a role and suit that...uh suits you..then work with a team using your abilities to complete objectives. Where this differs, a bit is the order of gameplay. Every match will start with two teams of 5 racing against each other to beat set objectives. At first these are fairly standard such as slay X amount of dinos or defend this area. These quickly get more hectic and varied the more you play as more options unlock as you level up. Switching regular raptors out for stealth dinos that can go invisible and sneak attack if you’re not careful. Whatever challenges get thrown your way, once you overcome them you will be thrown into the final challenge. This is where it can get interesting. The final challenge can be PvE where you race against other players to complete more difficult objectives OR PvP in more direct confrontations such as taking over zones or picking up power modules all the while keeping an eye out for enemy players. There is also a chance for a special large boss fight where all 10 players work together to take on absolutely ludicrous amounts of dinos. This allows the endgame to be a bit varied as to not become stale. Throughout these missions you will also have the chance to grab a dominator at least once a match. Using this allows you to invade the other teams world as a massive dinosaur and honestly who doesn’t want that. While queuing for a game you can select whether you want PvE or PvP for the end mission or you can leave it random for some chance and a bit of an XP boost. Now while I enjoyed most games I played it does start to get a little stale with only a handful of maps and routes to take currently. Exoprimal’s gameplay is a lot of fun and with enough support and a steady stream of content I can see myself playing this for quite a while.

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Something that normally gets glanced over with multiplayer games is a story. Some have a little story or a single player campaign, but several choose to opt out and let the gameplay be the focus. With this being a fully multiplayer game Capcom could have done the latter but instead decided to implement an interesting way of storytelling that while you are the silent protagonist is still a somewhat engaging tale. While not the pinnacle of storytelling the likes of God of War or Last of Us it is interesting to find the snippets of data after matches to unravel the mystery of the island you are trapped on. With several decently interesting characters and some actually well done cutscenes the story is rather interesting stuff. All cutscenes are thankfully skippable and you wouldn’t be missing out on too much. That being said if a good fun story with some intrigue and good bit of timey wimey shenanigans is something you would enjoy then maybe listen to some of the data and watch the story unfold.

Time to talk about the elephant in the room. MONETIZATION. Let’s be honest here, everything is more expensive right now including games. With games having a $60+ plus price point right now it’s important to know you’re getting your money’s worth. I will say this is my largest gripe with the game. It’s difficult to swallow the price tag enough by itself but then add not one, not two, but three! Forms of monetization then we have a bit of an issue Capcom. Okay so seasons/battle passes have been around for a while now and while not great I can at least understand to add continual support to a game. To add on a loot box system as well skins that can only be bought through the store is ridiculous. Thankfully most of the paid items are cosmetic but it still is irritating to have that level of monetization in an already $60 game.

Sometimes I like to look back and remember simpler times. When a fun time was being on my bedroom floor with nothing but an assortment of toys. Having nothing but your mind you could get lost for hours coming up with stories and battles. Well, Exoprimal managed to let me experience this all over again despite its flaws and monetization issues. With a core gameplay loop that manages to be fun even if it does sometimes get repetitive, several unique and interesting exosuits with a vast array of utility and abilities, and LITERAL HORDES OF DINOSAURS; Exoprimal attempts to put a new spin on the team hero shooter genre. While not perfect I find myself enjoying my time spent playing especially when you get a few friends together. This may not be a game that I spend innumerable hours on but something I will definitely pick up on and off especially if Capcom continues their support with a steady stream of content. I give Exoprimal a solid 7. If you enjoyed this video leave a like and subscribe. Don’t forget to hit that bell so you won’t miss any upcoming content. For Hardwired I’m Alex Richardson.

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