You have lived a life of thievery and learned to scrap from fellow scoundrels. You have taken and ran in order to survive the oppression of your kingdom. But, try as you might, you are still captured and imprisoned. From a distance, you see giants, the Ravni, lay waste to entire towns, and you are certain your kingdom is next. In the midst of your laborious, mundane tasks, you stumble across a stranger, wielding a mysterious blade. This young man is a special warrior, known as the Sentinel.
The last of his kind, the Sentinel is the only thing that can save the kingdom from Extinction. Extinction is the latest creation from Iron Galaxy Studios and Maximum Games. Taking inspirations from the epic scales of the series, Attack On Titan and God of War, Extinction puts players in the shows of a giant-slaying killing machine. Extinction has a solid style and great ambition, and the end result makes for a fun, but average experience.
Extinction is a third person action slashing game, where players play as a mystic warrior wielding a special weapon, imbued with magic and woven with mysterious steel. An apocalyptic event has begun to encroach upon the innocents in the form of the Ravenii. The Ravenii are a large scourage of orc-like beasts, ranging from foot-soldiers to towering giants many hundreds of feet tall. As the sentinel, your objective is to slay these foul beasts and defend the kingdom against the enemy. Players will engage directly with the enemy, saving savings along the way and dealing with unexpected surprises.
As the sentinel, players are swift and nimble, with skills that would be akin to Spiderman. Players will swing and jump across building and platforms, navigating the battlefield in a desperate race to save the various cities and its people. Each city begins at 100 percent. The enemy will attack civilians, as well as destroy entire buildings, bringing The first enemies that players will encounter are the small grunt soldiers of the Ravenii.
These grunts will attack you with melee attacks, but their priority is the innocent civilians awaiting rescue. Saving the citizens is essential to victory as each civilian lost brings you closer to having your city reduced to rubble. Later on, the towering giant Ravenii will appear, smashing entire structure with a single blow. Letting the Ravni destroy too many building will result in a mission failure. As the sentinel, players will have the ability to take down towering foes with great impunity.
Extinction truly shines when taking down the giant Ravenii. There are no quick-time events or pausing in the action. It is a fluid situation, where players are encouraged to bring down the Titan using the fullest extent of their skills and environment around them. Bringing down these beasts is a full engagement, that can become quite thrilling.
To defeat these beasts, players must charge their blade. Slaying smaller soldiers and amputating limbs off the Giants builds that charge meter. Once that meter completes charging, players will have enough power to decapitate the giant, ending its reign of destruction.
Fighting the Giants is thrilling, as players will have to dodge stomps and slamming attacks. Players can slice through the giant at the knees, immobilizing the giant, then subsequently slice through their arms to render the giant defenseless. Once players are able to climb on its back with a charged blade, they may initiate a killing blow that slays the giant.
There will be other Giants utilizing pads of armor to defend themselves, making the engagement more dangerous. Players will need to break locks off the armor and destroy the armor plating in order to do significant damage. There will be other armored plates that are indestructible, requiring the player to think differently when approaching the giant. You’ll be facing down these Giants in almost every level, which keeps thing entertaining. Overall, this part of the combat experience is well done, and I found myself having a solid amount of reward when dispatching these towering foes.
The most painful part of Extinction is its repetition and lack of ambition. Every level plays in more or less the same environment, with slightly different changes. Even though this is a unique kingdom facing a massive war, using the same setup every single time is rather disappointing. We should be fighting in forests, deserts, and perhaps around volcanic mountaintops. Instead, Extinction has us fighting in the same beige canyon throughout its five chapters.
Additionally, players will be attacking in the same manner repeatedly. There aren’t deviations in the gameplay, such as using different weapons or facing other creatures, making the combat repetitive. I’d imagine a sentinel could wild magic, make themselves giant, or utilize different abilities. If these areas of Extinction were improved, we would be seeing a stronger game worthy at $60. I’d even be okay with free DLC added to the overall game.
However, these setbacks water down the game’s potential. Extinction isn’t a terribly long game, which dampens the appeal. Additionally, despite having the ability to increase your health, players will still be crushed with just one hit. There is no way to repel an attack, and your best hope is to blindly dodge out of the way.
However, I cannot knock Extinction for being entertaining and fun in short bursts. The game runs well with no technical errors. I didn’t encounter a single crash or glitch, and the animation is fluid. Slaying the giant Ravni is entertaining and the story that is told through well-made animated cutscenes. While I wouldn’t recommend Extinction at full price, I would recommend it for casual game players looking for a decent action game on a budget, especially for when a sale appears. The overall combat experience is fun and solid and may pave the way for a brighter, better sequel. Extinction isn’t a bad game, but a solid title with interesting combat and fun execution. It just may be something that isn’t quite worth $60.
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