Review Second Extinction Early Access - Revenge Dinosaur

Anyone remember the movie Dinosaur Park? Anyone remember how bad it was to reincarnate the dinosaurs? Second Extinction may be the closest illustration to that dire consequence. 

Second Extinction is a first-person shooter game that allows multiplayer co-op. In Left 4 Dead style, the enemy of the player this time is not a zombie, but a herd of bloodthirsty dinosaurs ready to pounce on you. Developed by Systemic Reaction, the studio that created Generation Zero, Second Extinction reminds me of the idea when I was a kid drawing on scratch paper, about a group of soldiers going to kill dinosaurs to save the world. 

Second Extinction, although still only in Early Access, still a few months away from official launch, the game has already made a good first impression with players through its large open world, large number of enemies, and variety of characters. shapes, from agile Raptors, some stealthy discharges electricity, some spit acid, to the giant T-Rex tyrannosaur.

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When you select a quest on the map, you also choose a drop point that determines where you start - although at this point the only place you can go is a frozen land. Once you arrive, you're free to explore and do whatever you want - including optional side quests or even venturing into nearby areas in search of higher value targets or pursue an optional mission in the distance. Usually it's up to you to decide if you want to seek out better rewards in more dangerous areas, or play it safe and level up more slowly.

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Normally, co-op shooters like Left 4 Dead will have smaller maps and narrow corridors, so using a large open world feels completely new. The dinosaur's surprise appearance is also designed in very unique ways, like tunneling out of the ground behind you in a cave or chasing you and driving you to a dead end.

Being besieged is terrifying and overwhelming, and their constant proliferation makes each playthrough incredibly unpredictable. There are a number of hotspots in each area that usually contain certain types of enemies, but it is precisely because of the unpredictable and random nature that will always leave you feeling tense.

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In addition, the dinosaur AI is also designed to react to players around the world. For example, if the player community focuses on attacking a quest area to farm a certain upgrade material or try to complete a difficult quest, the 'threat level' bar will change accordingly. each week to react accordingly, and sometimes there will be some special events called Emergence Events appearing unexpectedly on the map. 

So far in the fight to take back the Earth, I have killed a lot of dinosaurs. VERY. A LOT OF. HUGE. LONG! Second Extinction lived up to its name as the number of dinosaurs I shot to dismembered bodies equaled the number of the entire species. This is a good thing, because the feeling of killing a bunch of dinosaurs in Second Extinction gives a very satisfying feeling, at least during the 10 hours of meGAME playing still addicted to dinosaur meat.

All weapons in Second Extinction have a nice hand feel to them, although they seem a bit weak at first due to their lack of upgrades. Once you start upgrading the weapons, for example getting the SMG as a secondary weapon, everything will be different. Especially after meGAME has upgraded the grenade launcher that allows the bullets to explode as soon as they touch the dinosaurs, nothing will survive on the path of the following missions anymore.

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Unlike the zombies, which are often roughly the same size and shape with a few special ones included, Second Extinction has a remarkably diverse population of dinosaurs. You have small, agile Raptors chasing you at breakneck speed, and even Raptors that can spit acid from a distance.

Larger, more powerful dinosaurs appear to suck up bullets in some battles and then the really dangerous ones, like the T-Rex that even appear in areas with higher danger bars. This constant influx of enemies turns an already tense battlefield into complete chaos as you have to slide under the belly of a T-Rex or hurl incendiary grenades at smaller groups of raptors. All the dodges combined with shooting and throwing grenades create a beautiful dance of guns, bullets, blood and teeth.

A minus point of Second Extinction is that the game does not encourage you to play alone. This doesn't mean that you can't play alone, but the game will be extremely difficult especially when there is a large swarm of dinosaurs. The game will have the best experience when there are friends to play with, the winning factor is that each player understands their role. For example, making sure someone on your team has an ammo cartridge or an equipment drop that keeps you in supply, and wide-area weapons like incendiary grenades or air raids can clear the dinosaur swarm in seconds. .

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At the end of each mission, the player will have to survive a herd of dinosaurs rushing to stop the spaceship from taking you home. These battles are also extremely stressful at times, but the feeling of relief when you step on the spaceship alive is a wonderful feeling.

In summary, although the game is still in development, Second Extinction already has a very solid foundation. It can be said that it is almost a complete game: simple gameplay involves destroying hundreds of bloodthirsty mutant dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. Each character is different in function, has a good upgrade system and has a large open world that can be further developed later instead of narrow linear corridors.

If the developers spared no expense to add life and time spent creating maps with more depth and variety, they would make a lot of money with this game. Second Extinction will be reviewed by meGAME again upon its official release.

David Pac

Update 05 January 2022