Exoprimal open beta impressions — Prehistoric panic

I covered Exoprimal‘s closed network test back in July of last year, so when the open beta kicked off, it was time to see what exactly would be different. Despite eight months having passed, the game looks and feels the same, but there are a handful of things that were new to me. Unfortunately, there’s still only one of the game’s modes available, so we’ll have to wait until it releases this July to see just how it shapes up. For now, though, I certainly have a better idea what to expect in various ways.

All ten of Exoprimal‘s exosuits are now freely selectable, including one that uses a grenade launcher and another that uses pistols that can be swapped between damage and healing modes. The exosuits themselves can be likened to characters from a hero shooter, all with their own skills and specific focuses, which include damage, tanks, and support units. The only mode the open beta provides is the same as the network test – a five vs five PvEvP event that pits two teams against each other to reach a goal. This is made up of several events that both teams race to complete before facing off more directly.

The events mostly focus on eradicating all of the dinosaurs that spawn, although there’s also a defense mission where your team needs to protect an object from the dinosaur incursion. Based on how far along each team is, the game lets you know if your team is ahead or behind. I still don’t understand what the point of racing is, though, as the match comes down to who wins the final bout. It makes me want to see Exoprimal‘s purely PvE modes, as I’m much more into fighting dinosaurs than other players.

To the victor

One of the possible final events include having players collect a hammer that needs to be charged up by killing dinosaurs. The hammer is then used hit an object. Once one team hits enough of these, they’re victorious. The other final event is a more standard one where the two teams actually fight one another while trying to collect items. Just like a hero shooter, success in Exoprimal boils down to how well team members fulfill their roles. I played as a melee tank in my most recent final event, which was rough as my team’s support didn’t seem all that interested in healing me.

I don’t care for PvP, but I do like blasting hordes of dinosaurs. Exoprimal is still much less violent than you might expect, as the dinosaurs tend to vanish into cyberspace once you defeat them. Considering the games it’s competing with, this isn’t all that surprising. But at least the game runs very well for me, as I experienced it at high framerates at all times. I believe this beta has one more map than the network test, as well. But it still offers the same shooting and slashing dino action that I saw last time.

Whether or not Exoprimal will be up my alley is going to boil down to the game’s other modes, but the game itself seems to be primed to launch without many issues in a few months. I know some of us wanted Earth Defense Force but with dinosaurs, you can’t always get what you want. But at least you can wander into a horde of reptiles and hack them to pieces with a big sword.

Screenshot by PC Invasion