Exoprimal Is Dumb Fun (But Is It Worth Your Time?)
Video transcript:
Time is the key factor with Exoprimal, an online co-op shooter that pits humans in exosuits against hordes of dinosaurs, and even each other, in a story that involves time travel and replaying the same scenarios over and over to progress through a story.
If any part of that sounds confusing, well that’s probably because it is—there’s a lot to unpack here. And dinosaurs falling out of the sky is only the beginning of what makes this game unique. So is it worth your time?
One thing that Exoprimal has going for it right out of the gate is that it’s an online game that just works. 2023 has seen its fair share of rocky launches, but I played this on an Xbox Series S and had no issues whatsoever. I think the audio got desynced in a cutscene one time, but compared to some of the other notable launches this year, it’s a breath of fresh air.
Which is crucial, because I’m not sure how many players would stick around if they were getting dropped from matches or having trouble logging in. This game is bonkers, and it knows it. I was really curious what this thing was about and how it was gonna play, but the whole time I kept waiting for the thing that was going to drive me away. Would it be heavily monetized? Would it be unplayable when the screen fills up with hundreds of dinosaurs? Well, 20 hours in and that moment hasn’t come. To my surprise, I’m still having a helluva time with this thing.
Story
Exoprimal is the video game equivalent of a Michael Bay film. Or maybe a more accurate reference would be Zach Snyder’s Sucker Punch, if you’re familiar with that one. The insanity on screen will have your inner child on the edge of their seat, but no amount of story or plot can make any of this plausible. But Capcom tries anyway, delivering a campaign experience in an online co-op shooter. That’s a new one on me; you play matches online to progress through the story and unlock new cutscenes. There are no single-player missions or exploration of any kind. And no spoilers here, but the story does come to a conclusion after around 50 matches or so.
Gameplay
It’s a hero shooter very similar to Overwatch, with tanks and support classes in addition to the standard assault class. Each match features two teams of five players using these exosuits to battle dinosaurs, but at the end of each match only one team can get out alive, so the dinosaurs disappear and you’re left fighting the other team. For the most part, you do the standard Overwatch-style objectives, like pushing the payload or defending an area.
Some of the exosuits almost seem like a direct copy and paste from Overwatch, but it really didn’t bother me because I think it shortened the learning curve for a lot of people. Plus, all of this happens with hordes of dinos falling out of the sky at all times, so don’t get me wrong, it really doesn’t feel like Overwatch at all.
I’d also like to point out that these matches were easy to drop into and start figuring things out. Everyone seems to be here to have a good time, I didn’t get that toxic or over-competitive vibe I used to get from Overwatch. But that was just my experience.
There are some cool wrinkles to that setup: sometimes you get to control a big dinosaur, called a dominant, and go mess with the other team. It’s every bit as much fun as you think, but when it’s really cool is when you save it and break out the dominant at the perfect time when the other team is at a chokepoint or nearing their goal at the end of the match. It can be a total game changer when used properly. Another wrinkle is that every once in a while, the two teams will team up at the end and battle it out against a giant dinosaur in a proper boss battle. These were some of my favorite moments in the game and I’d be happy if they sprinkled more of these in with future content.
The dinosaurs steal the show so much, it’s easy to miss what’s actually happening here. A single player story is only told through playing online matches with other people. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before. Regardless of the story and gameplay, the idea here is really cool and innovative. I’m just not sure how they’re gonna handle the seasonal content and stuff and how that works after you’ve completed the story. There’s a content roadmap on their official website, which is actually a pretty great website by the way, but it just seems to be adding some new heroes and a new map over the next six months. And since time is the theme of this review, let’s talk about my biggest concern with the game.
Longevity
Live service games like this live and die on their replayability. Step 1 is to create a fun and compelling game, and I truly believe Capcom has done that—I’ve actually had a blast with it and building up each class. Step 2 is building an experience people wanna come back to over and over again, and that’s where I think Exoprimal stumbles a bit. There are only a few maps in the entire game at this point. There are variations in starting points, and maybe even time of day, it’s hard to tell, but I felt like it was barely enough content to keep things interesting for a 20-hour campaign, so how in the world are they going to keep players interested long enough for the content roadmap that stretches out over the next six months?
There are new heroes (or exosuits) and a new game mode dropping shortly called Savage Gauntlet, so maybe that will answer some of those concerns. But I really just don’t see this being a long-term thing. I think it’ll be more like chewing gum that loses its flavor quickly.
Maybe I’m wrong? Maybe this will be that old standby that I fire up when I only have a few minutes to play, or I come back to from time to time between other games. I certainly don’t think I’ll be coming back to see what’s new in the shop.
Monetization
Ah yes, the bane of gaming in 2023, as far as I’m concerned. It has the requisite seasonal pass and premium tier, but I have to say this game isn’t heavily monetized. The season pass rewards and shop items are mostly cosmetic. You can buy some exosuits that are otherwise locked behind some level requirements, but for the most part everything you can buy is harmless and I definitely wouldn’t consider this game pay-to-win.
The game even has loot boxes, for crying out loud, but you can’t buy them and they’re pretty generous with the skins so I actually looked forward to earning them as I progressed through the game. All in all, if a game has to have seasonal crap, this is the way to do it. It’s there if you want it, but it’s easy to ignore if you just wanna spend some time blowing up dinos with your friends.
Cross-Play
The game is out on Playstation, Xbox, and PC and features cross-play in that you can be matched up with players across all platforms, but if you want to group up with someone specific you can only do that if they’re a friend on the same network. So Steam players can only group up with your Steam buddies, Playstation players can only group up with PS5 and PS4 players, and the Xbox network includes the current and last gen consoles as well as Windows if you bought the game through the Windows store.
I only mention this because it’s kinda weird, and you have to have a Capcom account to play anyway so I’m not sure why it has to be this way. But again, the random matchmaking works with anyone on any platform, it’s only weird if you want to play with a buddy who isn’t on the same platform.
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time”
– Marthe Troly-Curtin
I’ve had fun with this game, not gonna lie. The assault classes were a blast, I really felt like I was making a difference as a healer, and I’ve always thought tanking is much more fun in PVE than it is in PVP. The story is skippable and entirely forgettable, for me at least, but if I could travel back in time and watch the 10-year-old me playing with toys, it would probably look something like this. And that’s not a bad thing!
So is it worth your time? Hell yeah, I think it’s a blast. The more important question is, is it worth your money? That’s where it gets a bit iffy. This is an absolutely perfect game for GamePass, so if you have an Xbox or PC then that’s the way to go. I’d say it’s even worth signing up for a month so you can get this game and everything else that’s on there. But if you’re on a Playstation or playing through Steam, I’d suggest waiting for a sale. I predict player counts will be dropping off pretty steeply after a few weeks and then the sales will start popping up. This game requires players to play with, so it wouldn’t even surprise me if it ends up free-to-play before the end of the year. It’s just… a matter of time.
