Credits
Extinction is the new IP of Iron Galaxy - a little known studio, but we can say they were responsible for bringing Skyrim to Nintendo Switch , and that they took the baton with Killer Instinct for One and PC , maybe they'll start ringing, -. And with this new project they are going to lead us towards a fatal dystopia in which humans are on the verge of extinction because of the arrival of the Ravenii, a sort of colossal-sized orcs, accompanied by the Jackals that are just as dangerous and aggressive only that they have a somewhat more human scale. Extinction is, therefore, an eminently action game in which we will account for these orcs while trying to safeguard what little remains of the human race.
The Clear References
However, and despite being a new intellectual property, there are more than clear references to other sagas either within the world of video games such as manga and anime. The first reference or inspiration, and therefore the most obvious of all, is based on one of the manga and anime that has been most successful in recent times: the same as, Attack the Titans. Giant beings that devastate cities and devour human beings, a swordsman warrior who uses a whip to fly over the weak point of the monsters (yes, you have guessed right, that weak point is the nape) in order to kill them. It does not take an ax to realize it.
But the references do not stop in the Titans. The game also contains something more subtle reminiscences to the first games of God of War. Although in the case is the combos system is more reduced, the executions and dismemberments. And to close this chapter of references that inspired Iron Galaxy when it came to creating Extinction, we will see a very Assassin's Creed parkour system since we can scale practically any surface of the stage although with something less agility and dynamism than expected . And finally, climbing on the backs of the Ravenii has brought back memories - leaving a lot of distance - to how we have to climb the Colossi in Shadow of The Colossus. It must be said that before such a hodgepodge of ideas and genres the title has come out well and feels like what it really is, a new game with its own personality . Let's go into details.
Storyline
Extinction puts us in the skin of Avil the last representative of the Sentinels, a thousand-year-old order of very agile and powerful warriors in charge of protecting humanity . This order was so secret and special that it was believed to be the fruit of myths and legends. Avil is the heir of the Elder and from him he learned everything he knows. The Sentinels are subjected to a hard and intense training, always under the precepts of the order, through which they acquire a superhuman agility and speed in addition to certain magic skills . A magic that is necessary to be able to strike the mortal blows that allow to execute the Ravenii. Even being a powerful warrior, Avil is not alone, as he has the help of Xandra, a young woman with great skills for magic and engineering. And it is thanks to her that a technology is discovered that allows teleporting people through blue crystals. Let these crystals in memory because they will be crucial both in the lore and in the gameplay of Extinction. And on those two topics we are going to talk in the following lines.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Extinction is based on completing missions that follow the pattern of protecting buildings, killing a certain number of Ravenii or saving a specific number of civilians. We must add that apart from completing this minimum requirement, we have to take into account a destruction marker that appears in the upper right part of the screen. If the hordes of Ravenii and Jackals completely destroy the scenario, we will fail in our mission.
But not only will we have these main missions but we will also have to complete other tasks called Bonus Medals - up to a total of three per level - that will serve as secondary missions. These tasks range from completing the main mission in X minutes, to killing Y number of Jackals, or killing Ravenii with a few less members or bursting parts of the shield that protects them.
To tell the truth, the variety and theme is what is referred to in these missions as rather scarce. In the vast majority of levels we will have the feeling of being doing all the time the same and so along the more than thirty chapters of which the Campaign consists.
The playable script always follows the same guidelines: we arrive at the mission point, we will be explained our mission mixed with a few pinches of game history and will give free rein to the action. Generally we will find open scenarios set in cities or forests where we can move, jump, climb and even plan freely in search of civilians to rescue -these are located in the blue crystals mentioned above-, along the way we will run into Jackals to those who thrash and Ravenii to those who quartered. While we are passing levels will fill the gaps of an interesting lore with some surprise. However, and with the inclusion of a few cinematics made with animation, do not expect a script for posterity. The story fulfills its purpose although we will notice certain inconsistencies between the missions that we will be asked to perform and what is happening in the history of the game.
The control and combos system
In spite of the repetition of missions that follow the same pattern and that the playable mechanics hardly vary, Extinction is fun to play. The control and combos system are very well thought out. To attack and link combos we only need one button. The combos will be chained if we alternate between pulsations and cadence since in this way we will initiate one type of attack or another. As we rescue civilians, eliminate Jackals, or destroy armor or close limbs of the Ravenii, we will fill the so-called Runic Attack bar. Once it is completely full, we can execute the Death Strike with which we will kill the giant Orcs with a cut in the neck. This Lethal Strike will be activated by leaving the left trigger depressed and releasing it when we see the nape of the Ravenii shine.
It must be said, and this is important, that for each civilian rescued, each Jackal and Ravenii eliminated - as well as for each burst shield and each limb cut - we will add Skill Points that will help us improve Avil.
However, the control is very tarnished due to the great Achilles heel of Extinction: it camera. There are times when the position of the camera becomes literally crazy and leaves us sold at the mercy of the Ravenii. We will find these failures when scaling the orcs or trying to break the armor in any part of the body. The camera has been a real toothache and has managed to sometimes make us not able to fully enjoy the title. A real pity that the control and positioning of the camera is not completely adjusted.
On the other hand, are said before about the existence of the Skill Points. Well, these points will help us to improve the skills of Avil. At the beginning we will have a few blocked ones and as we advance in the Campaign they will be opened. Each skill of Avil has several levels of improvement and little by little we will become an even more agile, fast, powerful and lethal Sentinel. Buy levels of improvement is somewhat expensive but by repeating missions we can fill the entire Skill Tree to use the full power of Avil in other game modes.
Game Modes
Extinction has several game modes apart from the Campaign. It is true that it offers exactly the same type of missions and tasks that we saw in the main mode with the caveat that these modes include online bookmarks. So we will find the Daily Challenge: a test that is automatically generated every day. The Extinction Mode in which we will have to account for all the Jackals and Ravenii we can before falling in combat. And the scrimmage mode in which we will test our abilities in random battlefields that can be shared with our friends in order to have a healthy score scoring.
Finally, within the Campaign we have the so-called Tests. In the base game we will find the Rescue to the race that are sections of pure and hard performance in which we will have to rescue a certain number of civilians in the shortest possible time. The rest of Tests will arrive via downloadable content.
Technical, Graphic and Sound
We will close the analysis of Extinction talking about its technical, graphic and sound details. The game looks and moves certainly well. It is true that in the scenarios the details are not abundant since they are usually forests or cities with little graphic load and all the efforts revolve around the enormous Ravenii. The game runs smoothly at all times and we can only reproach it for the aforementioned errors with the camera. Regarding the graphic aspect we can say we will be surprised for good even without making any kind of boast. The content has good modeling and some other effect of light and time bullet resulton. The game, despite its theme, has very colorful and colorful designs.
Finally of the sound, unfortunately, we can not rescue much. A soundtrack that fulfills its purpose and quite simple effects. The work of the actors of dubbing would be the best of the set since the characters are very well interpreted and more taking into account that the weight of the story lies in the conversations that are maintained at the beginning and end of the missions.
Conclusion
Extinction is a good action game and although part of many different styles and references, from Iron Galaxy have been able to create a product with its own personality. The proposal is interesting, although the excessive repetition in the mission patterns and the errors in the control of the camera weigh somewhat on the experience. Despite this, Extinction becomes fun and even more so when Avil begins to show its full potential. The combos system, although simple, is very satisfying and exterminating Ravenii is rewarding. If they know how to correct their small deficiencies, this is a game more than decent.
Happy Gaming!!!!