TGS 2022 - Exoprimal Hands-on

You can find all my Tokyo Game Show coverage here

Most show-floor demos last 15-30 minutes. Enough time to gather the important details and get a feel for what the game is or isn't. Enough to whet your appetite without eating up too much of your time. 

With Exoprimal, Capcom were having none of that. I joined the line and the staff immediately came over to explain that the demo would be sixty minutes and that I would need to stay for the duration. I paused, as that's time I could spend trying other demos, before confirming that I would stick around.

While an hour is a big ask at TGS, I'm glad I made the commitment.

Exoprimal is a multiplayer, third-person shooter. Hordes of dinosaurs have been pouring through portals and causing mayhem all over the world. As an exofighter, you have been selected and trained by an AI named Leviathan to push back against the reptilian tide. Perfectly nonsensical.

Our demo was on PC, and most of it pitted two teams of five against each other, across a small selection of game modes. In some of these, the opposition were a visible presence but one that we could not interact with; in others they were there with us, either as our enemy or our newly-acquired allies. 

We each took the role of an exofighter, heavily armoured and heavily-armed experts in dino-extermination. We could freely choose our builds and switch between them mid-round as well as during respawns. Each exofighter has a suit-classification: Assault, Tank and Support. Having a balanced team was optimal, but most rounds saw both teams heavily weighted towards assault, often with zero support units. I can't say that it made much difference - we breezed through most of the levels with an all-out attack.

I spent the vast majority of the demo playing as a tank, using the Roadblock suit. I rather enjoyed smashing my way through crowds and offering the occasional shield to my squad, so I didn't take the opportunity to switch roles as often as I should have. Other jobs focused on mid-to-long ranged damage, and most but not all of them relied heavily on firearms. I also tried the Deadeye role, equipped with machine guns and rifles. It made for a nice change, though the short clips meant I was reloading far more often than I wanted to.

The proceedings opened with five minutes of free-play in the firing range, where we could piss about to our heart's content. It was enough time to get to grips with my exosuit and the controls. My tank had a range of battering options, a shield, some nifty dodges and a Storm overdrive that turned him into a whirling dervish. Overdrives are earned when your kill-count hits 100 and they make mincemeat out of large packs of dinos. The different suits shared a handful of attacks, some of which were ever-ready while others needed to be recharged, but they also had unique skills that made switching worthwhile.

During this free-play, I was able to summon and control a tethered T-Rex which dealt massive damage to everything that stood in its way. This was a trick that I was unable to repeat once we got into the game proper, so I'm not sure how generous Exoprimal will be with this OP attack.

Our first stage was an urban-based dino-massacre, where we raced against the opposition to see who could reach checkpoints first. The opposition appeared in an apparition-like form at the outset, but I can't say I noticed their presence much afterwards. I'm not sure if they disappeared, or if I was too engrossed in the killing to notice them. The second stage tasked us with moving a cube along a prescribed route, while fending off waves of raptors. The other team was approaching from the other side of the map, and when we met in the middle all hell broke loose. Here, we had to battle the opposition and destroy their cube, which we did. The rest of the level then played out like the first. The final section saw us team up with the other team to battle an incredible number of raptors, before facing-down a T-rex boss, which was fortunately covered in purple, pulsating weak spots. Very helpful!

As far as team work was concerned, everyone quickly got to grips with their expected roles. However, with the exception of reviving fallen teammates, co-operation didn't really seem all that important. We were all mic'd up, but aside from the occasional "arigato gozaimasu" and the odd "fuck", we didn't need to speak much. Everything was fairly straightforward and instantly familiar to anyone who has played a third-person shooter. 

Between rounds we entered a lobby of sorts, where we all congregated. Here we could see each other but we couldn't deal damage. Despite the language barriers, everyone knew to act like an asshole in that moment, bouncing around, letting off rounds, and showing off our skills. A beautiful example of cross-cultural communication!

The action moved at pace and the combat had convincing weight to it, but it was our targets that made it fun. The dinosaurs pour into the levels in their hundreds and are relentless in their aggression. The absolute highlight was when we spotted a portal open on an abandoned highway bridge located in the background, out of reach. All we could do was watch and wait as an army of claws and teeth swarmed over the structure and eventually descended on our position. Wading into them with my tank was extremely satisfying.  

Although the standard dinos are fast and menacing, you were only going to be overwhelmed and killed if you dropped your guard and failed to pull-out when you noticed your health dwindling. Mid-sized dinos were far less interesting and much more fiddly. Triceratops lumber around but can easily gore you, and pterodactyls seemed to be completely out of my range, so I just stood about and watched the snipers struggle to bring them down.

The T-Rex boss felt more intimidating, and I'm a sucker for Lost Planet-style pulsating weak points, so in that respect I enjoyed it. However, ultimately it was just a bullet sponge, and as a spectacle it paled in comparison to the masses of raptors that we'd previously battled.

I'm not big on multiplayer gaming these days, but I'm intrigued by Exoprimal. It was easy to get into and the premise was silly enough to keep me entertained. I'll be keeping my eyes on this one when it releases in 2023.