Extraction shooter might not be the most saturated genre at this point when it comes to shooting games because there is a reason behind it. Not many games can offer something unique that may attract players from other titles to them. The PvPvE formula sounds enticing, but even the bigger players available in the market are currently struggling, like Hunt: Showdown 1886, because even if the launch is strong, these games struggle when it comes to post-launch content. Tencent is aiming to jump into this genre with their upcoming title Exoborne, developed by Sharkmob AB, which switches up the genre by introducing extreme weather conditions into the gameplay mix. This is our preview of Exoborne on PC in which we try not to get launched in the air by a tornado while looking for loot in the beautiful Colton County.
Every run in Exoborne is similar to the core formula of the genre which includes dropping in the map with some gear, looking for new gear and trying to survive while completing some missions against AI enemies and other players from around the world and if you survive, you bring back money which helps you get new gear to become even more powerful. While you will find new gear and equipment during a run, you must have a basic set of equipment equipped before landing into a game. You can do so by heading to the in-game vendors and buying things like armor. This comes with the obvious risk that if you die during a run, you lose everything you have and are wearing, so it makes every run a high-risk run if you are low on funds.
After starting a run and landing on the map, you are free to go your way, and if you have some active missions, you can aim for their completion directly without doing much looting if you are confident with your gear. Throughout the map, you will come across enemy factions who will be guarding specific locations or sites and also AI-controlled teams who will be roaming around randomly and doing the same task as you: looting and killing everyone else. Apart from AI, each run will also throw real players against you who will be looking for the best loot across the map as well. Depending on the loot and enemy presence, certain areas are marked high-risk, but if you manage to clear out the enemies, you will be going home with some of the best loot currently available on the map. but if you fail, you lose everything you have with you.
Similar to other PvPvE titles, you will need to watch your back for both AI-controlled enemies and real players. You are, of course, free to decide whether you want to engage enemies or sneak past them, but if the other team wants to fight you, you must be able to fight back. Apart from enemies, the weather will also keep you on your toes, and you can see where extreme weather is currently on the map. The game gives you the option to stick around for the bad weather or move around it because the weather system hinders your visibility more than anything else. In certain instances, we were caught in a tornado and sent flying in the air, but we managed to deploy our glider and use it to our advantage instead. The most trouble we had during these extreme weather conditions were reduced visibility and somewhat impaired mobility while using our glider.
The PvP fights were more of a scenario where whoever saw the other one first. The weather can make using your senses to detect incoming enemies a little harder. For example, you cannot hear footsteps inside a thunderstorm. It is much easier to tackle the AI-controlled enemies than real players because of their more aggressive tactics. During our playthrough, we did find that robotic AI enemies give a tougher time when compared to other AI enemies, such as faction members guarding locations or AI-controlled teams moving around and taking out real players. The introduction of missions gives you a reason for each match because while it may be easier to jump into a game, loot the first location that comes ahead, and extract quickly but if you have missions active, they will force you to explore more locations on the map and engage in potential gun fights that may follow. The missions are fairly straightforward, as you may need to gather a particular item or kill certain AI enemies in a location. Each faction will give you unique missions to complete, and you can take them on based on your choice. Completing missions for a particular faction will give you bonuses from them.
Similar to any other extraction shooter, death comes with a hefty price in Exoborne. As we mentioned earlier, you will drop into the map with a selection of gear you make from the inventory menu, and the better the gear, the better your chances of surviving in the game will be. However, this gear is not cheap, and if you die, you will lose everything, including your weapons, collected items, your backpack, and your rig. Exoborne has a good way of reminding you to gear up properly before each map, as well. A hefty inventory system and multiple vendors will ensure that you have a decent supply of weapons, rigs, armor, and other useful items.
While you can always find gear in the wild, the best gear is found through different vendors, which, of course, cost money. The more items you return from different expeditions, the more money you will earn and the better gear you can afford for your next run. However, if you fail to return, you will lose everything, and you will need to start from scratch. You can upgrade your weapons with different attachments, increase the level of your rig to make it more efficient, and also purchase a lot of supplementary items like grenades, clothes, accessories, and other items, but you need to be prepared for the next run. The high-risk, high-return factor certainly plays its part in the game, and there were many instances where we landed with some of the best gear found in the game only to be humbled by an enemy team and return empty-handed.
Two aspects that we really liked about Exoborne during its Playtest are its gunplay and its visual details. Colton County looks beautiful, and it really feels like exploring a post-apocalyptic world. The extreme weather conditions serve as icing on the cake for the visuals. We love the diverse locations on the map and the verticality of the map. There are plenty of locations where you will need to rely on your glider to move up and down, and if you come into the scopes of an enemy who has the higher ground, you will be wiped out quickly. The guns feel solid, and each kill in the game is satisfying. Gun handling plays a vital role in gameplay, and you can choose from a ton of guns that suit your gameplay style, and you will not be disappointed with them. These two mechanics alone are enough to make you excited about its upcoming release.
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After spending some hours in the Exoborne playtest, we did have a good time even though the game brings nothing new to the genre. The gun fights were solid, and the enemy AI did seem to put up a good fight, especially the robots. Despite the traditional gameplay loop of any generic extraction shooter currently available, Exoborne will certainly appeal to fans of the genre. Veteran players may find it a little hard to switch from their current extraction shooter to Exoborne, but new players can certainly look forward to Exoborne if they want to try something other than mainstream titles. We will need to wait until the full release of Exoborne to see how the final version fares against the playtest version for a final verdict. The full release of Exoborne is slated for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S this spring.
A Preview copy of Exoborne was provided by FortySeven PR for Tencent for this preview. Read our Review Policy.
