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Extinction

Thanks to a nuanced combat system, Extinction is fun hack ‘n’ slash experience whose poorly executed story and repetitive mission design stops it from being memorable for all the right reasons.
Extinction Game Cover
38%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics
Most mentioned negative aspects:story, grinding
26% User Score Based on 206 reviews
Critic Score 49%Based on 36 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox OneXboxWindowsPlayStation
Extinction Game Cover

About

Extinction is a single player hack and slash game with fantasy and violence themes. It was developed by Iron Galaxy Studios and was released on April 9, 2018. It received neutral reviews from critics and negative reviews from players.

As far back as anyone can remember, humanity has been at war with itself. For generations, kingdoms have fought amongst themselves while the real threat loomed in the distance. Legend calls them the Ravenii, encroaching armies of bloodthirsty monsters standing 150 feet tall that once threatened to destroy humankind. Now the threat has returned, and only those trained in the ways of the ancient ord…

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26%Audience ScoreBased on 206 reviews
gameplay28 positive mentions
story36 negative mentions

  • Impressive and satisfying combat against large Ravenii enemies, including limb-cutting and scaling mechanics.
  • Fluid and responsive traversal and movement mechanics, including climbing buildings, grappling, and gliding.
  • Visually appealing art style and well-animated cutscenes with decent voice acting.
  • Extremely repetitive gameplay and mission design with limited enemy variety and objectives largely unchanged throughout.
  • Clunky controls, problematic camera angles, and unreliable combat targeting that cause frustration and hinder gameplay.
  • Poorly developed story, shallow progression system, unskippable dialogue, and technical issues such as crashes and long loading times.
  • story

    223 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in this game is widely criticized for its repetitive, uninspired, and shallow narrative, with many missions feeling nearly identical and the plot lacking emotional depth or originality. Although the setting and themes show potential, poor execution, generic characters, and unskippable, often tedious dialogue undermine player engagement. Overall, the story is considered forgettable and fails to compensate for the repetitive gameplay.

    • “At its core, Extinction is a story of resistance and survival, a desperate attempt to fend off annihilation against overwhelming odds.”
    • “The narrative of fending off a never-ending onslaught in an attempt to escape a doomed world helps disguise the mechanics of urgency in completing your missions before the 'fail' conditions trigger.”
    • “What is neat is that as the story progresses so do the ravenii types. Each ravenii requires slightly different tactics which plays heavily in the missions where there is race against the clock as the level is obliterated by several ravenii at once.”
    • “The story is passable, but if you combine the fragments of conversations and cut scenes scattered across the campaign, it would all fit into a 10-page comic book.”
    • “The plot and lore had so much potential but was delivered in the worst manner possible.”
    • “Add in a very boring and boringly told plot (seriously, it's just smarmy talking heads popping up before and after missions to talk crap at you and make sarcastic comments after you die) and you're just unfortunately left with a really boring game.”
  • gameplay

    135 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is centered on climbing and combat against giant enemies, offering moments of fun and fluid traversal mechanics but is marred by repetitive, procedurally generated missions with little variation or meaningful progression. Controls and combat are often described as clunky or frustrating, with problematic camera angles and awkward mechanics detracting from the overall experience. While the core loop has potential and occasional thrills, the limited enemy variety, recycled assets, and lack of depth lead to boredom and a sense of unfulfilled promise.

    • “The game opens with a strong premise and introduces mechanics that seem tailor-made for exhilarating encounters.”
    • “These traversal mechanics are fluid and responsive, giving the player a genuine sense of freedom and agility.”
    • “The combat system is actually very complex and rewarding to master, and the gameplay is pretty sweet.”
    • “Repetitive and short procedurally generated missions that are basically all the same, meaningless and boring environments, movement mechanics that barely work yet are crucial to your objectives, clunky combat; this is all you'll get out of this dumpsterfire.”
    • “The traversal mechanics are limited and frustrating, especially considering how easily you can get stuck trying to climb buildings or giants and how awkward the targeting system can be.”
    • “So it pains me very much to say that the controls here are quite poor, combat is very basic and uncomfortable to use, is very repetitive and quite shallow in terms of progress and gameplay.”
  • graphics

    46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a colorful, vibrant, and distinct art style that many find appealing, with smooth performance and slick animations being highlights. However, the graphics quality is generally considered below expectations for its release period, with critiques focusing on outdated visuals, empty environments, and inconsistent design. Overall, while the artistic direction is praised as a strong point, the graphical execution and lack of polish detract from the experience.

    • “+ the graphics are amazing and it runs so smooth with 60 fps.”
    • “+ the art style is so beautiful and colorful I loved it so much.”
    • “[b]nice graphics.[/b] The art style in particular is probably the game’s greatest strength.”
    • “The buildings, player models, and even the enemies all fit very nicely into this aesthetic.”
    • “The visual style is distinct, but the graphics are much lower quality than one might expect based on the 2018 release date and its impressive cinematic trailer.”
    • “I am shocked that Extinction was initially released as a full-price $60 single-player game featuring an approximately 7-hour campaign stuffed with randomized filler content and mediocre graphics in the same year as God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2.”
    • “The graphics are ugly and inconsistent, story is forgettable.”
  • grinding

    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding in the game to be excessive and tedious, often requiring repetitive tasks to earn skill points or achievements, which detracts from the overall experience. While some enjoy the core combat loop, the need for constant grinding, combined with frustrating enemy mechanics and a lack of meaningful rewards, makes progression feel slow and unrewarding.

    • “The game would have been far better if it was balanced better from the beginning, properly rewarded you for intended behavior, and just focused on the moment-to-moment gameplay instead of trying to pad the runtime with grinding XP for skill points.”
    • “There is a part of me that wants to go back and play again, thinking that maybe I was too harsh on it, but when I really think about it and look at how much grinding the achievements require, I always make the correct choice of not launching it.”
    • “It also becomes quite tedious over time as you're mainly doing the same things each level.”
  • music

    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is well-scored with dramatic, orchestral cues that enhance the atmosphere and action, fitting the fantasy battle setting. However, it can become repetitive and somewhat generic over time. Overall, the soundtrack supports the mood effectively, though the sound effects and audio execution remain fairly standard.

    • “The soundtrack supports the action with dramatic orchestral cues that heighten the feeling of urgency, though it can become repetitive over time.”
    • “The music fits well with the atmosphere, and the dialogue is engaging with Avil and Xandra taking jabs at each other now and then.”
    • “Sound is better, with good sound effects and suitable dramatic fantasy battle music.”
    • “The soundtrack supports the action with dramatic orchestral cues that heighten the feeling of urgency, though like much else in the game, it can become repetitive over time.”
    • “The sound effects and soundtrack are very by-the-numbers.”
    • “The music is well scored, but the sound effects start to grind you down.”
  • emotional

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's emotional impact is limited by a lackluster story and shallow narrative depth, resulting in a flat and uninspiring experience. Repetitive missions, dull voice acting, and an unengaging combat system further undermine any emotional engagement the campaign might aim for. Overall, the emotional aspect falls short of creating a compelling or memorable connection.

    • “Boring story beats, repetitive voice clips, and randomized missions make me classify this campaign as obsolete.”
    • “Broken parkour system, boring story, fighting huge ogres.”
  • optimization

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is highly optimized, delivering steady 60 FPS performance even on mid-range hardware like the RTX 960. Technical performance is generally stable with smooth gameplay and good graphics, though minor issues such as camera clipping, inconsistent hit detection, and AI quirks occasionally occur. Overall, it runs well and provides a polished experience.

    • “Incredibly well optimized (runs on ultra with RTX 960).”
    • “At 60 fps, the performance is steady.”
    • “Performance is really good, graphics are nice and I like the style too.”
    • “Technical performance is generally stable, though minor issues like camera clipping, inconsistent hit detection, and AI quirks occasionally intrude on the experience.”
  • stability

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game runs well in 4K but suffers from frequent glitches, buggy camera angles, and poor hit detection. Repetitive missions, recycled assets, and numerous stability issues detract significantly from the overall experience.

    • “The game runs great in 4k.”
    • “6 hours of doing the same repetitive missions over and over, little polish to gameplay and glitches galore in this overpriced titan game.”
    • “Enemies and assets are recycled, environments are unremarkable, gameplay is dull and repetitive very quickly, characters and story are drab and generic, frequent glitches and bugs add to the frustration.”
    • “Between buggy camera angles and atrocious hit detection, this game suffers from poor stability and frustrating gameplay.”
  • replayability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Replayability is supported by skill progression and side objectives, providing enough incentive for players aiming to improve or compete on leaderboards, though some may find the experience less engaging over time.

    • “+ A lot of replayability and it's not boring.”
    • “- Replay value is there for someone wanting to hold the leaderboards.”
    • “The game's structure attempts to encourage replayability through skill progression and side objectives, but even these systems struggle to keep the experience fresh.”
    • “The game’s structure attempts to encourage replayability through skill progression and side objectives, but even these systems struggle to keep the experience fresh.”
    • “Replay value is there for someone wanting to hold the leaderboards.”
  • character development

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development is widely seen as weak and unengaging, with the main character lacking depth, despite praise for the interesting aesthetic and character designs.

    • “The main character has a character development of a piece of plywood.”
  • monetization

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is criticized for feeling like a lazy cash grab due to its limited content and high price, but it does not include any microtransactions.

  • atmosphere

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere is enhanced by fitting music and engaging dialogue, with characters Avil and Xandra adding lively banter that contributes to the overall mood.

  • humor

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is described as light and somewhat amusing, appealing to those who enjoy casual, quirky moments rather than overt comedy.

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10h Median play time
10h Average play time
10-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Extinction is a hack and slash game with fantasy and violence themes.

Extinction is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 10 hours playing Extinction.

Extinction was released on April 9, 2018.

Extinction was developed by Iron Galaxy Studios.

Extinction has received neutral reviews from players and neutral reviews from critics. Most players liked Extinction for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

Extinction is a single player game.

Similar games include Lords of the Fallen, Vikings: Wolves of Midgard, Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand, Mortal Shell, Viking: Battle for Asgard and others.