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.

38%Game Brain Score

gameplay, graphics

story, grinding

28% User Score Based on 200 reviews

Critic Score 49%Based on 36 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $1.25

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About

Extinction is an action-packed game where you play as Avil, the last sentinel, tasked with defending against the Ravenii, 150-foot-tall bloodthirsty monsters threatening to destroy mankind. Use a dynamic combat system to rescue civilians, dismember enemies, and save humanity from extinction in a sprawling countryside. The Days of Dolorum Season Pass includes three DLC packs: Jackal Invasion, Ravenii Rampage, and Skybound Sentinel.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

28%

Audience ScoreBased on 236 reviews

gameplay28 positive mentions

story33 negative mentions

The game features enjoyable hack-and-slash combat mechanics, especially when taking down giant enemies.
The art style and graphics are visually appealing, providing a colorful and engaging environment.
The traversal mechanics allow for fluid movement across the environment, making it fun to navigate.

The gameplay becomes repetitive quickly, with missions often feeling like the same tasks repeated over and over.
The story is weak and poorly executed, lacking depth and engagement.
The game suffers from technical issues, including camera problems and unresponsive controls during critical moments.

story
207 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
73%
16%
The story in the game is generally considered weak and generic, often described as repetitive and lacking depth, with players noting that it feels disjointed and fails to engage. Many reviews highlight the formulaic mission structure, where players repeatedly face similar objectives, leading to a sense of monotony. While some appreciate the art style and cutscenes, the overall narrative is seen as uninspired and poorly integrated into the gameplay, making it difficult for players to feel invested in the story.
- “The story, while intriguing, is only great in the cutscene animations.”
- “The story isn’t much to make note of, but it is there and occasionally accompanied by cutscenes that are fully hand-drawn. It was still fun to see the story being expressed in that manner compared to dialogue boxes.”
- “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 a race against the clock as the level is obliterated by several ravenii at once.”
- “The story is passable, but if you were to combine the fragments of conversations and cutscenes sparsely scattered across the campaign, you would realize that it would all fit into a 10-page comic book.”
- “The story is literally an Attack on Titan ripoff.”
- “The story feels lacking and incomplete, with minor variation between the missions: protect the town, save the civilians, or kill a certain number of mobs.”
gameplay
129 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
59%
19%
The gameplay in "Extinction" is characterized by a repetitive loop that involves rescuing civilians and defeating large enemies, which quickly becomes monotonous. While some players appreciate the core mechanics and movement system, many criticize the lack of variety, frustrating controls, and poor design choices that hinder the overall experience. Despite its potential for fun, the gameplay ultimately feels shallow and unpolished, leading to a lack of engagement over time.
- “The combat system is actually very complex and rewarding to master, and the gameplay is pretty sweet.”
- “Once you learn the various movement mechanics, it's satisfying to bounce around the city and utilize awnings, trees, and whip points, making traversal very seamless and fun.”
- “Great mechanics and action-filled gameplay, not one dull moment.”
- “Unfortunately, that is where Extinction really failed for me: the gameplay is so limiting that it becomes boring within an hour.”
- “The other components of the game are not terrible, but nothing is impressive enough to justify slogging through the mind-numbing gameplay loop.”
- “The gameplay is flawed and frustrating; the story is a mess, and whatever else is there is surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.”
graphics
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
43%
7%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a distinct and colorful art style that many players find visually appealing, with smooth performance and solid presentation in cutscenes. However, the overall graphical quality is often criticized as being below expectations for a 2018 release, with some reviewers noting that it feels dated and lacks depth, leading to a mixed reception. While the art style is a highlight, it is overshadowed by repetitive gameplay and a lackluster narrative, leaving some players feeling that the graphics alone cannot redeem the overall 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.”
- “The graphic style is colorful and pleasant to look at.”
- “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.”
- “Graphics are worse than the E3 trailer showed.”
- “Once you begin to play, though, you quickly find the graphics look rather last gen.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
90%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unbalanced, often feeling that it detracts from the overall experience. Many reviewers express frustration with the repetitive nature of grinding for achievements and skill points, suggesting that it pads the game's runtime without adding meaningful engagement. While some enjoy the core gameplay, the excessive grinding and lack of rewarding progression lead to a diminished enjoyment over time.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “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.”
- “Way too expensive for what it is, more like 30 euros, or even less, but apart from that, the game is fun (but feels grindy after a while).”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
38%
38%
The music in the game is generally well-composed and fits the atmosphere, complemented by competent voice work and a witty script. However, while the soundtrack and sound effects are adequate, they often feel standard and fail to leave a lasting impression. Overall, the audio experience is solid but lacks the standout quality that could elevate it further.
- “The music fits well with the atmosphere, and the dialogue is alright with Avil and Xandra taking jabs at each other every now and then.”
- “On the surface, Extinction presents itself well, with fancy menus, big musical scores, and voice work by people who sound competent.”
- “The sound effects and soundtrack are very by-the-numbers.”
- “The music is well scored, but the sound effects start to grind you down.”
- “Audio is pretty standard fare with dramatic music where it counts and dialogue from the main characters leaning on the comical side at times thanks to a witty script.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game is praised for its excellent optimization, running smoothly at 60 fps on high settings even with mid-range hardware like the RTX 960. Users appreciate the steady performance and the appealing graphics, contributing to an overall positive 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.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The game's stability is marred by frequent glitches and bugs, leading to a frustrating experience for players. While it performs well in 4K, issues such as buggy camera angles and poor hit detection detract from the overall gameplay, which is already criticized for being repetitive and lacking polish.
- “The game runs great in 4K.”
- “I haven't experienced any crashes or bugs during my playthrough.”
- “The performance is smooth, even during intense action sequences.”
- “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.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
Character development in the game is criticized for being shallow and lacking depth, with one reviewer likening the main character's growth to "a piece of plywood." While the graphics and character designs are praised, the overall narrative and mission progression feel aimless, detracting from the experience.
- “I like the graphics and the character designs, but it felt too pointless going through the missions.”
- “Interesting aesthetic and character designs. Combat feels decent and fighting against Ravenii feels appropriately larger than life. Extinction mode is good for some general horde-mode fun. Movement feels fluid.”
- “The main character has the character development of a piece of plywood.”
- “The character arcs are so predictable that they feel like a checklist rather than genuine growth.”
- “I felt no connection to the characters because their development was shallow and uninspired.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized, with users finding the campaign's story beats boring and repetitive, leading to a lack of engagement. The reliance on randomized missions and uninspired voice clips further detracts from the emotional experience, rendering the campaign feel obsolete and unmemorable.
- “Boring story beats, repetitive voice clips, and randomized missions make me classify this campaign as obsolete.”
- “Broken parkour system, boring story, fighting huge ogres.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
150%
The game offers significant replayability, keeping players engaged and preventing boredom. It particularly appeals to those interested in competing for leaderboard positions, enhancing its long-term appeal.
- “There is a lot of replayability, and it's never boring.”
- “The replay value is significant for those looking to dominate the leaderboards.”
- “The replay value is only appealing to those who want to compete for leaderboard positions.”
- “Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to play through it again.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices makes replaying the game feel redundant.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized as a lazy cash grab, particularly given its high price and minimal content, featuring only a few basic environments and limited enemy variations. Additionally, there are no microtransactions present.
- “The game feels like a lazy cash grab (especially given the price of it) with just a few basic map environments, four variants of the standard mobs, and the only way to tell the ogres apart is by their limited armor types.”
- “Microtransactions: nope.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The atmosphere is enhanced by fitting music and engaging dialogue, particularly the playful banter between characters Avil and Xandra, which adds depth to the overall experience.
- “The music fits perfectly with the atmosphere, and the dialogue between Avil and Xandra adds a playful dynamic as they take jabs at each other from time to time.”
- “The immersive atmosphere draws you in, making every moment feel alive and engaging.”
- “The combination of stunning visuals and haunting sound design creates an unforgettable atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is appreciated by fans of quirky and offbeat comedy, as evidenced by its connection to the comedic style of known personalities in the gaming community.
- “The humor in this game is absolutely delightful, with clever jokes and witty dialogue that keep you laughing throughout.”
- “I love how the game incorporates absurd situations and quirky characters that add a unique comedic flair.”
- “The witty banter between characters is not only entertaining but also enhances the overall experience, making every moment enjoyable.”