Second Extinction Brings Dinosaur Blasting to Steam Early Access in September

There are never enough dinosaurs in games and I am surprised that AAA developers have been avoiding these creatures for so long. While I desperately yearn for someone to excel at dinosaur horror, there will soon be a more action-driven shooter on Steam Early Access. Second Extinction will be available in this fashion sometime in September, allowing the developers to fine-tune the experience before hitting the next-gen consoles, namely the Xbox Series X. A Steam page is up for those that want to wishlist the game. 

Second Extinction, developed by Systemic Reaction, a creative division of Avalanche Studios Group, features 3-player cooperative FPS action where they must battle mutant dinosaurs that have overrun Earth. This includes larger than usual T-Rex, electrified velociraptors, a supercharged ankylosaurus, and more, taking on a fantastical spin on the creatures. Swarms of the dinos will keep players on their toes, managing ammo and abilities to survive the horde. 

An interesting point brought up in the press release is that players will be able to shape the game’s world collectively with the player base at large through what’s called the War Effort.

“The War Effort reflects the changes in the ongoing fight against the dinosaurs and ensures you’ll always have to stay on your toes. It’s a highly interactive, community-driven environment for players to fight in, letting us create new content that evolves over time. The War Effort is an integral part of how we’ll introduce new dinosaurs, missions, and more as a live service experience, and it’s a feature we’re excited to fully flesh out throughout early access.” - Julianne Harty, Second Extinction Product Owner

In most games this usually boils down to a couple of factions performing tasks that fill up a meter and whoever gets to the goal first pulls the game a certain way but it would be awesome to see something more unique and dynamic. It also looks like this feature will be the vehicle for updates as the game evolves, meaning this could be more of a live-service title. 

For comparison sake, Second Extinction looks a lot like a next-gen Left 4 Dead with dinosaurs or a more realized version of Orion: Prelude. I am all about fun co-op titles and again I always love seeing dinos in games, meaning Second Extinction is a game I want to play and I hope it succeeds. 

More information about Second Extinction can be found on the official website or the Steam page.