Starship Troopers: Extermination aims to capture the large-scale warfare of the 1997 film, but falls short in delivering a satisfying gaming experience. I LOVE Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 film Starship Troopers. A gore-filled, hyper-violent yet overtly tongue-in-cheek anti-war film, it satirically adapts Robert A. Heinlein’s militaristic 1959 novel of the same name. Starship Troopers is an action-packed blockbuster featuring large-scale interplanetary battles between humanity and a seemingly endless horde of giant insects known as “Arachnids” or “Bugs.” It’s a premise perfect for video games, especially those involving fast-paced action, so it’s surprising that there have only been two first-person shooter games based on the IP. This includes a 2005 PC title (again, of the same name) and Starship Troopers: Extermination, which just launched out of Steam Early Access last Friday. Starship Troopers: Extermination is a Games as a Service (GAS) game that allows up to 16 players to team up online and fight the Arachnid threat as one of six soldier classes across 8 different planets. It includes an optional solo tutorial campaign called “Special Operations Group,” in which players command a 4-person squad under the direction of Johnny Rico, voiced by the original actor, Casper Van Dien. Rico, now a... Read more