A generic, but somewhat solid take on the survival horror genre.
I've always been the type of gamer who gives even the very worst game a chance. In fact, when speaking of movies, music and videogames, I hate to throw adjectives such as "worst" or "best" around at all. I can usually focus somewhat on the redeeming qualities a game has, rather than strictly on the bad points. The latest game to push my buttons is Extermination for the PlayStation 2. A game that initially turned me off completely, but somehow managed to keep me playing 'til the end.
Described by Sony Computer Entertainment as a "Panic Action" game, Extermination is really just a mixture of your usual survival horror title, and a generic 3rd person action game. The laughable voice acting, cinemas, ambient soundtrack, overall theme and storyline have all been done a hundred times before in various survival horror games. Extermination is a bit different, however, as it mixes a little bit of your jumping/hanging/rolling action in with the horror. In the end, the game it ultimately most resembles is Climax Graphics' Blue Stinger for the Dreamcast, although without some of that wackiness and intentionally gaudy style. Extermination also seemed more than a little bit similar to Carrier, also for the Dreamcast.
The storyline has not a shred of originality in it that I could find. Strange government experiments, along with bizarre research and biological testing are occurring at a scientific installation buried deep in the biting cold of Antarctica. A virus is spreading rapidly throughout the compound, and all the life forms infected are mutating into hideous, bloodthirsty creatures. You are a member of an American Special Forces Unit sent to investigate the sudden strange phenomenon over at the South Pole and basically "exterminate" the cause of the entire problem.
Graphically, besides the absolutely rock solid 60fps framerate and decent textures and particle effects, Extermination looks decidedly 1st generation for the PlayStation 2. Character models for living entities are decent enough, but the corpses that litter the compound are rendered with what looks like 100 polygons, maybe. Instead of exhibiting slowdown when the game engine can't cope with all that is going on onscreen, you are treated to some image tearing and that very odd "resolution-halving" effect. It happens in only a few instances, and I do think I prefer that result to a whole heap of slowdown or a choppy framerate. It's ugly, but thankfully it does not affect the gameplay at all, which is what really counts.
Gone is the standard Resident Evil "up is always forward" method of control. You have full movement of your character as with any 3rd person action title, and overall, control is quite tight. In certain instances, you have the ability to jump on top of boxes, cling to ledges, slide down ropes and work your way along monkey-bar style structures. There are a few scenes where control is a little touchy and you may find yourself falling down a bottomless pit if you aren't careful. Thankfully, they are few and far between. The camera system isn't half bad, only occasionally obscuring enemies and objects while in especially tight spaces. The level of difficulty starts out at about a moderate level, but the curve increases somewhat rapidly towards the end, resulting in some frustration. Saving often, and backtracking to refill, heal, and disinfect is a must.
The weapons system is pretty interesting. Instead of gathering many different types of arms, you just keep adding on and/or swapping in new attachments to your stock SPR4 rifle. Attachments include new sights, shotgun/flame thrower/missile launcher modules, a spotlight, a night vision scope and more. While some of the heavy arms cannot be easily refilled, the standard rifle (with it's various shooting modes) can be fully replenished at ammo stations scattered about. You are never stuck with nothing to defend yourself with. You can target your enemies either in the 3rd person, for getting off quicker shots, or from the 1st person, for more accuracy. Either works fine, though the 1st person mode comes in hand during certain boss encounters and scenes.
Extermination starts out as a pretty generic survival horror/action type game, and doesn't really stray from that formula much at all. Deep Space threw in some nice little gameplay touches along with a fairly tight control scheme, and that is what most likely kept my interest. It starts out slow, but definitely gets better after about an hour or so. Fans of genre may want to give it a try.
