I love the original film Starship Troopers - even had a friend from South Dakota that was an extra in one of the fight scenes. He dressed up as a mobile infantryman and ran around in the badlands for a day of filming. He swears you can see him running by the camera on the film but even his closest friends admit they aren't so sure...
Starship Troopers was just downright over the top fun when I first watched it as a kid. Now that I understand it's critique on fascism as an adult I like it even more. Sequels, games, other media have tried over and again to resurrect the franchise but always with only limited success. Hopefully this latest attempt, Starship Troopers: Extermination, will hit the mark. The gameplay itself lends positive signs as the original film bugs were bullet sponges that necessitated the teamwork of an entire mobile infantry unit so turning those visuals into a co-op FPS game makes perfect sense. As the press release states:
Cooperative Gameplay - 12 players can team up in squads of four to defend their base, complete objectives, gather resources, and try to kill every Bug in sight.
Three Playable Classes - Choose from Assault, Support, and Defense classes to best suit your playstyle and support the rest of your squad.
Build Defenses - Construct walls, towers, ammo stations, and more using resources acquired from planetside refineries.
Class Progression System - Unlock new weapons, equipment, and perks for each class to become an elite warfighter among the Deep Space Vanguard.
5 Unique Bug Types - At Early Access launch, encounter Drone, Warrior, Gunner, Plasma Grenadier, and Tiger Elite enemy Bugs during planetside missions.
Escalating Infestation Levels - Increasing Bug threat levels during missions bring bigger and more dangerous enemies to the fight.
Large-scale Battles - A massive map with five unique zones, and swarm-based combat with hundreds of enemy Bugs on screen delivers the sense of an overwhelming planetary war.
Ground War - Retake bases and refineries, destroy hives, and complete a variety of side objectives to wrest control of the map away from the Bug menace.
Ping system - Communication is key! The ‘Ping’ system gives players a quick and easy way to call out points of interest, objectives, incoming enemies, and more to teammates.
Starship Troopers: Extermination has yet to pin down a firm release date, instead opting for a loose "2023." It will be available on Steam as an Early Access game and you can wishlist it now.
