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First entering early access last May,Starship Troopers: Exterminationhas already garnered a strong fanbase well ahead of its planned 1.0 release later this year. The co-op FPS, which comes from developer Offworld, places teams of players in the thick of intense bug battles. Casper Van Dien, who played Johnny Rico in the original film series, reprises his role in the title, and made the journey to Gamescom alongside developers to present a new hands-on experience ahead of release.
The final release of the 16-squad shooter will arrive this October, bringing with it the same over-the-top bug killing action the IP is known for. It’s already made great progress since first entering early access, and developers haveteased a myriad ofStarship Trooperssurprisesplanned for the future.Screen Ranthad the chance to play some of the game’sspecial solo missions, which are led by Rico, and chat with Casper Van Dien afterward about his work on the title and what sets the game apart in a gaming landscape filled with shooters.
Behind The Scenes Of Starship Troopers: Extermination
Endless Passion For The Movie That Shines Through In The Game
Exterminationisn’tStarship Troopers’ first foray into video games, but it’s arguably one of the most ambitious, due largely in part to the fierce love of the movie the development team shares - a dedication that stuck out to Van Dien since the beginning. “Offworld is a small company, but they’re so passionate, andyou can tell that they’re true fans,” Van Dien said, smiling as he reflected on the game’s first stages. “They actually rented out a movie theater and got T-shirts and all went and watched Starship Troopers before they started working on it.”
Van Dien’s involvement in the project went well beyond simply showing up, recording a set script, and then waiting for the final project - things were much more collaborative. The Offworld team encouraged improvisation, andwound up adding much more content to the game than originally intended, with the actor estimating they added about “four more pages than [they] had originally had” to the script. “I did more lines than I did in all the movies combined for this game alone,” Van Dien said, in a “collaboration that was really wonderful.”
Casper Van Dien On Starship Troopers: Extermination, His Return As Johnny Rico, God Mode & More
Actor Casper Van Dien, who played Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers, spoke to Screen Rant at SGF about returning to the role in new game Extermination.
The actor also helped contribute outside the recording booth by sharing anecdotes and little details from his time with the franchise. “They had already put some things in that I couldn’t believe that they put in,” he reflected, “but then they were telling me they were going to put some of the things in that I told them true Starship Troopers fans will know.” Developers even managed to surprise the star with their level of detail, putting in deep-cut Easter eggs to surprise him, with the actor joking that, “They’re always like, ‘Wow, you really are a nerd.’”
Special Operations Group Missions
Training Led By Johnny Rico
The hands-on time I spent withStarship Troopers: Exterminationwas led by Van Dien himself in the role of Johnny Rico, who runs the Special Operations Group missions in the game. These are special single player missions framed as training from the General,which help players learn useful battle skills and build up experience. The actor also tried out the new mode at Gamescom and picked up some useful tips, joking that it helped him learn how to actually throw a grenade so that “you don’t drop it and let it just roll off and go into the lava.”
My preview consisted of the first few S.O.G. missions, which took me underground to the bug-infested Valaka caves. There are six different classes to choose from, which can all be leveled individually: Guardian, Demolisher, Sniper, Ranger, Engineer, and Medic. Each comes with two unique skills, one that’s a special move, and another that’s more of a performance enhancer; for example, the Demolisher’s first skill makes them more effective at using explosives, while the second is a powerful multi-enemy attack called Barrage.
As someone who isn’t the most skilled at shooters, I chose to play as the Guardian, whose defense-oriented Heavy Armor and Siege Mode skills seemed right up my alley. The former provides stronger protection against enemies, and the latter allows the player to put up a shield wall in front of them that helps - at least somewhat - block bugs and provides better weapon aiming stability. This almost immediately proved to be the correct choice, as the Valaka Caves aren’t for the faint of heart.
The dark, dank caves were lit only by the flashlights of my character and three NPC companions, and moving too fast in the echoey chambers triggered an ominous warning that the Arachnids had been alerted to our presence, heightening threat levels. The journey was fairly linear, but it was filled with several dangerous waves of bugs,including a newly-introduced species that can shoot plasma, making them far more dangerous than the average enemy. Since they were the first few missions, they didn’t present too much difficulty, but they served as a great introduction to class mechanics and overall tactics.
How Starship Troopers: Extermination Sets Itself Apart
Casper Van Dien On The Importance Of Teamwork & The Game’s Future
Though it includes this solo mission mode, the heart ofExterminationis teamwork. This has become increasingly clear to Van Dien the more he’s spent time in-game, reflecting that, “What I’m learning is how much you have to work together with all the different people. You want to ensure you get a good team, because if people are out for themselves in the game, they’re going to lose.” Though it may sound difficult to immediately form an efficient team with 15 other players,the prevailing experience seems to be that it’s much simpler than expected.
This is largely by the virtue of the gameplay style the title encourages, drawing from the themes of the movie franchise. Just as the army adage goes, “You don’t want anybody left behind,” Van Dien said. “I played a couple of times, and one time, I got buried under the bugs, and somebody came and blew them up and got me out, and they’re like, ‘We’re not leaving you behind, General.’” In comparison to some of the othermost popular shooterson the market, this helps to set the title apart, focusing entirely on fighting an outside threat as a unified front.
Thegame could even be a tool for teaching the art of working together. Van Dien remarked that, while, of course, it’s likely too violent for very young players and parents should always be involved with the media their children consume, “If you’re going to let them see that, then hell yeah they should play Starship Troopers so they can learn how to fight together, and teamwork, and camaraderie.” However, regardless of age,Exterminationis certainly a title made with love for fans of all ages to enjoy that distinguishes itself through its immense detail.
“The difference is it feels just like the movie,” Van Dien remarked with pride over the progress the game has made, clearly happy with a longtime desire of his coming to fruition: “I always wanted this. As soon as the movie came out, when we watched it at Sony before the premiere, I went, ‘Oh my God, you guys have got to make this video game.’” Though the launch of the final version in October is certainly a focus, developers have over five years of plans laid out forStarship Troopers: Extermination, meaning the bug-killing fun is only just beginning.
Starship Troopers: Exterminationwill release out of early access October 11 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
