oung Dennis Riley is a Marine haunted by his past, unable to forget the death of a close friend within the Corps. Now he must face his ghosts—the girlfriend of his dead comrade is stationed on a base in Antarctica which has fallen under attack by mysterious forces. Having failed to save Andrew, will Dennis at least be able to rescue Cindy—or will history repeat itself?
A first-person survival game for Playstation 2 in the style of Parasite Eve and Code: Veronica, Extermination pits Dennis against a South Pole science facility filled with dead researchers, ruined equipment and—of course—slavering bioengineered monsters. The twist in this particular game is that the monsters aren't just deadly in their own right. They are infected with a virus which can slowly take over Dennis' body, eventually turning him into a monster, too.
The game interface for Extermination is typical of first-person shooters, with Dennis in the center of the screen. As he searches for Cindy and the key to Fort Stewart's destruction, players run, jump, climb and swing him hand-over-hand through snowfields, ruined laboratories, ventilation ducts and other game environments. The game screen is otherwise uncluttered. There are no status readouts hovering in the corners, no handy reminders of tasks to be carried out. Players wishing to see how close Dennis is to death will have to access an entirely separate menu.
An old story with a few new twists
Like many games of this type, Extermination is fairly derivative, this time taking its inspiration from films like John Carpenter's The Thing and the Alien series. Players interested in the narrative aspects of roleplay may be disappointed by this lack of originality, as well as the stilted dialogue—which is stiffly performed and integrates badly with the animations.
The merits of its story aside, though, Extermination offers solid fun for fans of horror/survival games. The scenery sets an appropriately scary mood, the combat sequences are exciting, and the expected gore factor is vividly delivered. In addition, many game details add interest to the environment and the game's inevitable problem-solving requirements. A usual device like requiring Dennis to find a key before he can pass through a door, for example, is subtly reworked so that players have to experiment. Some doors have been rebuilt in a recent security upgrade, while others feature old locks—some of which can be broken with a well-aimed knife blow. Even in the midst of a gunfight, there is always a chance Dennis will end up switching modes, grappling or slashing at a critter. These little touches increase the appeal of a game that otherwise might seem too much like others in the genre.
This is not to say that Extermination is glitch-free. In particular, the camera rotation is clunky. Set up to allow for laser targeting with the Marine's machine gun, the tradeoff is that sometimes monsters come out of nowhere, splattering players who never had a chance to see them. The extra challenges of having to maintain Dennis's health and keep him infection-free can also leave players tunnel-visioned on finding the next medical treatment item.
Horror fans will find Extermination an entertaining enough ride, but it is certainly not the genre's top offering.
Combat in this game is a lot of fun, but too much of its content is clever embroidery of other material.
— A.M.
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