CAPCOM’s Expoprimal is a quantity that has been known for almost a year. Back in 2022, the Japanese publisher gave some lucky players the chance to try out this unique PvEvP experience of his, and earlier this year opened the floodgates for all players to join in the fun. . The two testing phases will highlight the game’s greatest strengths as well as weaknesses, and whether it will reach the same level of popularity as not only his other Capcom titles, but other successful live service titles. I wondered.
As Exoprimal’s release approaches, the Japanese publisher has given a select few people a chance to try out most of the game, giving them a better idea of how it will play out in the final version, which launches in late July this year. provided. Unfortunately, this new build didn’t change how I felt about the game after playing the open beta. It’s a possibility, but I’m not sure it’s fully realized.
What definitely surprised me was the story of the game. The main characters are a bit tropical, but the premise is interesting, the mystery surrounding the AI Leviathan seems to be handled well, and there is plenty of development during the game. For some reason, this AI lures exofighters to the island of Biquitoa and forces them to participate in a twisted game in which hordes of dinosaurs constantly spawn. Leviathan seems to be collecting data for some reason and is unable to leave the island, so the Hammerheads need to find out the truth of the matter.
To be honest, this story was the main reason I keep coming back to this Exoprimal preview build. It’s true that the servers weren’t crowded for obvious reasons, but the number of times we were able to play with real players didn’t improve the experience much. The main problem with his PvEvP experience in the game is that things get boring very quickly. As I’ve highlighted in other hands-on articles, the exosuits are all unique and handled very well, but the missions and map design don’t do much to make the exosuit shine. Worse, some of the most fun Exosuits to use, such as Murasame, are unavailable from the start and must be unlocked using in-game currency. While this was somewhat expected, but still disappointing, CAPCOM stressed that many of the game’s features are not final and are subject to change.
The map design isn’t entirely bad, but it’s not great either. The mission design is much worse, as the map is ultimately just a backdrop for both his PvE and his PvP parts of the game. PvE objectives aren’t particularly diverse, and shooting down hordes of dinosaurs gets old quickly. For the first few games, watching multiple creatures get blown away can be fun, but the more the game is played, the less fun things become. Most dinos don’t cause much difficulty, but those that do have simple attack patterns that can be easily neutralized with proper teamwork. What’s even worse about his PvE portion of the experience is that the match doesn’t seem to matter. Unless there is a large skill level difference between the two teams, the outcome of the match will always be determined by his PvP portion, which he reaches after completing all his PvE missions.
PvP missions in Exoprimal are slightly better than PvE missions, but not by much. Critical missions such as protecting data are very time consuming, with players on enemy teams engaging each other only at the end. Other mission types are slightly better, more dynamic, and offer players the chance to go head-to-head with opponents. This is where Exoprimal shines brightest. As we saw in last year’s closed beta test, sometimes his PvEvP experience turns into a full co-op experience, making his basic PvE experience slightly less boring.
The latest Exoprimal test build also unveiled the progression system for the first time, which looks pretty straightforward. Both the player and the exosuit used gain experience when joining the game. Upon leveling up, the player receives boxes containing cosmetics and perks that can be used to customize her Exosuit and its abilities. It’s too early to say, but the ability changes didn’t make a particularly big impact, so customizing the exosuit didn’t look all that exciting, at least at the start of the game, but unlocking seems to happen relatively quickly. I felt it.
All in all, my time with this new preview build of Exoprimal didn’t change much about the game after its open beta testing earlier this year. All the basics of gameplay are there, but the more I play, the more I feel the game needs something more to be successful. However, I haven’t seen everything this game has to offer, so it’s still possible that late-game content will eventually turn him into the dino-killing frenzy that Exoprimal was supposed to be.
Exoprimal launches on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One a few months later on July 13th. The game will also be available on Xbox Game Pass from day one.
