I’m a sucker for stories that detail the downfall of humanity. Something about the idea that one day humans will cease to exist or have to fight for their survival really gets me hype. Games like Fallout 4, Resistance, and Left 4 Dead, are just a few. But we’re used to zombies, disease, war, and alien invasion as being possible reasons we’d be annihilated. What if the threat we faced was bigger than us? I mean like.. WAY bigger than us? Developer Iron Galaxy (Bioshock Infinite, Destiny PS3) and publisher Maximum Games (Lichdom: Battlemage, Technomancer) has just that in store for us.

Today I’d like to draw your attention to a game I just caught wind of: Extinction. The story follows Avil, a soldier trained in the ways of the “ancient order,” who is the last hope for humanity. He is the only one (as far as we know) that has the ability to take down the monstrous Ravenii, which look like gigantic ogres. According to the official press kit released with the announcement, these beast stand at 150 feet tall and are as powerful as they are tall. It is up to the player to help Avil fend off these massive terrors and their malicious minions.

Extinction will release in the first quarter of 2018 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC according to Maximum so be on the lookout until then! You can find more info on the game itself here.

Along with the game’s initial announcement, a trailer was also released. Let me tell you first, the visuals are stunning! Hopefully, the actual gameplay looks just as good! This is one of the most well put-together reveal trailers I’ve seen in a long time. Check it out:

At first we see a town getting along peacefully enough. The peace is suddenly broken when the shadow of a tremendous ogre is cast on the people of the town. Suddenly all hell breaks loose as the monster crashes through the city walls and a flood of blue minion creatures begin tearing apart the civilians. We then see our hero ready for battle. He immediately dispatches several minions and rushes to defeat the huge green ogre laying waste to the town. He slices off the creatures arm which only seems to piss him off. We then see these monsters can regenerate at an incredible pace! Avil then flees in search of a way to get to higher ground. He spots a flying minion nearby, breaks out a whip and lassos the creatures neck, vaulting him to a crane. This allows Avil to fell the enormous ogre with a swift decapitation.

At that point we see an army of ogres surrounding him; each of which is as big or bigger than the first. Let’s hope he’s able to take them all!

It’s AMAZING.

As of the time of writing we only know so much about the gameplay. Maximum has released information about the story, side missions, and several different skill trees that allow players to annihilate these giant bastards their way. They’ve also noted that each battle is different from the last, assuring a unique fight each time. One of my favorite mechanics in any game are destructible environments. And you guessed it: Extintion will have a fully destructible environment. Will players have to steer the battle away from civilians? Or will we be free to level the cities sprawled throughout the environment?

What about multiplayer? Yup! Maximum has revealed a fully customizible online mode where players can build a battlefield, set objectives, and challenge friends for the top score! They’ve also released information on a Horde mode where players are pitted against endless waves of ogres and minions. Whether or not Horde mode with be co-0p or not has not been specifically mentioned. My guess is that we will definitely have some kind of co-op play.

Now, while I am excited for this game already I do have some reservations about it: this game looks EXACTLY like Attack on Titan. If you’re not familiar with AoT, it’s about a boy, Eren, and his friends who live in the last bastion of humanity, a city with walls 100 meters high that are designed to keep the Titans out. These are giant human-like creatures that want only one thing: to kill humans. Why? For the fun of it. You can see the similarities in the trailer I found below, including the colossus peering over the walls at the people residing within.

I’m not saying, by any means, that Iron Galaxy and Maximum are copying AoT, but the similarities are striking. While Attack on Titan does have several video game spin-offs, none of them have been truly successful in the US. Extinction could be Iron Galaxy capitalizing on this concept and rendering it more appealing to an American audience. Whatever they’re doing, it worked on me.

So that’s it! Extinction will be taking us on an epic adventure and giving us an idea of what it’s like to be assaulted by an army of giants. Don’t be discouraged by it’s similarity to the great anime/manga series Attack on Titan (which you should totally check out; anime fan or not), I have a strong feeling it will be one of the best action fantasy games of 2018.

Unlike GreedFall (you can see my full preview of it here), we know a lot more about Extinction than most games releasing next year. We know what kind of story we’re dealing with, our enemy, objectives and environment. We also know about what kind of multiplayer experience we can come to expect! This is particularly exciting for me because, while I do enjoy a good solo campaign, I also enjoy being able to switch between playing alone and playing with friends. Either way, I predict this game will be a smash hit. We shall see!

Also, I should mention that Maximum Games will be premiering some gameplay footage behind closed doors at E3 this year. However, there’s plenty of other games to drool over come Saturday! So be sure to check out our lovely co-owner, The Watchman’s, live stream of E3 on our Twitch channel all week. We’ll have all the info you need right here on NerdBacon!