EXOPRIMAL

Capcom's online shooter delivers a different kind of dino crisis

-  Capcom

Lose a match in Exoprimal and the game's AI host Leviathan will bid you a cheerful 'goodbye!' as a pack of raptors converges on you, ready to tear you limb from limb. You wonder if it's not some kind of metacommentary on the chances of survival of any multiplayer game - not least when the first news story we see after our hands-on is about Ubisoft potentially cancelling Roller Champions, just five months after launch (the company has since denied the report while accepting the game's shortcomings). And the reward for success? Per Leviathan's post-match missive, you're afforded "the right to continued existence." Lucky us.

Quality alone doesn't necessarily have a bearing on whether a multiplayer game fails or flourishes (just look at BossKey's Lawbreakers), but while it's hard to say at this stage whether Exoprimal will avoid a similar fate (or the ignominy of its publisher acknowledging its parlous position), it's certainly off to a promising start. Its combination of PvE and PvP is bolstered by a hint of unpredictability in the form of its hyper-intelligent GM, whose stated goal is to put powerful exosuits through live combat tests, refining their capacity to withstand dinosaur attacks while determining whether you're fit to wear them.

What that means in practice is an evolving series of challenges in which two teams of five compete to be the fastest to finish. Both participate simultaneously, but the other side isn't physically present in your world: you'll see them in spectral form between objectives, as your host informs you whether you're getting the job done faster or slower than the 'enemy'. Then comes the finale, as Leviathan warps both teams to the same world where you can directly engage your rival while trying to fulfill the climactic objective.