Extermination

Extermination begins on December 21st, 2005. Just three days before Christmas Eve, the United States top-secret facility, Fort Stewart (located in Antarctica), has dispatched a distress signal. No one has been able to make contact with the base ever since. Three days later, the RECON Team Red Light received an emergency sortie command, code named "Operation Cold Limit." Team Red Light is sent to Antarctica immediately. Their mission is to investigate the situation, restore the facility to operating condition and rescue any survivors. Unfortunately, something goes terribly wrong and the C-17 Air Transport carrying Team Red Light crashes. Most of the passengers are killed in the crash, the majority of the ammo is lost and worst of all, there are hundreds of hungry monsters roaming the base in search of anything that moves.

This is where Dennis Riley comes in. One of the very few survivors of the crash, Dennis is a 24-year-old Special Forces operation expert who must explore Fort Stewart, find out what's going on and put an end to the madness.

One thing that sets Extermination apart from other survival/horror games is the constant battle against a deadly virus. If you get attacked by a monster, immediately check your health. See the virus meter? That means you've been infected. Not only does the virus slowly take away your health, it can also hinder your performance. Depending on how much of the virus has spread throughout your system, you may not be able to run or react as quickly when attacked. There is a cure, but you can only use it if you're near a vaccination chamber.

Unlike Resident Evil, where pressing up on the D-pad will move the character forward in the direction that he or she is facing, Extermination has full-3D controls. This means that Dennis will move in any direction you press the analog stick. The controls aren't the only thing Extermination has in common with Syphon Filter. It really begins to feel like a spy-mission game when you activate the game's first-person view. You can't walk or run in this view since it's intended to help you aim more precisely (a la Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty). Since you can aim exactly the same in the third-person view, this is pretty useless until you get the scope upgrade. The scope allows you to zoom in on your target and pick off all those hideous creatures from afar. This definitely adds a new dimension to the survival/horror genre. It's nothing major, though I believe it's only a matter of time before we see Metal Gear Evil and Silent Filter on store shelves.

For every plus in Extermination, it seems like there is always a minus. There isn't any interactivity with the world around you. I shot a window, but nothing happened. I shot a light, nothing happened. I shot a few bottles just for kicks and STILL nothing happened! I know I've been spoiled by Metal Gear Solid 2, but it's really pathetic that a second-generation PS2 title is without even the slightest amount of interactivity. Sure, you can destroy wooden crates by shooting or stabbing them with your knife, but who cares? We've been destroying crates in video games since the 16-bit era! First-person shooters have been showing severe bullet damage on the wall for years. A few PSone games have as well. But the only damage seen on Extermination's scratch-proof walls is a small black circle left from your bullet. Strangely enough, it usually takes a couple of shots before the black mark will appear.

Graphically, Extermination is a disappointment. The characters and backgrounds aren't nearly as impressive as the high-resolution screen shots Sony released a year ago. It's really sad to see a first-party PlayStation 2 title that doesn't utilize the immense power of the Emotion Engine. This is a second-generation title so why does Extermination look only slightly better than the games released last year? Sony created this enormously powerful console so that developers could take their games to the next level. But how can they expect anyone to advance their games if the company manufacturing the console won't either?

The jumpy music stinks. I wanted to beat around the bush and be a little more tactful, but I think it's best to just come out and say it: the jumpy music stinks. I assume the "jumpy" part (which consists of the same annoying beats being played over and over again) was intended to put you on edge, giving the players so much tension that they actually "panic." After a short time though, it becomes more of a distraction than anything else.

Sony has referred to Extermination as an “Action Panic Game,” and while there is a fairly decent amount of action, it'll hardly make you panic. It's exciting at times, but never strikes any fear in the player. It didn't scare me, that's for sure. And I doubt you'll be jumping out of your seat when a blood-sucking maggot lunges at you either. With that said, Extermination is a good game. I can't recommend it as a buy, but Syphon Filter fans should definitely head to Blockbuster and rent it as soon as they can.

Graphics: 5.9 
Extermination's graphics aren't anything special. The animation is smooth and the characters look decent, but overall, it isn't too far beyond Shenmue on the Dreamcast.

Sound: 2
Extermination's soundtrack won't bring a tear to your eye with its emotional depth or stay in your head long after you've finished the game (thank goodness!). But it will annoy you, guaranteed.

Difficulty: 5
Although Extermination plays like Syphon Filter, it definitely isn’t as challenging. Some of the enemies are tough to beat, but the hardest part of the game is figuring out what to do next.

Concept: 5.9 
I think it's great that Sony is being so diverse with their PS2 lineup and was thrilled when I first heard that they were developing a survival/horror game. Getting Tokuro Fujiwara (who previously worked on Resident Evil, Ghouls 'N' Ghosts and Mega Man) to help out with the game was great as well. Unfortunately, at some point in the game's development, they lost sight of their goals and created a game that isn't quite sure what it wants to be. I hope that if a sequel is made, they know exactly what they want to do from the start and stick to their goals. It should either be a spy-mission game or a survival/horror game. It can't be both. Unless of course, it was developed by Hideo Kojima and Shinji Mikami...

Overall: 6.9
When Extermination was first released, it was fairly decent buy because there weren't any games like it on the PlayStation 2. Since then, however, Resident Evil CODE: Veronica X and Silent Hill 2 have been released, two superior survival/horror games (that are actually scary). And with Devil May Cry just around the corner, it's hard to recommend Extermination as anything more than a rental. Unless you have a lot of extra fifties lying around, spend your money elsewhere.