Since Arrowhead’s game effectively stole the momentum from the Starship Troopers movie tie-in, it is perhaps no surprise that ideas now flow in both directions.

The relationship between Starship Troopers: Extermination and Helldivers 2 is unusual. The latter took the former’s themes and ideas and executed on them in a way that siphoned off much of Extermination’s spotlight. Helldivers 2 deserves its success, but Offworld, the studio behind Extermination, surely envies Arrowhead’s results. In that light, it seems fair for Offworld to copy a bit of Arrowhead’s homework, which appears to be what is happening in the co-op spin-off’s latest update. Update 1.8 chiefly adds a company progression system and brings air strikes into the game.

They work a little differently than in Helldivers 2. While Arrowhead’s air strikes operate as a strategic tool, in Extermination they are framed as a side mission players can take on alongside the core base-building and defense objective. Players must protect new field objectives called Fleet Relays, and completing these missions makes it easier to bombard incoming bug hordes.

Some added spectacle certainly would not hurt Offworld’s game. It does not lag in the fireworks department, but it cannot quite match Arrowhead’s raw audiovisual punch. The company progression system lets player-created groups climb 50 levels while earning cosmetic rewards. The update also adds a new map, Boreas, to Critical Strike mode, set in a gleaming, frozen wasteland.

After the November 1.8 update, a new enemy, the Hopper Bug, and two new weapons, the Smart Rifle and the Morita 3 assault rifle, are slated to arrive later on. Offworld also plans to add the M11 Babar mech suit, which could change how players exterminate bugs. With luck, Helldivers 2 fans will not cry plagiarism, because borrowing a good idea done well never hurts.

Source: PCGamer, Steam