Second Extinction - What We Know So Far

Second Extinction is a first-person, three-player co-op shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world. One of the few remaining humans, it's your job to hunt down the mutated dinosaurs that have taken over Earth. Revealed during Inside Xbox May 2020, Second Extinction is one of several fully optimized titles coming to the Xbox Series X. It's being developed for the APEX engine by Systemic Reaction, a team of industry veterans drawn from within Avalanche Studios Group.

Details about Second Extinction remain light, but it's clear that you'll have to use teamwork, abilities, and weapons to "take on the vast number of enemies" you'll meet, which sounds both terrifying and promising. The Xbox website uses words like "visceral" and "intense" to describe the look and feel of this title, so you can safely expect an action-packed experience involving both bullets and bites in the vein of Monster Hunter: World. Bring on the dinosaurs!

Second Extinction is available now for PCs through Steam's Early Access program, which allows developers to sell their games while continuing to hone a playable, but unfinished, version with input from users. However, a date has not been set for the release of the final product. In fact, Systemic Reaction says on its Steam page that there's no set end date for Early Access yet.

The current price of Second Extinction in Early Access is $19.99, on sale from a regular price of $24.99. The Early Access edition features four heroes, ten weapons with five upgrade tiers, six missions in seven regions, contracts, cosmetics, and more. Systemic Reaction is adding new dinosaur mutations, community events, and plenty of new material during this time as well. You can expect the price to go higher once Systemic Reaction gets the game to its full, robust version, which will include a live-service offering.

On Dec. 16, 2020, Pre-Season 2 went live with a patch that added a new weapon, game mode, and enemy along with other improvements. For more updates, stay tuned to the game's Twitter account.

Rather than sticking with cinematics, the short announcement trailer actually features quite a bit of gameplay. The action unfolds across Earth landscapes featuring creatures that look a bit like the Indoraptors from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. You watch as a pod alights on the planet, presumably bringing you and your fellow players back to humanity's former home. Then the dinosaurs start coming at you, and shooting ensues. A second trailer, released just before Early Access launched, reveals all four heroes that are currently available in the game, along with weapons, dangerous dinosaurs, and gameplay footage.

Systemic Reaction doesn't have the best track record. The team developed and published Generation Zero — another first-person, co-op, survival shooter — in 2019, and the title did not fare well with critics or players. Still, Avalanche Studios Group (best known for the Just Cause series) has decent credentials, and Microsoft seems keen on Second Extinction, so this could be Systemic Reaction's comeback story.

When Second Extinction finally releases, it will be available on Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC. Sorry, this one's basically an Xbox console exclusive, barring future changes. Also, Microsoft has stated that the title will support Smart Delivery, so whichever Xbox console you purchase it for, you'll be able to play it on the other. Since the initial announcement, Systemic Reaction has not confirmed anything more about the Xbox release.

Early on, developers offered rewards for signing up for the beta version of Second Extinction and for recruiting others in its War Support referral campaign. However, after reaching the sign-up limit, it eventually decided to cancel the beta, saying, "A beta would slow us down, preventing us from delivering the best version of Second Extinction's War Effort metagame. Furthermore, Early Access has emerged as the best way for us to begin this journey with you, allowing us to hit the ground running earlier than initially expected." It opened Early Access up in October.

If you don't mind playing an unfinished PC game and providing feedback to developers, you can get the Early Access version now.

Second Extinction's premise seems fairly simple. The last dregs of humanity reside on an orbital station managed by a group called the ERA, and they are starting a war to take their home planet back. The battles will take place on a "Big Map," as compared to a fully open world.

So far, Systemic Reaction has revealed four survivors that will be available at launch: Valentina Ortega, a lifelong trooper who carries two big weapons; Rosy Mevoungou, a relentless defender; Jürgen Winter, a veteran sniper; and support operative Amir Wilson, who has a mind for strategy. The developers have also introduced six different kinds of enemies, one of which is a T-Rex. The other five are raptors: In addition to the regular raptor, you'll have to contend with an acid raptor, an electric raptor, a digger raptor, and a water raptor. The latest update also introduced an overmutated raptor.

Systemic Reaction released a one-shot online comic on Dec. 16, 2020 that featured a prequel tie-in to the video game, revealing what the heroes were doing before and during the invasion and fleshing out the story a bit.