Few genres are more intimidating than the extraction shooter. It's kill or be killed. Die, and you lose everything. You have to use every ounce of skill and guile to survive in a harsh PvPvE environment and scrape by to even keep your hard-earned gear for the next dangerous run. Swedish studio Sharkmob aims to make an extraction game that's more approachable and action-packed with the upcoming Exoborne. I had the opportunity to go hands-on with the game earlier this month and sit down to speak with the studio's art director, Rodrigo Cortes. After about five hours with the game, I have confidence Exoborne is shaping up to be a solid onramp into the historically punishing genre.
"I know a lot of examples of people like that. They lost everything. It's like, 'no, I'm not going back,'" says Cortes. He hopes Exoborne's single-player-inspired elements will push players to jump back in and see more. "We thought there was an opportunity to bring more of the masses to this. That's why we have an art direction that is a little more inviting and triple-A. We have a narrative that usually doesn't happen much in these types of games to get people that are into narrative into these games."
