My first few rounds of upcoming extraction shooter Exoborne was full of surprises: For starters, I survived and my team managed to extract every round, albeit narrowly. Secondly, not once was I helplessly sniped during extraction by someone crouching in a distant bush. Thirdly, almost every fight was a fun, aggressive knockabout encounter. And finally, I actually came away from an extraction shooter still wanting to play more.
I shouldn’t be too surprised. Developer Sharkmob’s previous game—Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt—didn't find the success it deserved, but I enjoyed its messy, high-mobility battle royale combat more than most of its competitors. Exoborne shares some of that undead DNA, recontextualized as sci-fi exo-suits in several weight-classes, with powers on cooldowns and a third-person camera that snaps to first when aiming down your (satisfyingly chunky) gun’s sights. The Exos themselves aren’t that interesting to look at, lacking the personality of Vampire’s clans or Apex’s cartoonish mercs, but they do offer a lot of customizability beyond your choice of (pleasantly punchy) guns.
