Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War!

Starship Troopers has always been a great film, even though it was created as a satire of how easily people get swept up in authoritarianism and dehumanise their enemies. This is also a staple of the new game Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! When I sat down with the title, I realised that this was not at all what I had expected. I thought beforehand that this might be a highly mediocre game, but I was completely wrong, as what I encountered was a fairly intense Doom-inspired action game that captures the satire of the film adaptation, offers awesome cutscenes, and even lets us play as the insects.

The star of this game is probably the cutscenes with Rico and Dietz, where the former is portrayed by his original actor, Casper Van Dien, who also plays Starship Troopers: Extermination and Starship Troopers: Continuum with his fans, so he is no stranger to the medium. We also meet a hard-nosed war veteran named Samantha Dietz, played by Charlotta Mohlin. Both of them are featured in some of the most satirical and entertaining cutscenes I've seen in a while and it's very reminiscent of the slightly nerdy cutscenes in Command & Conquer that I love. In this title, they are made with humour to entertain, and that is clear. The story revolves around Samantha Dietz's role during the conflict, and she is also the character you play as, and although the storytelling plays a big part, I rarely care much about these characters. There is no real seriousness in the storytelling, but I like that it's a bit frivolous since it complements the gameplay.

The game itself is divided into levels that you can complete. The structure is reminiscent of games you played in the 1990s, where you find large environments filled with secrets and carry out missions in them. There are many enemies, and your tools are powerful weapons, air strikes, vehicles, and grenades, plus you can also call in reinforcements, which work in the same way as the weapon capsules that humans send to Master Chief when he is on the ring world in Halo 2. It's a delightful mix of mechanics, action, and gameplay elements, and even though it has been a while since I reviewed a "boomer shooter", I think this one is good. You have your classic medkits, armour, weapons, and other items to pick up regularly. The enemies aren't very smart, but they don't need to be in this context, as you play this to crush enemies with machine guns and blow things up to majestic music and iconic voice acting.

Another entertaining feature is not only the single-player campaign as a human, but also the missions where you get to control the insects, which I found more fun to play as. The missions are not the focus and are significantly fewer than those for humans. You get to play as an Assassin bug, which has three forms it can activate and this shapes what it can do and how it works. In its Warrior Form, you can attack better and recover health regularly, in Hopper Form, you can fly over long distances and use it to see buildings, allied nests, and other things, and in its final form, Tanker Form, you can use a flamethrower and withstand more damage, however, you have to build up the meter for this final form. You can also use abilities to recruit enemies and direct attacks against humans, making for an exciting side mode that I had quite a bit of fun with.

The visuals are a bit strange, as you as the player have a character in full 3D and all enemies are in 2D, and this stands out especially in the insect missions, where you see it in third-person and then attack 2D enemies. It's a minor complaint, as I think the distinctive design works. It's not a particularly beautiful game to look at, but it works. It's mainly the music, voice acting, and branding that add value to this title, but the charm of first-person shooters from the 1990s can be found here too, even if the effects and visuals are somewhat dated. However, the music is brilliant, and Auroch Digital has taken inspiration from the films, even though it was created by the developers. The effects also sound decent, even though the developers designed it to be a retro shooter. Beyond that, it's not demanding and runs like butter and I've seen almost zero bugs (technical, not enemies, as there are tons of the latter...) and haven't faced any crashes.

Although the core experience is significantly better than I expected, there are a few things to criticise. One is that your allies often get in the way, standing in places that cause you to hit them instead of the enemy. The mission variety is somewhat limited, and the setup tends to become a bit repetitive. The number of levels is also limited, so you may not spend an eternity with this game, but rather around 10 hours. Even though the levels are large, they can be completed fairly quickly, however, I think the level design is quite varied, even if the missions are often repetitive.

Even though there is little to criticise, it feels good to use shotguns, automatic carbines, grenades, nuclear-armed rocket launchers, and robot suits. The insects also feel really oppressive with their close-combat attacks that literally decapitate and smear the ground with blood, and where their flamethrowers are another favourite, as is the ability to send allied insects into enemy bases. This probably won't challenge you as a player, but rather it's clichéd, old-fashioned, and quite fun. It's clear that it doesn't take itself too seriously, given the cutscenes and the fact that you get points and stars after each mission.

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! is a good game that will entertain you for a dozen hours and it's probably the best game in the franchise, along with Starship Troopers: Terran Command. If you have a few hours to spend on a retro game, this might be for you. It's very reminiscent of Boltgun, as Auroch Digital also created that title, although it doesn't quite capture the feeling of insects climbing on top of each other like Starship Troopers: Extermination or Starship Troopers from 2005, this is a really good action game. If you can put up with the graphics and 2D models, you'll be treated to a story that takes place after the 1997 film that offers intense action, good music, an entertaining setup, and a retro style that works. If you like Starship Troopers and classic Doom or Boltgun, you should check this out, as it's simply really entertaining.