It's best to go into game demos with a clear mind, but that was never in the cards for Exterminauts, the new co-op game from Dead by Daylight studio Behavior Interactive. Everything about Exterminauts, externally, screams Helldivers 2, from its working class soldiers and anonymized outfits to its hostile wildlife and colorfully pulpy planets.
Exterminauts' developers, who are a distinct team from the one making Dead By Daylight, see the comparisons coming and don't shy away from them, but they also point out that their game was in development for years before Arrowhead's hit shooter came out in 2024.
They also draw a distinction in tone: Exterminauts does not cast you as a dedicated servant of intergalactic democracy, but as militarized, blue-collar pest control cleansing the planet of Tian so that corporate interests can better sap the land of its resources. In that way and more, Exterminauts has more in common with Deep Rock Galactic or Mycopunk.
That's a realization that helped me acclimate to Exterminauts after a few hours with an alpha build—it's got Deep Rock-like milestones, class roles, and mission types. Loadouts begin with a choice of a soft class (called sponsors) that grants passive bonuses and a unique power weapon. There's one that comes with a medic tool and a damage-focused lightning gun that I gravitated toward. You can also bring along gadgets like ammo boxes, med packs, and automated turrets that could singlehandedly flatten a horde (Behaviour admitted these were overpowered at the moment).
Image credit: Behaviour Interactive
Image credit: Behaviour Interactive
Image credit: Behaviour Interactive
Work-life balance
It's relevant to note that my developer-led demo stayed on the lower difficulties, but even with that in mind, Exterminauts struck me as more casual than games like it. Guns are very easy to control with a mouse, friendly fire is either barely there or nonexistent, ammo was readily available through pickups at every point of interest, and there's a generous respawn mechanic that lets you summon teammates back into the action.
The maps I played were straightforward canyons littered with corporate mining facilities. Objectives were clearly marked on the map from the start, as are side tasks. There's clear Helldivers inspiration in the jobs themselves—there's a lot of solving micro puzzles on computer screens to get a facility back online—but I never really felt rushed to complete them because the fauna barely put up a fight.
I'd like to see what Exterminauts is like when it's challenging, because its creative creatures have a lot more bark than they do bite. No bugs or robot hordes here—Behaviour is leaning into freaky plant monsters and flying squids. I especially enjoyed the giant carnivorous flytraps that crawl on six feet and the flying, spiky tulips that slow down enemies until they're dealt with.
Cranking up the difficulty might also bring the depth of its classes into focus—each sponsor (class) can be modified through firmware unlocked through play. These looked like small bonuses, like extra freeze damage or HP gained on kill, that can be stacked to make a bigger impact.
Behaviour is planning large and frequent updates for Exterminauts, including 12-week seasons and a constant drip feed of sponsorship packages that introduce new weapons, gadgets, cosmetics, and firmware modifiers. The idea is to make these relatively easy to unlock through normal play, but you'll be able to buy them early for real money, too.
A general lack of energy led to my demo feeling rudimentary and sometimes boring—I was craving a sense of risk or struggle that gives co-op shooters moment-to-moment stakes, but never got it. These strike me as problems that can be solved, and Exterminauts does have good bones, so I'll be interested to try it again when it's more complete.
