Level Zero Extraction Review – Lights Out

As a seasoned gamer with over three decades of gaming under my belt, I must say that my first encounter with Level Zero: Extraction left me rather underwhelmed. Coming from a world where games have progressed leaps and bounds in terms of immersive storytelling, fluid gameplay, and intuitive interfaces, this title seemed to be a step back into the past.

This month, “Level Zero: Extraction,” currently available on Steam Early Access and being developed by Ukrainian studio Doghowl Games, offers a tactical first-person shooter experience that combines elements of extraction and survival horror. Players can assume the role of competing human mercenaries, either solo or in teams, fighting for valuable loot before escaping. Alternatively, players can engage as a lethal alien lifeform, targeting and eliminating human mercenaries.

In my opinion, it’s evident from the initial stages that Level Zero: Extraction still has quite a bit of groundwork left to cover across various aspects. At the moment, I find myself immersed in an experience that seems more challenging than enjoyable. Yet, one aspect that truly shines is the game’s graphical prowess. The visuals are stunningly rendered, meeting and even surpassing contemporary standards, boasting a smooth 60 FPS with a capable graphics card under the hood.

“This game has a lot of work that needs to be done in pretty much every aspect.”

The game’s network performance is smooth without any noticeable lag or delay during gameplay. The lighting effects are competently managed, but there’s always room for improvement in other areas of the game. Conceptually, it leans towards the generic side, drawing heavily from common themes in science-fiction media and games like Halo, Deus Ex, and System Shock. Unfortunately, the soundtrack doesn’t contribute much to the intended scary ambiance.

The music that plays throughout both the main menu and the opening cutscene sounds much more action-oriented than horror. However, no tracks play during actual gameplay, but this is most likely something that will be added throughout the course of development (along with many other planned features, such as dedicated control support and additional gameplay modes. The most utterly detrimental thing about this game, however, is undoubtedly the gameplay.

As a human mercenary, your task is to select a variety of weapons and supplies at the game’s outset, gather as much loot within the game, protect yourself from enemy aliens and rival mercenaries, and ultimately locate an exit point to progress and upgrade your character. The challenge lies in turning on lights throughout the map since the power frequently goes out, making it tougher to locate enemies and valuable items. Although you’ll occasionally encounter aliens to fight, they are scarce, and you may find yourself ambushed by either aliens or other mercenaries before you can respond effectively, especially for newcomers to this game genre.

Level Zero Extraction Review – Lights Out

In the human campaigns, players will often find themselves frequently turning on lights due to frequent power outages. This makes it harder for them to move around, spot enemies, and locate valuable items.

1. Players are provided with portable maps for navigation and larger wall maps scattered throughout the battlefield. However, these maps don’t offer any guidance on the player’s location. As players advance, they can exchange loot and money for weapons, but the catch is that to get certain weapons, specific items must be traded, which is problematic because dying is common and players may not have the required items. Additionally, teamwork is an option in the human campaign, but the issues persist regardless, offering minimal benefit to the gameplay experience.

The alien mode is also just as frustrating. The objective is to eliminate as many humans as possible until all of them are either dispatched or extracted. A general problem with the game that hampers the experience of playing as an alien in particular is that the battlefield is too big, and squadrons of humans and aliens alike are far too spread out to begin with. As a result, players inevitably spend the vast majority of their time wandering around aimlessly trying to find faraway humans. The only difference at that point is players don’t have to keep switching the lights on because the aliens can see in the dark.

In Level Zero: Extraction, the primary skill of the alien is to become invisible to catch humans off guard and kill them stealthily. However, this feat is nearly impossible due to humans carrying lights and torches, which harm aliens severely, often leading to an instant game over for the player. The game’s difficulty is evident from the start, making it challenging for both beginners and experienced FPS gamers. One of the key improvements planned for Level Zero: Extraction’s development phase is the addition of dedicated controller support. It will be intriguing to observe how this is implemented considering the numerous commands involved (including defending against enemies, gathering items, turning lights on, using flashlights when it’s dark, opening the map, adjusting inventory, and other future gameplay elements), as well as the unfriendly user interface of its heads-up display.

Level Zero Extraction Review – Lights Out

Currently, the game doesn’t have enough engaging content to keep players interested due to its numerous flaws. The storyline isn’t compelling enough yet to make up for these issues.

It’s evident even in this early stage of development that there will be a lot of refinement required in this aspect, as passive controller support is available in the form of keyboard mapping. Playing the game this way is arguably the best indication of that. But if the developers insist on keeping as many different commands and mechanics intact, controller support will be mandatory, as it will likely be difficult for some players to play the game effectively using a keyboard. The basic premise of Level Zero: Extraction is that a human organization known as the New Horizons Corporation lands on an alien planet named Turion looking for new life forms. Upon their return to Earth, they begin to conduct military experiments by mixing the human genome with that of the aliens found on Turion. Inevitably, things go awry, and the aliens run riot all over New Horizons’ research facility.

After this point, Earth-based corporations send human operatives to recover the data found prior to events taking a turn for the worse. At this stage, the brief narrative provided offers little detail, specificity, or emotional engagement. However, upon refining the gameplay during development, a more elaborate short story campaign could be introduced. This campaign would provide additional context for the basic premise, introduce characters in engaging situations that make progression worthwhile, and expand on the game’s (potentially series’) broader mythology. The story could delve deeper into what occurred at New Horizons and other experiments they may have been carrying out.

At present, the story in Level Zero: Extraction is not substantial enough to captivate players or offset the numerous issues the game currently faces. The game could potentially deliver a more distinctive and immersive experience if development progresses positively. However, it requires significant overhauls across all aspects to become functional. Regrettably, there are too many factors working against it for it to provide a meaningful gaming experience. It would be unfortunate to invest time in the final version only to find that most of the gameplay involves turning on lights.

Level Zero Extraction Review – Lights Out

“Level Zero: Extraction is a pretty disappointing title.”

Elements I believe could do with tweaking would be the mechanic of trading specific items for weapons and introducing a less variable system of gaining new gear. This would significantly improve the player’s chance of progressing through the game in a meaningful way. An example of a major element in need of refinement is the level-up system. Letting players simply walk away with a minimal amount of loot after dying hardly incentivizes players to keep playing, especially newcomers.

Although the game includes secure storage for player items after death and rewards experience points for progress made before dying, other incentives are provided to keep players engaged, like minor awards. However, Level Zero: Extraction, upon its release via Steam Early Access, initially appears underwhelming. Quick demise possibilities, inconsistent gameplay, uninteresting narrative, and problematic control scheme make it almost not worth playing at this early stage.

This game was reviewed on PC.

2024-08-29 16:42

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