Primal Carnage: Extinction
2015 · Circle Five Studios
Has it aged?Why ↓
Primal Carnage: Extinction is an online multiplayer shooter about humans fighting reborn dinosaurs in the modern era. You shoot dinosaurs as a first-person human combatant or play a dinosaur against the humans; choosing the teeth rather than the gun is its strongest attraction.
Hunt humans, slay dinosaurs. It's chaotic prehistoric PvP, pick a side. Think fast, or you're extinct!
The publisher’s description, from its Steam store page.
What it looks like
the trailer, then the store's own shots
The verdict
Play it for the dinosaur role, not for competitive polish. The two-sided premise gives shooting dinosaurs a much better alternative: being one. But the 2015 launch was accompanied by reports of bugs and networking problems, plus complaints about servers favouring Free Roam over fighting. Treat it as a dinosaur playground with combat, rather than a shooter whose appeal depends on tightly contested matches.
Play it if
You always wish the monsters were playable, and you're happy to spend a multiplayer session wandering about as a dinosaur rather than chasing a win.
Skip it if
You need a single-player campaign, or a multiplayer session feels wasted unless everyone is actively fighting.
Common questions
- What do people do in Free Roam?
- The 2015 launch coverage describes players wandering around and hanging out as dinosaurs rather than concentrating on combat. Think dinosaur social space, not another name for a firefight.
- Is Extinction an update to the original Primal Carnage?
- No: it is a separate, standalone game. It grew out of a planned rebuild of Primal Carnage, but was announced as its own release in 2014.
- Does Extinction include the Primal Carnage: Genesis campaign?
- Extinction is an online multiplayer game, not the planned single-player Primal Carnage: Genesis. Genesis was reported to be on indefinite hold in 2014.
What everyone else said
we link, we don't reprintHas it aged?
How does it hold up today? Based on recent reviews, how opinions have changed since launch, player activity and updates.
% positive each month, last 4 years.
Reviews via Steam ↗Peak: 502 in Jan 2016.
Player counts via SteamCharts ↗Better liked than at launch.
Updated within the last year, so still looked after.