Extinction Interview: ‘There’s Something In Extinction For Just About Everyone Out There.’

Extinction is a game about battling giant ogres who are hell-bent on seeing humanity go extinct. The game features a deep combat system in which players have to slowly bring down these giants to their feet before finally killing them. In this game, players control Avil who wants to save as many humans as possible from the wrath of the ogres.

To learn more about the game’s development and the inspirations which led to the conception of this unique game, Gamingbolt spoke to Iron Galaxy Studios’ Tom Carbone who answered these questions for us.

"It’s no secret that we’re big fans of fighting games at Iron Galaxy, so we wanted to do something like Shadow of the Colossus meets Killer Instinct."

What inspired the central idea behind Extinction- of emphasizing skill-based gameplay to take down giant ogres?

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of fighting games at Iron Galaxy, so we wanted to do something like Shadow of the Colossus meets Killer Instinct. We set out to make a game with a deep campaign, but with plenty of skill-based combat along the way.

One of the immediately noticeable things about the game is its vibrant art style. What inspired the team to use such a distinctive style?

Extinction was created with a vibrant palette that was inspired by illustrative comic book art styles. The whimsical evil, but not dark evil, was conveyed through hand painted textures that exaggerated the illustrative style. Our forced camera perspective enhanced the ogre’s monstrosity while over the top animations allowed for dynamic characters that traverse through the environment seamlessly. Some of our UI choices also tried to convey a sort of dark, gritty style.

There are a lot of questions the game’s premise raises- why these ogres are attacking, where did they come from, and what are the goals and motivation of the main character. Will the game’s narrative shed more light on these questions?

Put simply, these 150-foot monsters, known as Ravenii, have one goal in mind: Extinction of the human race. This has been happening for hundreds of years, and the game’s narrative will definitely shed some more light on their backstory. As for the goals of Avil, the game’s main character, it’s pretty simple: Save humanity from being completely wiped out by the Ravenii.

Do players have to make important choices in the game which affects the story?

While the story is largely linear, we implemented several modes that make Extinction highly replayable. Modes like Skirmish Mode and Extinction Mode were designed with replayability in mind and allow players to switch things up and try their hand at defeating Ravenii again and again.

"The difficulty in this game is more about pushing yourself to get higher and higher scores, and to defeat the high scores of friends and foes online."

In a game like this about highly dangerous enemies, the game’s difficulty is bound to be an important aspect of the game’s design. How have you chosen to effectively use challenges and difficulty in this game?

The skill ceiling in Extinction is really high and really great players are capable of taking down tons of ogres at a time. The difficulty in this game is more about pushing yourself to get higher and higher scores, and to defeat the high scores of friends and foes online. The Ravenii also have extensive armor setups that will challenge players in each fight.

Some of the game modes like the Extinction mode sound perfect  for some multiplayer fun. Has online gameplay been a point of focus for this game?

We absolutely thought about multiplayer and would love to have an online mode in Extinction, but for now we’re focusing on the social aspects of multiplayer, such as our Skirmish Mode. If Extinction ends up resonating and we are fortunate enough to get to make a sequel, we will definitely consider adding online multiplayer into the mix.

 Usually, we get to fight giant enemies only for boss battles, but Extinction has made this the main gameplay component. What inspired this decision?

Going into this, we knew that Avil’s strategy wasn’t going to be to outright win the war against the Ravenii, but to save as many lives as possible. Given that, we decided that we needed a nearly impossible enemy, leaving Avil with the difficult task of saving as much of humanity as he can before the Ravenii take over.

Will players be able to upgrade their character with better equipment and abilities as the game goes on? What is the progression system like in this game?

Players will absolutely get to upgrade their character’s skills and abilities as the game goes on. We wanted to make sure that players were able to progress along different skill trees in order to develop a path that is most comfortable for them. The deep skill tree will allow you to upgrade combat and mobility options, as well as give you the opportunity to almost become a sort of super-powered human.

"With Extinction, we are doing a bunch of things for the first time, but that’s the fun of game development. Doing bigger, better and harder things is the only way to grow as a studio."

 Are there any particular challenges that the team faced while working on this game’s development?

Every game development is filled with challenges. With Extinction, we are doing a bunch of things for the first time, but that’s the fun of game development. Doing bigger, better and harder things is the only way to grow as a studio.

 Are there plans to bring this game over to the Nintendo Switch?

We love the Switch at Iron Galaxy and we definitely won’t rule out bringing the game over to the platform, but right now it is just going to be on PS4/Xbox/PC.

Is there anything more you’d like to tell our readers about Extinction?

Extinction is definitely the biggest game we’ve ever done, so we’re excited to see how fans receive it. Between the skill-based combat and a narrative that story enthusiasts will be happy to dive into, we think there’s something in Extinction for just about everyone out there.

---