Space may be vast, mysterious, and full of grand adventure—but in Exterminauts, it also needs pest control. The game sends up to three players into the dirty business of blasting intergalactic bugs with an arsenal of unusually spicy weapons. That working-stiff premise gives the familiar co-op shooter setup a fun blue-collar twist, where every alien infestation is less an epic quest than another shift on the job. For fans of horde-based action, the appeal is immediate: squad up, pick a weapon, and make a mess of whatever is crawling out of the dark.

Exterminauts Makes Pest Control a Team Sport

The game’s strongest early draw is its collection of special launcher weapons and the strange creatures they’re built to counter. The varied bugs help keep firefights from feeling like the same encounter on repeat, while the unusual arsenal gives each skirmish room for surprise. That mix has long powered popular co-op shooters such as Deep Rock Galactic, where teamwork and enemy variety can turn a routine mission into a scramble. Exterminauts has a promising foundation of its own, with three-player squads facing a steadily unfolding roster of threats.

Every New Biome Feels Like Another Shift

There’s still a sense of discovery in the work. New jobs and unfamiliar biomes keep opening up, suggesting a game with more to reveal than its early missions can show. That forward momentum matters in a genre built around replaying assignments: a fresh environment can make familiar weapons and tactics feel newly useful. The structure calls to mind the mission-driven rhythm of Warhammer 40,000 Darktide and the changing battlefields of Helldivers 2, though Exterminauts is still establishing its own identity. For now, the promise of another job—and another place to investigate—does much of the heavy lifting.

A Fun Pitch Still Needs a Signature

Enjoyable firefights are a good start, but they may not be enough to make Exterminauts the next essential horde shooter. Deep Rock Galactic thrives on open-ended missions, Darktide delivers a forceful sense of mood, and Helldivers 2 has made satirical chaos central to its appeal. Those games offer more than enemies to shoot; each has a distinct personality that turns its missions into something recognizable. Comparisons with established hits are inevitable, and players browsing IGN’s game coverage or Steam’s co-op catalog have no shortage of alternatives.

The Bugs Are Only the Beginning

None of that makes Exterminauts a lost cause. The unusual weapons, varied bugs, and expanding selection of jobs and biomes give it pieces worth building around, while its playful pest-control premise offers a natural foundation for stronger personality. The challenge is making those ingredients add up to a distinct experience rather than a competent collection of familiar parts. If the developers can sharpen the game’s tone and give its missions a more memorable shape, intergalactic extermination could become a lively new reason to gather a squad. Until then, the game has plenty of promising pests to squash—and plenty of work left to do. Readers can keep an eye on PC Gamer’s PC game coverage and GameSpot’s news and reviews as its development continues.