Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War – An Underwhelming Adventure in Space

So, what’s the deal with Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War? It’s a first-person shooter that leans heavily on the nostalgic vibe of Paul Verhoeven’s classic film. Priced at around $20, it’s developed by Auroch Digital and published by Dotemu and Game Source Entertainment. We played it on a pretty beefy Ryzen 7 7700 setup with an RX 7800 XT. For those curious, there’s no multiplayer mode, and while it’s not specifically optimized for the Steam Deck, it should run just fine.

Now, let’s talk combat. At first glance, you might think you’re in for an action-packed brawl against a swarm of iconic bugs. However, the reality is a bit different. You’ll find yourself blasting away with over-the-top weapons, but the enemy encounters feel lackluster. Instead of swarming you like in the movie, the bugs come at you in a trickle, making the combat less intense than you’d hope. Sure, you have a snazzy reload mechanic reminiscent of Gears of War that cuts your reload time in half, but even that doesn’t save you from feeling like you’re just aimlessly shooting at empty spaces.

The gunplay itself isn’t half bad, with a solid feel to the Morita assault rifle and its variants. The impact of each shot when it hits a bug is satisfying, bursting out in a cool orange-blue splash. But here’s the kicker: the airstrike feature, which sounds epic, falls flat. With a long wait time for deployment and the risk of blowing yourself up, it’s hard to justify calling in support when you’re rarely facing a horde. Most of your time will be spent wandering through maps that feel eerily empty, completing repetitive missions like planting explosives on bugs and defending outposts.

There’s a notable high point, though—the Klendathu level. This stage stands out as a chaotic battlefield where you actually feel a rush, with bugs coming at you from all sides, and multiple objectives to tackle. It’s a refreshing change from the otherwise dull missions. Visually, the game tries to capture the steel aesthetic of the 1997 film, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. And the music? A bland MIDI-brass soundtrack that doesn’t do justice to the iconic score of the original movie.

Speaking of nostalgia, you can also play as an “Assassin Bug” later in the game. This mode, introducing a different playstyle, feels tacked on and just doesn’t deliver the thrill you’d expect. The missions revolve around mindlessly taking down Federation soldiers, and without any engaging dialogue or context, it quickly becomes a snooze-fest.

The game attempts to bring back familiar characters like Johnny Rico and Sammy Dietz, but their stiff performances in between missions don’t really add much charm. The satirical edge that the original film had is largely missing, leaving behind a bland experience that doesn’t hold a candle to the humor and wit we loved from Verhoeven’s work.

In short, Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War is an experience that aims high but ends up feeling flat. With uneven gameplay, uninspired design, and a lack of engaging content, it fails to capture the essence of the beloved film. If you’re looking for a thrilling shootout against alien bugs, you might want to look elsewhere.