Extinction - Xbox One

In legend they're known as the Ravenii - armies of towering, bloodthirsty monsters that once threatened to rip the guts out of humanity. But that was a long time ago. For generations, humanity has warred against itself with little thought to the supernatural threat that once nearly laid it to waste. Those were years poorly spent, however, with the Ravenii blood and only a select few remembering how to battle them.

You are one of those few, a soldier named Avil, who must protect the cities of man from the 150-foot-tall Ravenii and the armies trailing behind them.

At first glance it's tempting to draw comparisons to games such as Shadow of the Colossus and Attack on Titan, which see you facing off against towering opponents. While that's undeniably a part of the mix in Extinction, it's as much about melee combat on the ground and big decisions about how best to defend civilians. The Ravenii bring with them lots of smaller beasts that will attack the cities of humanity, and while you're fighting the big bad they'll be running amok. You don't have time to tackle everything all at once, so you'll need to make some tough choices about which objectives to tackle.

When you do engage with the monsters on the ground you'll find a rich combat system that discourages button mashing with a focus on timing. When you choose to tackle a Ravenii, meanwhile, you'll need to find a way onto their back using movement combos so that you can deliver a delicious swing of your weapon to take off their head.

Extinction is a game of big ideas and even bigger stakes. more