Bringing Extraction Shooters And Supernatural Anomalies Together
I’m sure most gamers who stick to the online scene are familiar with the extraction-shooter formula. It dumps the player into an area with a certain goal, such as defeating a boss. In recent memory, many have garnered huge player-bases through their population of this mechanic.
These raid-focused titles have also been designed for a PvPvE system in the past, focusing on gathering weapons, materials, and completing objectives all while having to reach an extraction point to keep them. Take this design, throw some supernatural anomalies in the mix and you have the online extraction-shooter, Active Matter.
You’re abruptly dumped into a tutorial briefly explaining a multiversal story, something only used to explain the raids, which is not an important plot point, and then off on your merry way. One thing to note about this encounter is the AI guide, Ms. Second, is fully voiced by generative AI, a divisive choice likely to affect whether some people even purchase the game.
Familiar Shooter Mechanics And A Lack Of Identity
Once finally in-game, the combat mechanics function identically to practically every shooter on the market: LT to aim, RT to shoot, crouching and crawling on B button, and then the classic run, jump, and lean abilities too. This isn’t an issue for the most part, as the title makes sure to play into the strengths of simplicity in combat, but it forces a non-identity onto the game, where the core aspect of gunplay could belong to any other similar title.
Where Active Matter does spice things up is with its Anomalies. They can be dangerous, much like in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games which they seem to be heavily inspired by, or useful, offering anti-gravity traversal over walls and ceilings. Mechanically, the hazardous ones are excusable but certainly lacking in purpose outside of being there for the sake of an obstacle, emphasised by the fact they’re never expanded upon. Active Matter may not offer much original, but this directionless Anomaly system at least gives the game a unique mechanic to focus upon.
An Unnerving Horror Atmosphere
The only other aspect of Active Matter I could actively appreciate, was the anxiety-inducing horror atmosphere it creates. Despite the fact you’ll likely be armed with assault rifles and shotguns, each foe is deeply unnerving and fear-inspiring thanks to how relentless and lethal they are. Once they lock eyes with you, their hunt won’t end until one of you is dead, and the sounds these creatures make will send shivers down your spine.
Although this atmosphere excels, the visuals themselves never reach the same heights. They have admirable graphical fidelity but, much like every other aspect of Active Matter, feel like a mere imitation of every Unreal Engine game that attempts ultra-realism with no stylistic choice.
Once ready for your first raid, you must choose a Body Sleeve (think classes in other games). You can unlock others later, but for the time being the only difference is stat upgrades. This also extends to the skill tree you unlock once levelling up; it’s a nice idea to give the illusion of content but is ultimately padding which only offers face value stat upgrades.
Then, you’ll finally be given multiple minor goals depending on the map you’re given, ranging from the need to defeat a certain number of enemies, to unlocking secret bunkers for better loot. This lack of major objectives is rather freeing to allow for exploration, although the map design limits its effectiveness, feeling as though independent areas have been thrown together. This is largely thanks to randomised spawn points of Anomaly elements, enemy locations, and loot placements, which leaves Active Matter unable to reach a flowing and connected world.
Plenty Of Weapons And Enemies, But Little Purpose
Combat and enemies fall into the same category: both have a large variety, with plenty of diverse weapons and distinct foes to encounter, yet their practical usages are non-existent. With gunplay, it doesn’t really matter what weapons or attachments you pick outside of preference, although the same could be said for many modern shooters, and foes are all defeated in the same way… shoot them. There are a couple anomalies such as the invisible monsters who need thermal scopes, yet a lack of weak spots or distinct attacks to differentiate enemies leaves the visual differences a mere consolation.
Active Matter’s core gameplay is very much akin to throwing a delicious sticky toffee pudding in a pan with spaghetti bolognese and expecting it to taste delicious. Individually successful, yet a misguided and directionless failure together.
The performance of Active Matter is also a regular negative I encountered. Frames and visuals stay consistent throughout the majority of runs, although animations and clipping bugs were frequent issues I ran into. Sometimes I’d be fighting a foe when all of a sudden it would teleport inside a wall, or attempting to grab loot which spawned inside some other collision. There’s just a severe lack of polish on the whole, which is to be expected from an online shooter in its early phase, yet something which must be ironed out.
A Directionless Extraction Shooter
Active Matter is unlikely to be the next huge hit in the raid genre as it’s painfully average in just about everything it does. Although aspects such as the Anomalies do succeed, they are largely derivative from other titles, leaving a mediocre experience. Active Matter is given hope through its immersive and anxiety-inducing horror atmosphere, yet it is brought down by limited gunplay, unpolished mechanics, and a lack of direction.
Important Links
Active Matter – Time-Loop Survival And Quantum Chaos – https://www.thexboxhub.com/active-matter-time-loop-survival-and-quantum-chaos/
Active Matter: A Mind-Bending Hardcore Shooter Set in a Fractured Multiverse – https://www.thexboxhub.com/active-matter-a-mind-bending-hardcore-shooter-set-in-a-fractured-multiverse/
Buy the Standard Edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/active-matter/9mz1sk7h6lb6
There’s an Advanced Edition too – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/active-matter-advanced-edition/9n9k7lj3rd37
And a Deluxe Edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/active-matter-deluxe-edition/9p2f2h761bmd
