Capcom has a fascination with giant monsters lately, and it’s not just coming from their Monster Hunter series that people love. Exoprimal aims to put you and your buddies against legions of dinosaurs, while an evil artificial intelligence lurks in the shadows. But that’s not all, while your team of five will team up against attacking dinosaurs, other teams will also stand against you in the midst of the chaos. The first beta test from Capcom gave everyone a look at what to expect from the full game, the second open beta lets more people dive into the dinosaur-hunting action. But this new beta isn’t the exact same thing as the previous one, even if you never got to play the first time around.

In the beta, everyone can play the same online multiplayer Dino Survival mode. This pits two teams of five players against each other in a PVE and PVP setting, where you need to fight dinosaurs and face off against the other team at the end. You need to get through the tutorial that the game forces you to play first before jumping online with everyone. This is a little annoying but the tutorial gives a lot of helpful insight into the game’s exosuit classes and abilities. Utilizing them is key to warding off the attacking dinosaur legions and powerful boss battles.

If you played in the beta the first time around, the controls for both console and PC are the same. Playing on PC will feel good for those already accustomed to shooter games with a mouse and keyboard setup. On consoles, the controls will still feel very good, especially when you’re running around and attacking groups of dinosaurs that swarm you. Some of the button inputs for certain abilities might be tougher to hit when the action gets hectic, especially when you don’t notice that your character’s super ability is active. It will definitely take some getting used to trying to get the right timing for your suit’s class abilities, whether you’re a damage dealer or support class.

Speaking of which, the second beta has more exosuits available to choose from, with variations on the different classes. The Assault class has four variations that give access to various weapons and abilities that focus on taking out dinos and dealing damage. If you like using rifles or injuring dinosaurs from a distance, there’s definitely something for you here. The Tank class is exactly as it sounds, playing the tank of the group to absorb damage and aggravate enemies towards you. You also have a lot of firepower on hand with any of the variations, despite being slow when moving around. And finally, the Support class aids the team and hinders enemies in different ways. Each variant of Support lets you either boost the health and abilities of your allies, while also being a problem for dinosaurs and enemy teams in the area.

Though all three classes play well and can be useful in ways that are unique, they can also be complemented by the Rig equipment you choose to take with you. Rigs give you extra equipment that can pack an extra punch against dinosaurs or give you an extra ability to help out with movement and protection. This includes a shoulder canon, portable barriers, an extra jump boost, and even some area-effecting abilities. Rigs aren’t class-specific, so you can mix and match them with different class variants to see which are the best ones to use. They can help give an extra push when things get dire against swarming dinosaurs, or even an edge against players trying to hinder your team.

Matches online can be fun to play when you have a good team with you. Dino Survival works in multiple phases, where you must complete objectives along the way. First, the team gets tasked with eliminating dinosaurs that appear to attack you, which are usually smaller dinos brought together into one massive swarm. After a few times, you’re pitted against stronger dinosaurs and eventually, one big dino-boss, which can be a triceratops and even a tyrannosaurus rex. The idea is to finish these as fast as possible and get to the final objective, which is to escort a case to a specific location. During this, not only will you be fighting dinosaurs that appear, but the opposing team is doing the same thing. Your team needs to be the first to escort the case to the objective and then finish an upload to win the match.

Dino Survival can be very fun to play, provided everyone pulls their weight when completing objectives. If one person ends up not attacking enough or supporting the team, everyone will fall behind and allow the opposing team to get ahead. You’re not messing with the other team until the very last objective, where you can attack each other directly. For the most part, these matches are PVE up until you’re escorting the case, to which it becomes mildly PVP. The final game might have a more PVP-proper mode that is competitive, but this is an interesting twist on both approaches to online multiplayer. Getting into games is pretty fast, even for the beta, so you won’t be waiting a long while to find a team to play with.

On the surface, Exoprimal is pretty good. The emphasis on teamwork is what makes the game fun, despite some parts venturing into competitive territory. It will take some time to find the most ideal uses for the different exosuit classes, but you can definitely get a good feeling of what works and what doesn’t the more you play. Who knows what other crazy dinosaurs we might encounter with it when Exoprimal launches on PC and consoles on July 14^th, 2023.

Have you tried out the Exoprimal second beta? How do you feel about the game letting you battle legions of hostile dinosaurs? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section down below!