Active Matter is a hardcore, gravity-bending extraction FPS with horror elements. With development by Matter Team and publishing by Gaijin Network Ltd (War Thunder, Age of Water), you are sent via a body sleeve out to explore, investigate, and retrieve and extract with an element that is the game’s namesake. In your fight to gather and extract, encounter anomalous and horrific beings, turned soldiers, and other players while running through areas that turn things sideways and upside down. Active Matter is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Why Won’t Horrific Things just Die?
Ok so I’ll admit that I didn’t quite read the fine print on this one. I had seen a little bit about Active Matter from the trailer and brief description. However I apparently didn’t notice the part about horror elements before agreeing to review it! But never mind how much my hair stood on end, check out my thoughts on the gameplay itself below.
Gameplay
Active Matter is a hardcore first-person extraction shooter with a focus on realistic and tactical elements in a world is full of beings from other realities and anomalous areas that keep you on the edge of your seat. Deploy into various zone maps with a wide range of objectives in PvE, PvPvE, and PvP modes. Complete the objectives and extract within the time limit to take any loot and active matter back with you. Failure to extract results in loss of those items. Thankfully not objective progress with the exception of those that require you to extract with certain items. Playing fields vary, but most include overgrown buildings with an infestation of various types of monsters.
The gameplay itself feels like a mixture of Escape from Tarkov, SQUAD, and similar games that allow you to micromanage your loadout. When selecting a body sleeve and loadout, you have the option of equipping items from your stash or selecting a provided loadout from your handlers. Be wary though, as the provided loadout is not nearly as robust and if you’re a primarily solo player like me, will notch up the level of difficulty. I wasn’t fully aware of just how hardcore playing solo is, but I will tell you that doing so has been frustratingly difficult. If it weren’t for objective progress being able to complete without extracting, I’d barely have anything done yet at all.
I’m not entirely familiar with realms of the cosmic horror genre such as the SCP Foundation. But playing Active Matter reminds me a lot of some of the enemies you encounter in CONTROL. Several of the enemies are just flat out creepy as hell, while others leave you searching the screen while your arm hairs rise. At the same time, this becomes somewhat of a frustration when encountering new enemies and only adds to the hardcore feeling of the game. Not to mention stressful. Especially when you have limited ammo and the dang things won’t just die. It also was a bit more than frustrating when receiving damage from an unknown source or one that you can’t easily fend off.
Graphics & Audio
For this review I have been playing Active Matter on PC. Honestly it’s the only format I really can play FPS games on and extraction FPS games are no different. Visually, the game looks great and plays relatively smooth. Only on rare occasions did I notice an odd stutter while things seem like they are catching up. The visuals also stick to a more realistic style that show the depth and grit of the world you’re deploying into. And the horrors you encounter do indeed look horrific as well.
The audio quality of the game is also quite good. Nothing like hearing the noises of monsters when you cannot see them anywhere. Most of the time I was able to track down some of the more obvious horrors like the Distorted and Turned just from the sounds they make alone. Other times I had no clue. There was one thing that did bother me a bit though with the game audio of Active Matter that I would like to briefly discuss.
AI Usage
I have to take up an issue with the use of AI to voice the “AI character” Ms. Second. Matter Team describes their use of AI on the Steam store page as such:
In-game AI character Ms. Second is using AI generated voice. Using humans voices for AI character would be cultural appropriation.
I vehemently disagree with the reasoning behind this AI usage. Cultural appropriation is explained by the Encyclopedia Britannica as “tak[ing] place when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way.” I’m sorry, but AI is not a group of minority persons that culture can be drawn from. To provide such reasoning for use of AI is honestly kind of insulting to those that do face actual cultural appropriation. Instead, it sounds like a convoluted way to say they didn’t feel like hiring a voice actor. It would have been more acceptable to state something like “We used AI to voice Ms. Second because we wanted it to sound awkward and off-putting, as AI generally can be.
Longevity
For lovers of horror games and extraction shooters, I’m sure Active Matter will be a blast if you have a group of regular friends to play with. Especially if you’re into more realistic and tactical shooters. As a solo player though, the difficulty becomes more of a headache than a challenge. This is especially true using the pre-provided loadouts which feel significantly underpowered. There is a fairly in-depth system of unlocks to work through called The Monolith. These include weapon modifications as well as various body sleeves (character models) for more customization. You just have to be willing to put the time in. Down the road I can see The Monolith basically being the equivalent of seasons.
Final Thoughts
Active Matter at its core is unique extraction shooter with a solid foundation. It is fairly unforgiving to the average solo player and I feel is likely best with friends. Getting started can be a bit overwhelming with the amount of min-maxing available and the overall layout of loading into a match. Thankfully, there are some guides around to help out new players. There is a lot of detail thrown into the game. However, it was just very jarring to encounter the AI voice. Especially when she keeps repeating the same lines over and over rather than talking conversationally. So not the best game I’ve ever had the chance to review, but certainly not the worst. It’s one of those niche things that earns a Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
If you enjoy this review, be sure to check out my other reviews here.
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