Asymmetric horror game Level Zero has been 're-announced' as a 'multiplayer extraction survival horror' shooter

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Level Zero was announced in 2022 as an asymmetric horror game about a team of big-brained scientists trying to escape a facility that's been overrun by horrific Alien-style murder-monsters. It was supposed to come out in 2023, but that didn't happen—instead, it's now been "re-announced" as Level Zero: Extraction, which is less 'big brains' and more 'big guns.'

Scientists are still involved, but now they're more background bad guys: Bringing aliens to Earth for experimentation that—holy cow, did not see this coming—goes completely wrong. An outbreak results, everyone dies, and the corporations behind all these awful shenanigans send in teams of mercenaries to clean house and, more importantly, retrieve the data so the alien research can be continued elsewhere. 

That's where you now come on: Not as a desperate, likely-doomed researcher, but a tough, gun-toting merc, still likely doomed but at least with the ability to lay down some heavy fire on your way out. Three teams of up to three mercenaries will enter the facility armed with assault rifles, shotguns, flamethrowers, and other tools of the trade to do battle with alien creatures and each other, track down valuable loot, and ultimately get out in one piece. Bringing out the goods will improve your reputation with traders, enabling access to better gear and new character perks.

Players who want to see how the other side lives can opt to take on the role of the game's monsters, who have the ability to see through walls, traverse through vents, lay out "living traps," and use a high-frequency scream to temporarily disable all light sources in an area—exposure to light being their one big weakness. Two monsters will be present in every match, enabling them to team up to really put the gears to the human interlopers.

There are a lot of extraction shooters out there right now, and more are coming, so I was a little surprised to see developer Doghowl Games move the game in that particular direction. But art director Alex Golenishchev told me it was really just an organic evolution of the concept.

"Over the course of the development we have experimented with a variety of gameplay features and mechanics," Golenishchev said. "Being huge fans of the survival horror and extraction shooter genres, the idea of combining the two together came to us naturally. We realized that both those genres have one thing in common—the element of fear: The natural fear of the horror atmosphere and the fear of losing valuable loot.

"When combined together, the genres empower each other, and we believe it offers a unique experience which we call 'multiplayer extraction survival horror,' something other conventional extraction shooters or horrors do not offer."

We'll have a chance to see how it all comes together next month: Doghowl is holding a closed beta for Level Zero: Extraction over the weekend of March 15-18. If you're interested in giving it a go, head over to the Steam page and punch the "request access" button. Level Zero: Extraction is set to launch in full later this year.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Level Zero: Extraction image - woman in an HEV suit looking at a holographic image being projected by her presumably very expensive wristwatch
Just two weeks after launch, 'extraction survival horror' game Level Zero: Extraction ends development: 'It's no longer feasible for our relatively small teams to sustain the game'
A female astronaut suffers from a horrible alien growth on her face in Directive 8020
Directive 8020: A Dark Pictures Game launches John Carpenter's the Thing into space this October
Exoborne promo image - guy wearing power armor and a baseball cap, packing a big gun, charging a church or something
Vertical extraction shooter Exoborne holds its first playtest soon, and you can sign up now
Atomfall Gamescom screenshots
Atomfall dev says Rebellion's open world shooter has 'some experimental stuff' that can have a 'huge influence' on the game world: 'It might work out. It might not'
Killing Floor 3 official screenshot
Killing Floor 3 is an unapologetic throwback to the gory days of the horde shooter
no more room in hell 2
No More Room in Hell 2's 'biggest update yet' introduces weapon attachments, new level scenarios, and ensures players no longer spawn 'without a body'
Latest in Horror
R.E.P.O. screenshots
'REPO is fun': Lethal Company creator recants their criticism of the new co-op horror game after trying to move a grand piano through a mansion
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Silent Hill f transmission trailer screenshots
'We've been keeping fans waiting for an awfully long time': We finally got to see more of Silent Hill f and boy, does it look great
One of Repo's player characters, resembling a yellow pedal bin with googly eyes, encounters a skeletal, open mouthed face with glowing yellow eyes.
After REPO 'kinda blew up', its developer asks the community for advice on how to make matchmaking lobbies
R.E.P.O. screenshots
REPO is my new favourite co-op horror game, which combines Lethal Company's looting loop with Content Warning's zany monsters
Blood Typers
Blood Typers is a budget-priced fusion of Typing of the Dead and co-op survival horror
Latest in News
A Steam Deck with SteamOS running in desktop mode.
A new and improved desktop experience just landed on Steam Deck and SteamOS is readying 'support for non-Steam Deck handhelds'
Olivia, a hunter from Monster Hunter Wilds, looks perplexed in an icy blue environment.
Monster Hunter Wilds players wonder if frenzied monsters are a little undercooked, as one slaps a sickly bird into a fine paste in just 25 seconds
Inzoi character studio - A Zoi designed to look like Billie Eilish
Inzoi is giving eager life simmers another free taste of its gorgeous character creator, with a bonus build mode demo for the architecture nerds
A group of adventurers plans out their strategy on a table of maps and documents.
This Pathfinder Humble Bundle lets you level up your TTRPG library and donate to charity at the same time starting at just $5
Sans, from the hit 2015 RPG undertale, folds his arms in a dashing suit as stonks rise in the background.
You can grab Undertale for less than $1, as the genre-defining indie RPG beats its all-time player peak for the first time in 10 years
Key art for the new Age of Empires 2 expansion showing an angry Viking and Japanese warlod.
Age of Empires 2 team continues to cook while delivering 'legendarily long' 8,000-word patch notes about 'the biggest updates' the 26 year-old game has ever had