Project Ethos, A Hero Extraction Roguelike Shooter, Revealed

Key Takeaways

Project Ethos is the latest multiplayer shooter from 2k Games, combining elements from extraction shooters and roguelikes.
The game boasts third-person shooter action and ways to enhance your abilities before and during matches.
Despite having many unique elements, we wonder if it’s enough to create an entire player base.

Yes, that title is correct: Project Ethos is the latest free-to-play multiplayer game from 2k Games, combining elements of extraction shooters, hero shooters, battle royales, and even roguelikes to create a mashup just as confusing as it sounds.

In addition, the game already features a few intriguing game modes. In addition to the core PVPVE open-world extraction mode, there are alternative PVP arena matches for players to test their combat abilities.

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The game’s interesting take on roguelike elements allows players to customize their build throughout their extraction match, unlocking more abilities the longer they survive. Additionally, rewards and skills can be unlocked between matches, allowing player progression to overlap through each session.

Project Ethos is a step away from the competition, with many elements grafted onto the traditional extraction shooter or battle royale. Still, we wonder whether it plays as a unique experience or just a bizarre mashup of previously seen content.

A hero selecting his abilities in Project Ethos.

The closest comparison we can make to Project Ethos’s third-person shooter action is Fortnite, with many elements and animations that look relatively similar. That said, there are a lot of elements from many other games from which Project Ethos takes inspiration.

Being an extraction shooter, you’ll likely join games mid-match, where enemies already have time to explore the open world before you enter. This forces players to dive into the middle of the chaos, complete their tasks, collect loot, fight some battles, and then escape to collect their rewards.

All that said, Project Ethos seems to shine in its very unusual roguelike elements. Every time you earn enough XP to level up, you can choose from a pool of 3 unique abilities that change how you play. You have a maximum of 9 throughout the extraction match, allowing for a different mix of abilities in every playthrough.

Additionally, the more you play, the more you can augment your character in the main lobby. But, to keep things fair for the PVP gunfights, most are passive abilities that give specific bonus rewards and upgrades during matches.

There’s more under the surface, like heroes with individual powers and an entirely separate arena PVP game mode, creating layers of player choice. That said, this only makes us wonder if Project Ethos strikes the right balance between being a unique game despite taking heavy inspiration from elsewhere.

Project Ethos Is Carving Out Its Own Niche

A display of the player hub in Project Ethos.

It’s hard to say nowadays whether a multiplayer title will launch with huge numbers or muddle into obscurity. Even multiplayer launches that seem to go well, like Ubisoft’s XDefiant, seem to fall in numbers just months after launch.

Project Ethos has already received considerable criticism from those who have played it, with some remarking on its lackluster gun balance and others noting that it may be trying to take a slice of an already diluted market.

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Games in the past have made their mark by combining elements of different genres, like Valorant‘s take on combining search and destroy with heroes. So Project Ethos’s best bet is to carve out its niche, which it is attempting to do.

That said, playing too much in your own lane can simultaneously ostracize you from the larger multiplayer player base. Games like The Finals had failed to carve out their niche within the market despite boasting fascinating elements.

Only time will tell what happens with Project Ethos. If you want to see if combining roguelikes and extraction shooters works, you can pick up a Twitch drop and try it out for yourself.