Key Highlights
- Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War is out now on PC (Steam/GOG), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2, developed by Auroch Digital and published by Dotemu
- Bug Mode lets players control the all-new Assassin Bug across four training scenarios, unlocked after completing the game’s opening missions which is a first for the franchise
- The campaign follows Major Samantha Dietz during the First Bug War, set 25 years before the 1997 film, with Casper Van Dien returning as General Johnny Rico through FMV cutscenes
The Starship Troopers franchise has tried many things across its various game adaptations such as the 2005 RTS, the more recent Extermination online shooter, but none of them ever handed control to the Arachnids. Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War, developed by Auroch Digital and published by Dotemu, launches today and makes that the centrepiece of its pitch.
Whether the execution lives up to it is the real question. Here is what the game actually offers, and where the scepticism is fair.
Campaign’s Familiar Setup, Some Genuine Promise & More
The main story follows war veteran Major Samantha “Sammy” Dietz, voiced by Charlotta Mohlin, as she recounts the First Bug War set 25 years before the original film. Players fight through open-area battlefields across Klendathu, Planet P, and new worlds, with an arsenal of over 30 weapons, pilotable mechs, and a range of mission types including zone defence and bug hunts.
It is a strictly single-player campaign. No co-op, no online component. That separates it from Starship Troopers: Extermination, which leans heavily into squad-based multiplayer. Ultimate Bug War is positioned as the simpler, more focused alternative for players who want a solo retro FPS rather than a live-service shooter.
Auroch Digital made Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, which earned genuinely strong reviews for nailing the retro FPS feel with a licensed IP. That track record gives the campaign credibility going in. Whether Ultimate Bug War matches it or coasts on franchise nostalgia, early player reception today will tell.
Bug Mode The Part That Needs to Deliver
Bug Mode is the new feature Dotemu has built most of the marketing around, and it earns that attention if it works. Players take control of the Assassin Bug, an entirely new Arachnid unit built for the game, and cycle through three forms: Warrior, Hopper, and Tanker, each with distinct movement and combat behaviour.
The mode is framed in-universe as a Federation training simulation. It unlocks after the first couple of campaign missions, covering four expansive areas plus a tutorial. Auroch has been upfront that getting the Assassin Bug’s larger form and flying abilities to work inside maps originally built around a human-scale campaign was one of the most technically demanding parts of production.
That honesty is reasonable. The concern fans raised when Bug Mode was first teased was exactly this: will it feel like a full experience, or a gimmick that outstays its welcome by the second scenario? Helldivers 2 has dominated the “bug extermination with mates” space for over a year now. Ultimate Bug War is not competing with it directly, but franchise fans who want more from Starship Troopers will be comparing the overall depth regardless.
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Wrapping Up
Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War is available now across all platforms, with a free demo still live on Steam for anyone still on the fence about buying it. The developer pedigree is solid, Bug Mode is a genuinely novel concept for this IP, and the retro FPS structure suits the source material.
But the franchise has promised more than it delivered before. If Bug Mode holds up mechanically across all four scenarios, this is the Starship Troopers game fans have been owed since the IP went quiet. If it doesn’t, the campaign alone is unlikely to carry it.
