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Long-awaited RTS 'Homeworld 3' is delayed until 2023
Gearbox and Blackbird Interactive plan to offer 'the deepest look yet' at Gamescom.
'Crossfire: Legion' will hit Steam early access on May 24th
The RTS based on the ultra-popular CrossFire tactical shooter series is just a few weeks away.
Acclaimed sci-fi mystery '13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim' lands on Nintendo Switch
Expect mech vs. kaiju battles, intertwining storytelling and gorgeous visuals.
Pokimane is starting a talent management company for streamers
Pokimane has co-founded a talent management company that hopes to give streamers and esports players better talent management.
Apple Arcade is getting an exclusive Lego Star Wars game
Real-time strategy title 'Lego Star Wars Battles' will arrive on the service soon.
'Command & Conquer Remastered' updates '90s RTS action for 4K monitors
Remastered versions of the first two Command & Conquer games are now available, so you can relive classic 90s RTS action with updated graphics and sound.
'Total War: Shogun 2' is free on Steam until May 1st
One of the best entries in the Total War series is currently free on Steam.
'Command & Conquer' mobile game wants in on that 'Clash of Clans' money
If you were looking for a full-scale return of the Command & Conquer franchise, this probably isn't it. During the EA Play presentation at E3, the publisher revealed the new mobile game Command & Conquer: Rivals, a simplified 1v1 combat game built for small-scale smartphone play. It takes all the trappings of the venerable RTS and crams them into a format made popular by the wildly financially successful Clash of Clans.
Ubisoft's next ‘Anno’ game relives the age of trade and empire
The Anno RTS series focuses more on civilization-building than straight-up combat, and its later editions explored that premise centuries into the future. But the franchise's next entry casts back a couple hundred years to the past when mankind's maps weren't fully filled in. Today at Gamescom, Ubisoft announced Anno 1800, putting players in charge of nations setting sail for trade and diplomacy.
'Age of Empires' is getting a 4K upgrade
Hey, Blizzard: you're not the only developer that can remaster a classic real-time strategy game. Microsoft has unveiled Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, a rework of Ensemble Studio's history-based conquer-the-map title. Graphics and sound get the obvious improvements with 4K resolution support, higher-detail visuals and a remastered soundtrack, but there are some functional improvements, too. There's a new narrative, Xbox Live multiplayer, new zoom levels (no more panning around to see a large-scale fight) and other unspecified gameplay improvements.
'StarCraft: Remastered' upgrades a real-time strategy classic
Blizzard is legendary for keeping old games alive, but it's going the extra mile this time around. The studio has unveiled StarCraft: Remastered, an overhaul that drags the 1998 real-time strategy game (including the Brood War expansion) into the modern era. It's getting the obligatory fresh coat of paint, including higher-resolution graphics (with support for 4K resolution), improved audio and support for Blizzard's current game launcher and multiplayer network. However, the team is also using this as an excuse to 'fix' the game by adding content and features you take for granted. There will be reasons to play even if you've played the classic title to death.
'Brass Tactics' is a VR RTS that puts you in a clockwork battlefield
Real-time strategy and VR don't seem like they would go together. After all, the key attraction to virtual reality is feeling like you're in someone else's shoes in a faraway land of make believe. The top-down view of typical RTS games doesn't quite lend itself to that level of immersion. Or does it? After a few minutes playing with Hidden Path Entertainment's Brass Tactics at an Oculus demo event, I found myself so engrossed in a cutthroat tabletop battle that I almost forgot I had a headset on at all. Now, there have been other real-time strategy games in VR -- Tactera and AirMech come to mind -- but Brass Tactics has a decidedly more medieval feel. The developers describe it as a "clockwork battlefield," as your buildings and minions appear to be built out of parts of a clock, gears and all. Yet, the design of Brass Tactics reminds me very much of tabletop war games -- living soldiers take the place of miniature figures while 3D-modeled landscapes replace plastic terrain. Gameplay itself should be pretty familiar to anyone who's played a real-time strategy. You start out with just your warriors and your archers, but you can upgrade them over time. To attack, you simply direct your battalion to a spot on the table with the Touch controllers. As you capture more regions, you can build more towers to create even more units like a flying squad or cavalry tanks. If you like, you can also use catapults to launch fire balls at your opponent. With Brass Tactics, you can also actually move "through" the landscape like an omniscient god, so you can get up close and get a better idea of how to manage your resources. You also need to move from region to region in order to build and maintain towers. It was pretty cool to be directly in the middle of everything, sending off troop after troop to capture or defend regions. I felt a little bit like an orchestra conductor, except instead of cueing violins, I was deploying archers. As engrossing as it was though, I'll admit it can be a little chaotic. It seems like it would be easier to hotkey or mouse your way through a battlefield than it is to figure out where to flail your arms. That said, it's probably a matter of getting used to it, and I can see improving my skills over time. If you're an RTS fan who also likes a bit of tabletop gaming from time to time and you happen to have a Rift, then definitely take a look at Brass Tactics when it comes to the Oculus Store later this year. Click here to catch up on the latest news from GDC 2017!
Warhammer 40K RTS Battlefleet Gothic: Armada announced
Tindalos Interactive is developing Battlefleet Gothic: Armada, a real-time strategy adaptation of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K tabletop series. Publisher Focus Home Interactive's announcement explains that Armada will focus on the Imperial Navy's Battlefleet Gothic and its attempts to spare the galaxy from awful things, spread courtesy of the Chaos Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler. Players will command fleets comprised of ships from Imperial, Chaos, Eldar and Ork forces. Leaders can also customize the weaponry, defense and support sub-systems of ships within their fleet, altering their performance and battle-specific special abilities. Experience and promotions will also be awarded to ships as they survive bouts of war. Armada isn't Tindalos Interactive's first crack at the RTS genre; the studio shared a glimpse of its futuristic, fight-over-precious-resources RTS Etherium early last year. We're still waiting to see how that turns out though – Etherium is currently scheduled to launch its assault on PC sometime in 2015. [Image: Focus Home Interactive]
Line of Defense Tactics makes in-roads with mobile devices
Line of Defense Tactics, the RTS spin-off of the upcoming sci-fi MMOFPS by Derek Smart, is now available on both Windows 8.1 and Windows Mobile. The game costs $9.99 and $4.99, respectively. The team's also added a $9.99 version on iOS devices that includes the full Lyrius campaign, in-game currency, and weapons. Both Android and iOS mobile platforms have access to the first three missions of the squad-based game for free. Line of Defense Tactics actually allows players to query the MMO database for information on units and equipment to help in their tactical battles.
Little Warlock School: King of castle management
Build a school of wizardry, recruit students to defend it against enemy attacks, and train those students to become the best wizards they can be in Little Warlock School. A mix of real time strategy elements blend with traditional resource management mechanics. This makes Little Warlock School feel like a fast-paced, tower defense type action game version of Tiny Tower. Little Warlock School is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 6.0 or later. In Little Warlock School, players create a school to train students in the care of magical creatures, arithmancy, or any other equally interestingly titled classes. During their time in school, the students will sometimes have to defend the school against enemy attacks. This is done through a prompt in which players select which student(s) will fight the attacker. Players can see the stats for both the enemy and each student they choose which helps them decide which student is best for the job. After selecting who will defend the school, an entertaining cutscene plays, providing a quick break from the main gameplay in a refreshing way. Little Warlock School features a lot of nice customization options: from the name of the school, the students allowed in, and what study labs are available. Players can create their own school of magic, which means players could recreate Hogwarts if they wished. Students are recruited for placement in the school through three categories: the not so great, the average Joes, and the super stars. Each category of students costs a different amount of coins to recruits. If players wanted to have a school filled with super stars they could do so with enough coins. The pacing in Little Warlock School is surprisingly fast, which limits the amount of time players spend waiting for something to do. There are only a few occasions where players might have to wait for something to do. Typically this because they don't have enough coins or gems to purchase a building upgrade or new rooms. Players can send some of their students off to do quests, which don't take very long and increase student's skills. Random events happen during quests as well, such as an enemy attacking in which players can choose to fight or flee. The random nature of these enemies showing up makes the game exciting. It also makes players less likely to leave the game for awhile as seen with other resource management type games. Events like exams keep players focused on educating their students, as the school is ranked based on how well students are doing in their classes. If the school drops too far in the rankings, it will affect the recruitment process for getting students for the next year. In addition to exams, the major event of graduation happens in year three, which means players need to keep track of their student's progress if they want them to succeed after school. This deadline keeps players engaged and makes Little Warlock School feel more challenging. Players will have to boost each student's skills in certain subjects for them to be successful. Little Warlock School is free on the App Store and recommended for players who enjoy resource management type games.
Elvenar brings city building to a fantasy world
Pristine worlds and virgin landscapes are an affront to sentient sensibilities, which is why the call is going out to colonize the world of Elvenar. Today, InnoGames announced that it is working on a new city building game, this one to be set in a fantasy world. Players in Elvenar will get to choose between Elves and Humans, after which they will get cracking on building a city to honor that race. Like other InnoGames titles, Elvenar will have not only a building component, but trade and battle ones as well. Elvenar is planning on a January 2015 closed beta test for the PC. Mobile editions of the game are also planned, although they will be coming later. Players can pre-register on the official site right now. [Source: InnoGames press release]
Uber axes Human Resources Kickstarter campaign
Planetary Annihilation developer Uber Entertainment canceled its Kickstarter campaign for Human Resources, the developer's human-harvesting, apocalyptic real-time strategy game. "Every Kickstarter prediction model is showing that we will come up woefully short of our goal," the developer wrote in an update on its funding page, adding that it can't continue spending time and money on a project that won't get funded. "One thing is for sure, Human Resources, as pitched in this Kickstarter, is over. But we adore the world of Human Resources and will endeavor to do what we can to bring it to life in some form." The developer raised $384,358 of its $1.4 million goal on the funding platform. The lofty goal would have been difficult for any aspiring developer to overcome; just four of the 341 Kickstarter games tracked in our one-year Crowdfund Bookie research series earned that much money in their campaigns. Even the $844,127 hauled in by Harmonix for Amplitude in May was an anomaly in a funding space that scarcely supports big-budget projects like it once did. Human Resources was planned to end in two weeks on Tuesday, November 4. [Image: Uber Entertainment]
Planetary Annihilation creator unveils robot apocalypse RTS Human Resources
Monday Night Combat creator Uber Entertainment revealed its next project, Human Resources, today. The game is the follow-up to its previous Kickstarter success story Planetary Annihilation, with another uniquely-themed crowdfunded RTS. Taking place during an apocalypse, players control one of two warring factions ("ancient squid monsters from another dimension" and "giant killer robots") that compete to control Earth's sole remaining resource: humans. The project aims to capture "the tone, character, and pacing of a Command & Conquer game mixed with the mammoth battles of an Annihilation game," and will feature large-scale battles that take place in fully destructible city environments. Uber is seeking $1.4 million in Kickstarter pledges to fund Human Resources, and aims to have a PC release ready by February 2016. [Video: Uber Entertainment]
Total War tussles with Attila in 2015
Attila the Hun is the grimacing face and unrelenting antagonist in the next Total War game, coming from Creative Assembly in 2015. In Total War: Attila, you manage a huge Eastern Roman empire, stretched to breaking point across a vast terrain in Europe and a thin dispersal of military troops. With Atilla and the Hunnic empire threatening to invade, you must strengthen your entrenchment and command your armies to push back his influence – often coming in the form of fiery sieges.
StarCraft II: An MMO player's perspective
StarCraft is of immense importance to the world of online gaming. It's one of the franchises responsible for establishing Blizzard Entertainment as a titan (get it!?) of the games industry. It serves, for many, as the ideal example of what an RTS game should aspire to be. And it was among the first titles to transcend one-off competitions and contests to become a global e-sport featuring pros who make the big bucks and events watched by millions. Without StarCraft, there would be no Dota 2, no League of Legends, perhaps no SMITE or Infinite Crisis. The MOBA niche, now one of the most profitable areas of online gaming, might not exist if not for the original StarCraft's custom three-lane Aeon of Strife map. StarCraft and its sequel, StarCraft II, represent the quintessential essence of small-scale online warfare. As a fan of MOBAs and an ardent lover of clicking things quickly, I took a spin in StarCraft II in an effort to better understand the foundation of the games I enjoy. What I discovered was a difficult, punishing game that demands your full attention and gives you plenty of reasons to keep coming back.
