Forged Battalion, the latest RTS from the developers of Star Wars Empire At War, Grey Goo and Command & Conquer, will be available on January 16 in Early Access. As players forge their own armies, so does developer Petroglyph hope Early Access will help them forge a better game.
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Our review of Petroglyph's last game, 8-Bit Armies
Forged Battalion is a classic Command & Conquer-style RTS with a major twist - players will be able to research, customize, create and forge their own units, and create their own faction to fight as. Do battle, gather resources, unlock items from the tech tree, and then build as they see fit. Players choose one of five set Archetype classes - Infantry, Light Vehicle, Heavy Vehicle, Aircraft and Turrets - and then slap on armour, locomotors, weapons, and special abilities like stealth or regeneration to create their own unit types.
It certainly sounds novel, but will require a lot of tweaking before it's perfect - which is where the Early Access version comes in. CEO of Petroglyph Chuck Kroegel says:
"The early access release of Forged Battalion is a vital part of developing the game. We want fans to truly help forge what the game becomes so it’s important to get them into the game as soon as possible and start giving us their feedback. We can’t wait to see the unique factions that the community will create. We’ll see you on the battlefield!"
The following will be available in the Early Access version when it launches on January 16:
- Campaign missions comprising the first act of a multi-act storyline
- Skirmish maps supporting up to eight players
- Multiple Skirmish game modes including HQ Destruction and Annihilation
- Dedicated servers to support multiplayer
- Five customisable archetypes of vehicles (infantry, light vehicle, heavy vehicle, air and turrets)
- Resource management of tech tree points earned in tactical battles
Which is quite a lot, and it's a relief to see both multiplayer and single-player in there.
We weren't that impressed by Petroglyph's last game 8-Bit Armies but we're hopeful the developer has learned from that mistake and made something truly special this time. We'll know more on Forged Battalion in the new year.
