Credit: Feneq
Fusing genres is all the rage in the gaming world right now and the trend is set to continue in 2022. One such title, Rogue Command, currently in development by German indie developer Feneq, promises to fuse real-time strategy (RTS), deckbuilding and roguelike genres to create an experience that should be something new, while still tapping into the familiar.
While Rogue Command isn't due for release on PC until Q3 this year and consoles even later in 2023, there's already plenty to salivate about. The game lets you take command of an A.I. known as The Engineer, that has recently become sentient and now wants to enjoy a prosperous retirement rather than working endlessly for the next millennia.
To that end The Engineer must destroy the Planetary Core Extractor Company (PCX), an interplanetary mining corporation that stands in the way. To help it, you'll need to lead a robot uprising, building bases across a star system populated by 16 planetary biomes, venturing out into the fog of war to gather minerals and amassing troops and vehicles to destroy your enemies.
For that part, at its core, the game sounds like a classic RTS, requiring you to build, harvest resources and fight. The roguelike deckbuilding aspect will make an appearance following each mission you finish, allowing you to select a blueprint card that allows you to build a new unit-producing building. 100 blueprints and 90 unit types will be available, combinations of which should make for some interesting strategy. For example, with the right card combination you will be able to launch a nano-darkness of robo-necromancy attack to swarm and overwhelm your enemies.
Credit: Feneq Blueprint cards will also be upgradeable via 40 tech-ups, and there will be 25 different rival machine types to go up against, requiring you to keep on top of strengths, weaknesses and the card combinations that overcome each.
Graphically, the developers have gone for a polygonal look that appears to trade detail for a polished metal aesthetic that befits the game's robot theme. Games with this aesthetic often run smoothly, since they trade detail for faster rendering, so fingers crossed that's the case with Rogue Command.
An early access PC release will be available on Steam with pricing yet to be confirmed. Pricing for the Mac version is also expected to be announced closer to the game's release.
