Shock Tactics - Release Day

HiddenX

HiddenX

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The turn-based strategy RPG Shock Tactics will be released today:

Shock Tactics is a single player turn-based sci-fi strategy game with tactical combat, exploration, squad management and base building. It is inspired by the space western style of Firefly and tactic games like Jagged Alliance and X-COM.



You are a trailblazer for the first wave of the free Space Pioneers that are exploring an ancient alien homeworld. In their centuries-old struggle with the dictatorship of the Imperial Consortium, this planet is the first real hope of finding a new home for their people.


  • Challenging squad tactics combat: Lead your strike team against smart enemies that employ a large array of tactics. Know your enemy, build a strategy, rule the battlefield.
  • Exploration is key: The world map is full of mysterious landmarks containing alien technologies and ancient secrets that you can unravel to become strong enough to tip the balance of fate.
  • Procedurally generated world map: You never know what you will find when exploring the world. This makes strategic decisions unique for each game session and leads to a high replayability.
  • Strike team progression: Harness the power of the alien artifacts, unlock unique abilities and build your group of soldiers into a fierce strike team as you explore the planet.
  • Base building: Expand your base with structures to build advanced weapons, develop sophisticated healing capabilities and research alien technologies.
  • An immersive story woven into the open world: You are dragged into the struggle for the New World’s future while trying to stay alive in the middle of an escalating war between the Space Pioneers and the Imperial Consortium.
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More information.
 
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So is this only being released on Steam? No way to get a DRM-free copy?
 
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Well....it is colorful.
 
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Very few reviews so far. Seems like the main points of contention are the AI, UI and general blandness but people say it still plays and feels like an xcom game. Given the game has just been released I expect these elements will be improved over time. The reception has blunted my enthusiasm somewhat but a twitch stream will be sure to answer my questions. ;)

This genre needs imitators and hopefully this title will have some success.
 
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I'm still sad about Freedom Ridge never coming out - but I believe Gollop is developing that Phoenix-something game, right?
 
NewDArt said:
Hope it gets proper funding. He is one of the fathers of the genre, afterall.
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I would fund in a heartbeat no question. On a side note I wish more of the old-school had kept their game design chops going. Lots have slipped into management roles which to quote Spock "If I may be so bold, it was a mistake for you to accept promotion. Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny; anything else is a waste of material."
 
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Silver said:
I would fund in a heartbeat no question. On a side note I wish more of the old-school had kept their game design chops going. Lots have slipped into management roles which to quote Spock "If I may be so bold, it was a mistake for you to accept promotion. Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny; anything else is a waste of material."
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Yeah, I guess they grew complacent. But who can blame them, really. I mean, the suits took over and turned game design into business design.

Hard to stay motivated as an innovator in that environment.
 
NewDArt said:
Yeah, I guess they grew complacent. But who can blame them, really. I mean, the suits took over and turned game design into business design.

Hard to stay motivated as an innovator in that environment.
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Too true. Its a hard and perilous road but Gollop has been prepared to walk it through thick and thin. He will always have my respect for that.
 
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Silver said:
Too true. Its a hard and perilous road but Gollop has been prepared to walk it through thick and thin. He will always have my respect for that.
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The brothers were behind some of my all-time favorites, that's for sure.

X-Com being in my personal top 3 - and an absolute masterpiece as well as being the very creation of an entire subgenre.

Can't say he's impressed me lately, though. I found Chaos Reborn quite underwhelming - and I would much rather have seen an evolved version of the vastly more interesting Lords of Chaos.
 
NewDArt said:
The brothers were behind some of my all-time favorites, that's for sure.

X-Com being in my personal top 3 - and an absolute masterpiece as well as being the very creation of an entire subgenre.

Can't say he's impressed me lately, though. I found Chaos Reborn quite underwhelming - and I would much rather have seen an evolved version of the vastly more interesting Lords of Chaos.
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I'm not familiar with Lords of Chaos but looking it up on google I can see why you say that with its squad tactics etc. I wouldn't mind seeing a spiritual successor to that either. In defense of Chaos Reborn I have enjoyed playing it multiplayer against other humans and the computer but the single player didn't work for me. I don't usually play multiplayer but this game was made for it and is not really a single player experience.

During the Kickstarter you could play the prototype against other players and it was fun. I think you need to have different expectations of Chaos Reborn than you would of a game like X-COM.
 
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Silver said:
I'm not familiar with Lords of Chaos but looking it up on google I can see why you say that with its squad tactics etc. I wouldn't mind seeing a spiritual successor to that either. In defense of Chaos Reborn I have enjoyed playing it multiplayer against other humans and the computer but the single player didn't work for me. I don't usually play multiplayer but this game was made for it and is not really a single player experience.

During the Kickstarter you could play the prototype against other players and it was fun. I think you need to have different expectations of Chaos Reborn than you would of a game like X-COM.
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Oh, I didn't expect much from the game. I knew the original Chaos from my Spectrum 48K days :)

It's just that I think the formula is very simplistic and not a very good choice for a modern remake.

I did hope for a little more in terms of the singleplayer campaign, which was really shallow and boring.

It's just that the guy is very talented, and I think it's a waste to remake or modernise this kind of simplistic randomization-driven strategy game.
 
Xenonauts 2 will be closest to Xcom alternative it seems. Phoenix Point might be one day when it is finally finished.
 
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