@DSOGaming The Red Solstice is available for free at the Humble Bundle site for the next 48 hours.

Ironward and the Humble Bundle are currently offering The Red Solstice for free to all PC gamers. As with most Humble Bundle giveaways, this offer will end in 48 hours and players will be able to keep this game in their Steam inventory forever.

The Red Solstice is described as a tactical 8 player co-op survival game set on Mars in the distant future. The game features hardcore survival and player interaction in dark science fiction setting.

[...]

Solstice Chronicles: MIA is offering The Red Solstice Gold Edition when you buy it. The offer lasts all week.

SC:MIA + The Red Solstice Gold Edition! Grab it now!

Hello Marines,
special promotion and patch for entire week!

If you buy Solstice Chronicles:MIA, you will also get The Red Solstice Gold Edition(includes all dlc)

46$ worth of content and you get it pretty cheap, just this week! Spread the word and help us promote SCMIA :)
[...]

Our Eye found two reviews for the The Red Solstice:

Brash Games:

The Red Solstice Review

The Red Solstice is a tactical action RPG with all of your favourite features, minus all the unnecessary crap. Nkidu games is known for their solid releases that never (up until now) disappointed the PC-gaming community and this game is no exception.

Mars, year whatever (something in the future), you’re on a planet that isn’t earth (duh), but has been inhabited by humanity (I think it’s Mars or something). A catastrophe happened and now everything is in shambles and full of ugly creatures that are just waiting for you shoot them down. So yes, there is a story, but let’s face it, it won’t compel you, which – to be honest – fits the genre quite well. You know what else fits the genre? Everything else. The characters are visualised stereotypes, starting with the buff commanders who talk with a deep and ever so manly voice (I don’t think I need to mention the obligatory cigar in the splash picture) and ending with the petite females doing all the healing (they would make such caring mums). Neither visually, nor story-wise the wheel is being reinvented, but hey, why change something that works, right?

While some games of this kind get boring after a couple of missions where you use more or less tactics to run and gun your way through different kinds of hostile waves, TRS mixes the pace of the missions very well. A slow and hard tactical mission, where it will take you a fair amount of time to fight through the map is followed by an easier mission where the use of heavy gunners replace the need for tactics a fair bit. In most of the missions you will also have to face distinct challenges that need to be considered and worked around.

[...]

The Red Solstice delivers. You get what’s advertised and that is perfectly fine. If you enjoyed titles like XCOM, Diablo and sometimes think back to 2004’s “Full Spectrum Warrior” with a warm nostalgic feeling, then you will undoubtedly enjoy this game and it’s tactical RPG-styled gameplay. Amongst all the indie games and open software The Red Solstice might just be the most well-rounded and solid piece of software installed on my PC.

Score: 7/10

Unstoppable Gamer:

Full Review

Being a marine on Mars has never been a particularly easy job.  There’s always demons or resistance fighters swarming over the barren landscape, or, in the case of The Red Solstice, there’s both resistance fighters and a virus sweeping through an outpost turning everyone into violent monsters, and it’s your squad’s job to find out what’s going on and how to stop it.

The Red Solstice is a top-down, tactical game where you guide a squad of four marines through a Mars base while monsters assault you from all sides.  The action is mostly in real time as your marines automatically shoot incoming enemies, but you always have the option to slow time to a crawl and strategically position and micromanage your soldiers.  I quite enjoyed this mechanic and it worked quite well with the difficulty, as it forced me to assess whether it was time to run and gun or entrench my troops and weather the storm.

There are also RPG elements which allow you to customize your soldiers’ classes, stats, and weapons as you level up, though the stat boosts are so small they go mostly unnoticed.

The main campaign isn’t that long, consisting of ten missions, but there are quite a few difficulty levels and a side campaign that can be heavily customized and played solo or online.  The matches consist of a grace period in which you explore the map and gather items before sending waves of enemies against the players while they attempt to survive, guard objectives or capture territories.

Despite its real time nature, its mobility accessibility is quite good.  The hearing accessibility, too, is fine in-game, though it lacks subtitles for the few cutscenes.  The largest problem is with the visual accessibility, as the font for subtitles and ability descriptions is small and difficult to read.

Score: 70%

Positives

• Challenging, tactical gameplay
• Many useful game assists offset the mobility issues of real time maneuvering
• Heavily customizable side missions and multiplayer campaign

Negatives

• Cutscenes lack subtitles
• The font is miniscule and difficult to read
• Some unnecessary uses of the keyboard that complicate mouse-only play

Here are some reviews for The Red Solstice.

Armed Gamer

I’m not a fan of numerical ratings, but I will definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes the top down squad shooter genre. Especially if you liked games like Alien Breed or that Starcraft II mod I mentioned. It’s a solid entry into a field that could use more entries in general, and one I’ll probably end up convincing a few friends to buy for some co-op fun.

Mouse n Joypad, 83%

The Red Solstice is a title that has a gravitas and a weight far in excess of what it should. The story and voice acting has a true B-movie vibe and can come off as a bit “hammy”. The Red Solstice can afford to poke fun at itself in this area as the oppressive and atmospheric gameplay more than compensates for any perceived shortcomings. It has a brilliant artistic design and players will be on the multiplayer mode for a long time to come. In the beginning it can be confusing to equip and upgrade your squad, but once you realise YOU are the hunted and play accordingly, The Red Solstice becomes a fantastic experience.

Softpedia, 4/5

The Red Solstice is clearly designed to be played with other humans rather than Artificial Intelligence partners, and the fact that missions take one hour and are heavily focused on cooperation means that the experience can be both tense and challenging.

The problem is the fact that eight players need to be involved at the same time, and that there's a limited number of gamers who have that kind of group to connect with on a constant basis, and there's no guarantee that the community will remain engaged with the title in the long run.

Wasduk

Graphically, the maps are large and lavish enough for a game with The Red Solstice’s recommended specs, but you’re not going to stop and take the time to appreciate them much.  Open plazas and tight corridors all start to look the same when you’re hurtling down them away from a pack of rabid devourers, and the same goes for the music.  It does its job well enough, keeping up the tension and adding to the overall atmosphere of hopelessness, but it’s not something you’re going to remember later on.  The mainstay of the effort in the game has been ploughed into creating an enjoyable multiplayer game with as much replay value as you can handle.

Co-Optimus, 4.5/5

Throughout my whole experience with The Red Solstice, it never loses focus on what it was built around, teamwork. Players looking for a challenge will be right at home, and anyone who wants to experiment with different strategies will find a wealth of variety here. They manage to succeed in delivering an atmospheric tactical strategy game where friends become allies and allies become monster food. The game is all about maintaining momentum, balancing risk and progress, remembering there is no solace during The Red Solstice.

PressA2Join

Overall the game suffers a little from downfalls of feeling very dated, that being said I did quite enjoy it despite this not being one of my favourite genres so kudos for that. It may however be tough for most people to get past the “rough edges”. If this style of game is your thing then it’s worth a look otherwise it might be best to give it a miss. Aside from that, this is a pretty good first attempt.

TerminalGamer, 8.5

Overall, this game has a lot of pros and very little cons. I would consider it a good purchase as long as the developers continue to add more content. The only reasons I wouldn’t give this game a 9 or 10 is because the randomness of the game can make it extremely difficult.

The Red Solstice has left Early Access and is now available as a released game on Steam with a 20% discount for one week and will also be available on Humble Bundle.

The Red Solstice is a tactical, squad-based survival game set in the distant future on Mars, playable in single-player or with up to 8 players in cooperative online multiplayer. Roam freely over huge maps, complete randomized objectives and deal with surprise events that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Survive and conquer by any means necessary. Get stronger every time. Level up to unlock new weapons and abilities. Try to survive the storm.

Take the Lead: Issue commands and set waypoints and objectives for your friends as you outsmart and outgun your way through the derelict domiciles of Tharsis.  
Play Your Way, Together: With support for 8-player co-op, play as one of 8 distinct, customizable classes, each with unique abilities and traits.
Odd Jobs: Tackle an onslaught of randomly generated events with just one hour to make your mark. From zone defense to supply retrieval, you're never short of enemies to kill and objectives to complete.
Earn and Learn: Kill to earn experience points and unlock new abilities and classes. Heal allies, deploy turrets, launch grenades, set traps and much, much more.
Tactical Single-Player: Play on your own and lead a squad through a satisfying single-player campaign, and lead your squad through a wide variety of levels using The Red Solstice's Tactical Mode, which lets you issue commands while slowing down the action.
Game NOT Over, Man: Killing ain't easy. Drive back untold Martian horrors in multiple modes, maps and difficulties and get stronger every time. Even if you perish.

Here is the launch trailer.

And there is a comic book as well, available from our archives.

The Red Soltice is leaving Early Access and enters the realm of released games on the 9th of July and this will be, next to the co-op mode, with a single player campaign.

Ironward and Nkidu are excited to announce that The Red Solstice will emerge from Steam Early Access into full release on July 9. The scope of this highly tactical, squad-based survival game set on a near-future Mars is also set to expand significantly, as we announce for the first time that it will launch with an extensive single-player campaign, in addition to its adrenaline-pumping 8-player cooperative multiplayer mode.

This video shows some details of the single player campaign.

Nikudu Games checked out the latest updates in The Red Soltice in a video on their Twitch channel. According to the devs, the game claims to be a squad based coop SF strategy/RPG with an epic single player campaign,

The latest post-funding update for The Red Solstice has news about the Singleplayer mode. If-case you all forgot the game was originally a Co-Op online game. 

The Red Solstice - Singleplayer!

We have some big news.. as we said we were working on that singleplayer..aaand! Well you get to play it soon and we'll try to present you here what we have been working on.

If anyone of you played our multiplayer you know you are playing as a member of squad who is searching for Tyler Hunt, as intel reports he has some cruical data.

STORY

In singleplayer you get to play with Tyler Hunt and his squad, it covers stories of Unit Black Light and Unit Night Fighter!

Note: before we started working on multiplayer, we already had an idea of what we want on singleplayer, so base ground story was set!

Tyler Hunt is part of Lost Generation, a genetically modified humans. Idea was to create a world, that is affected by individuals, and then resolve the story and the world itself through the characters and their personalities, basicaly we tried to connect you to those few cruical characters in this chaotic world, we'll see if we succeded or not :)

We wanted to give a different flavour to each mission in singleplayer, so it feels somewhat special and unique, and our audience, you.. will be the final judge!

Offcourse with tons of actions and tactical decisions to create! Boss fights all over the way, can you make it till the end? :)

Ironward has updated The Red Solstice with some new maps, graphics, bosses, music, and announce the game is now half off on Steam till January 2nd.

With this update we officially feature a new industrial themed map. It provides a dark and gritty feel. It's narrow corridors and a central defense position will require some new strategies and should provide a fresh experience to veteran players. Monsters will move 10% faster on this map.

Along with the new map we feature four new missions:

• In the Eye of the storm mission players will be trying to restart failed reactors and bring back colony shields while running in the dark. Remember that box of road flares you threw away? Well, sh*t happens...
  
• Enemy at the Gates mission will teach players a valuable lesson, that the enemy at the gates is much better then the enemy rushing through the wide open gates.
  
• Colony Defense System makes the marines deal with a case of hacked turrets. Sometimes it's worth finding the person responsible and undoing the damage they have done. Sometimes it might be preferable just to clean the mess up with some explosives.
  
• There are many enemies in The Red Solstice. Good thing is that they can't multiply on their own. Until now. "Kill it before it lays eggs" is no longer a valid option. Can you contain the infestation from spreading before you face overgrowth?

Ironward sent out news about a free Horrors of Mars update for The Red Solstice that will also bring with it improved tutorials, some game optimizations, and more.

The Red Solstice gets free Horrors of Mars update, improved tutorials, optimization and more

8-Player Tactical Co-Op Survival Game Is Steam's Daily Deal, 40% Off

Iron Ward has launched a major, free update for The Red Solstice, its 8-player, tactical co-op survival game. The Horrors of Mars update adds two deadly new bosses that will greatly impact gameplay, requiring extensive teamwork to defeat. The update also includes extensive gameplay improvements, including completely overhauled tutorials and other features that help make the learning experience a bit easier on new players, as well as significant network optimization, new Steam achievements and a range of gameplay fixes and balancing.

Take a look at the two new bosses in this new trailer for the Horrors of Mars update.

The game is also 40% off as Steam's Daily Deal today, so it's never been a better time to jump in. Read the full changelog here.
 
Check out the two new bosses below!

Ker, the sandworm

A monstrous creation borne from experiments conducted by the Elysium corporation, the biggest and toughest anyone has ever encountered. And it got released on Tharsis.

Intel: This creature is not to be taken lightly. His armored shells are exceptionally tough, and it looks like you may need to break through them to do any significant damage to the creature. Its gangly, twisted legs are also a big problem; consider suppressing them so they can't be used to attack. Also, even though Ker tends to stay in one spot, running away might not be a good idea; we've seen it eat and swallow anything that thinks it can run. We have to stand and fight. Hiding is not an option for this creature.

In the end, maybe a good old Nuke, SHIVA weapon, might be just enough to bring him down... I sure hope so...

Marines, stay frosty, there's a lot more to this one than just being ugly.

Ripjaw

Our intel has discovered a new creature, and we don't yet know what to make of it. It's sneaky, it attacks fast, and it disappears even faster. It acts like it's the king of... other nearby creatures. They fear it.

It seems to isolate a single team member before killing... or is it actually killing them? We've never discovered what happened to our missing squad mates. Their comms get blocked, only traces of blood remain. Perhaps there is something more to it... a nest of some sort? An incubation process?

One thing's for sure: each time this creature has attacked there wasn't much we could do, and we lost one more team member, dragged into darkness by the creature.

MMO Games Geoff Higgins played an early build of The Red Solstice on Steam Early Access , and shared his opinion in the game in a new preview.

Like many games coming out on Steam now, The Red Solstice is an “early access” title, so expect to play a beta. Thankfully, the game itself is very stable and seemingly bug free. The most unstable element of the game is the lobby, where you will have issues crashing and getting kicked prior to launch. Ironward are hard at work adding and polishing so it can be safely assumed that these issues will be squashed while they add more content.

The Red Solstice is another one of those games that gets better the more you play it. The fog of frustration and confusion will slowly dissipate with every mission you run, revealing a challenging and engaging gaming experience that ultimately rewards in that way every good game should- the urge to give it one more go. This is especially important here because in The Red Solstice you are going to die… a lot.

Ironward has finally posted a new update for The Red Solstice this week with news about the games surveys, and the developers top priorities.

We have been really busy last few weeks working nonstop on next BIG content update for the game. What is currently planned is adding a bunch of new missions and two really big boss fights! Besides that work is also progressing on further optimizing our network code and making it even more stable!

One of our top priorities at this time is finding the best way on how to get The Red Solstice be more accessible and enjoyable to new players while at the same time maintaining it's true fighting spirit that a lot our hard core players love so much! We have some ideas on how to solve that issue, more news coming soon!

While you wait for that we have just sent backer survey to all backers with reward tiers with physical rewards and to higher reward tier backers! Please complete them as soon as you can!

Brittany Vincent of Hardcore Gamer previewed The Red Solstice in a new article.

The final release of The Red Solstice needs to fix some AI and pacing issues, as well as improve the voice acting (which is presently annoying, repetitive, and often out-of character), but all in all this early build provides an impressive foundation. It’s good fun with friends, and in an age of endless first-person shooters, I’m happy to see alternatives that force my buddies and I to co-operate rather than slaughter each other mindlessly.

I managed to roundup a few more previews for The Red Solstice. I even had the chance to try the game out myself. and recommend it for other watchers.

Techraptor

The single player has yet to be released but will follow the path of a marine named Tyler Hunt and his “Alpha Squad” as they are sent to investigate the communications failure around the largest colony on Mars, Tharsis. The Multiplayer will also have elements of the story line.

Graphically the Red Solstice looks and plays nice, there are some issues when too many objects appear at once that can cause some lag in the game. The attention to detail is fantastic as you explore the city, there are aspects that make it feel like a living city complete with street lights or construction areas as well as appearing very futuristic with a metallic sheen on the world.

Chalgyr's Game Room

A refreshing aspect to The Red Solstice is that it is almost a requirement to work as a team; unless you are very good or very lucky, playing as a lone wolf is exponentially more difficult than roving around in pairs or even as an entire squad. You will face punishing odds no matter your group size, so having squad mates to help cover your retreat is almost a requirement. While staying mobile is a sure way to stay alive, there are times when it will be more prudent to stop and stand your ground.

Continue-play

The Red Solstice is shaping up rather well. There’s plenty of work for the developers left to do, but already it provides an entertaining top down strategy multiplayer experience that’s worth a try. If you’re one of those people who likes getting sucked into huge amounts of small statistical details and playing out strategies with a group of people online, then The Red Solstice is probably for you. I certainly enjoyed my time with it just as much as I enjoyed my time with the original NOTD back in 2004, although a small amount of time is required to learn the basic ins and outs to prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed.

Here are two more previews of the Early Access version of The Red Solstice.

Trust in Play

Nevertheless, would I suggest buying The Red Solstice? It’s currently in Early Access and I’ve already gotten more use out of it than some of the bigger budget games I’ve played. I’m glad to say The Red Solstice isn’t one of the grayed out titles in my Steam library. The Red Solstice is an entertaining top down strategy game that you can play with a few friends or none at all. I’ve found it both fun playing with random people and friends of mine. The Red Solstice will get you your bang for your buck and it’s not even finished yet!

The Red Solstice is a promising game with enough graphical and gameplay features that will remind you of several classics you may or may not have played. However, due to the framerate and lag issues, the game tends to be somewhat unplayable at certain hours. The Red Solstice starts to feel repetitive, even when playing with others on a regular base, due to the fact that you will always need to scavenge and do quests in the same map. Having only one game mode available only makes the repetitive feel bigger. However, besides all of this, the game can still go in many directions which can ultimately make the game not just fine but great.

Game Crastinate has posted a short preview of Iron Ward's recently launched Early Access version of The Red Solstice.

This week, Ironward officially launched The Red Solstice, a sci-fi co-op tactical action strategy game available on Steam Early Access. Today we’re taking a look at this ambitious title to see whether or not the game can live up to the hype, even at this early stage in development. At this point, The Red Solstice is entirely an online game. This being a Early Access title, features such as single player have yet to be added. Upon loading up The Red Solstice, you’ll have the opportunity to play through a “prologue”, which is basically a short tutorial to help new players get accustomed to the movement and actions available in the game. Playing the prologue is highly recommend before jumping into mutliplayer, it’s pretty helpful. Once you’ve got a handle on the controls, it’s time to jump right into the mix with the general population.

Not every mission will be a success, even if you put an hour into it, you can still gloriously fail. It’s the panicked sense of impending doom that shines most brightly. The next room may be your last. That equipment locker might not have enough ammo to last very long. Your Medic could get caught unprepared for an ambush. The Red Solstice is absolutely glorious, and is everything PC gaming is about.

Ironward has released The Red Solstice on Steam Early Access. You can get a 40% discount for a limited time until July 21st. Here is the Usual video also.

Why Early Access?

“As a small team, Early Access is a great way for us to... well... get the game into your hands early! We'll be able to get important gameplay feedback to make sure it's as fun as it can be, and at the same time polish any rough edges, add much more content, and get the game ready for final launch!”

How long will this game be in Early Access?

“It will be in Early Access until we're ready to release it. We're anticipating at least a few months.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version will have much more content, more skills, additional missions, new monsters, etc. We also expect to get further feedback during Early Access that will help us determine what you want to see in the final game.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Intel HD Graphics - NOT SUPPORTED
Windows XP - NOT SUPPORTED
Single-player mode is not yet available in Early Access, but will be added for the final launch.

IMPORTANT: Play the demo before you buy so you are 100% sure the game will work properly for you.

Stability and bugs: There are some rough edges and the game may crash on occasion. However, it's already very playable thanks to early alpha testing, and we're absolutely looking for your feedback to make sure it's as good as it can be. We're very passionate and will be online pretty much 24/7 to gather any concerns or bug reports you have, in order to fix the problems and update the game as quickly as possible.

Gameplay content: There are several different game modes available already to keep you entertained. Most of the skills are done, and we're working on adding more throughout Early Access. You can advance through the full 25 ranks in each of the 8 playable classes, though there's still more work to be done on each class. If story is your thing, there are two primary mission storylines with four missions each, along with numerous bosses and lots of enemies. Most of the weapons and powerups have also been implemented. Needless to say, we feel there's already a lot of content to enjoy

The next post-funding update for The Red Solstice has news from Ironward about backer keys, and the launch of the game on Early Access.

Early Access announcement, keys coming!

After few short delays, this is it ladies and gentlemen!

Early Access on Steam is only few days away and it is hitting on 10th of July!

Kickstarter backers start early

All of you our dear backers will get their Steam Early Access keys by 9th of July at latest! The game would have not been as polished and as rich in content without your amazing support, even though it is months away from full release.

Amazing cover art by Petrol

As some of you already know we have partnered with amazing creative talent at Petrol, the award winning creators of more then a dozen great cover art pieces for various top tier games! We would like to use this special opportunity and reveal for the first time our new official key/cover art that has come out of this cooperation!

Whole new world map added to the game

We have a big surprise! Besides the general world map of central sector that some of you already got used to while playing TRS Alpha we have added a new one to the game as well! Science is the name of the new map that becomes available after you have managed to finish/complete the central sector. It features harder and more resistant enemies, and in future will include even some new ones. It will have some interesting areas that are interactive in various special ways, like a huge reactor in which you and your team will have to thread carefully because even the smallest explosion could start the catastrophe!

Survey??? Bring it on!

We'll be sending Kickstarter surveys shortly. Whoever manages to fill in the survey in timely manner, we'll do our best to include your name even in Early Access build missions.

Past few weeks have been really intense for us with working 24/7 to get the game ready for Early Access next week. THANK YOU again for your amazing support.

In the latest post-funding update for The Red Solstice the games developer Ironward shares news on the Steam transfer, and the current state of the game.

Silence before the storm!

We have been very busy and very quiet at the same moment and that is good, a silence before the storm!

Steam transfer complete

Our transfer to Steam is now totally complete, server move is done and our old official servers are now obsolete! Right now we are adding more content and ironing bugs for The Red Solstice Steam Early Access that we are expecting to happen at the end of June!

Working on some amazing things

We are also working on amazing new cover art with the help of PETROL, the amazing studio that did some iconic cover artwork job on huge titles like Destiny, Watch Dogs, Da

Besides that, on development side of things we have been very active with hiring few really needed specialists. We are revamping our pathfinding and have a developer focused on that, two guys are recording a bunch of new sound effects, replacing some old ones and adjusting our whole audio side of things. On the visual front the huge new boss that was added as part of Kickstarter success - the mighty worm, is just getting animated!

And that is not everything that we have been working on lately! Voice narrators for intro and outro parts of the game have been added, we have implemented 8 achievements in the game so far and are currently implementing medals as well! General stability of the game is being improved and worked on constantly!

So as we mentioned, it has been very busy few weeks for us but Early Access build is almost ready!

Ironward has posted a new update for The Red Solstice that thanks all  the backers who help fund the game, and goes into detail about what to expect next.

We made it!

1504 backers, and 60.853$ earned, thank you, to every single one of you from bottom of our heart. This Kickstarter campaign was amazing journey for us and we are unbeleviably grateful to you all for helping our dream project come true!

What's next

After short few days rest we are back on track with development and getting ready to deliver Steam Early Access to all of you by the end of May! Besides that we are cointinuing developing and adding all the features that we have promised as part of our main Kickstarter goal and those will be available by release date of final version of the game! All of the rewards for your chosen reward tiers will be delivered by then! More on specifics about the release date soon!

Late backers, keep supporing us

All of you who were late to support us through our Kickstarter campaign can still do so for next few weeks directly through The Red Solstice website where there are various reward tiers still available! PayPal and credit card options for payment are available!

Twitch fundraiser

Besides backing TRS and supporting us through website directly we will be preparing a special 24 hour fundraiser(open alpha again!) on Twitch for the game as well! What is our goal? Our goal is to reach the 100.000$ total raised (together with Kickstarter funds) to be able tu build an epic and dramatic single player campaign as well! We'll keep you posted on this!

Ironward has posted the next update for The Red Solstice with news everyone has less than 24 hours to help extend the funded game with the next stretch goal.

EVAC in 24 hours!

This is it, the last 24 hours are upon us! Thanks to unbelievable support from all of you and to some big bucks backers stepping in we are now just a bit over 8000$ shy away from our 75.000$ stretch goal that would add the Mac version of the game plus two new advanced gameplay modes!

If we manage to reach the 75.000$ stretch goal during next 24 hours we will be announcing a special surprise reward for ALL of our backers! Let's try and do it marines!

With close to 48 hours to go, The Red Solstice Kickstarter campaign has reached its goal of $50.000.

We are left speechless as we have reached our main funding goal with 48 hours to spare! Thank you, thank you so much everybody for supporting, sharing and playing the Alpha last few days! You are all amazing and we are making this game for you!

Can we reach the stretch goal?

With almost two days left for our Kickstarter campaign we have enough time to try and continue fighting to reach our first stretch goal? Can we make it? With your amazing support we think we can! So let's double the efforts marines, share few more times with your friends, consider some of the additional reward Add-Ons and higher level reward tiers and what's even more important try out the Alpha that is available to everybody right now for the remaining hours of Kickstarter campaign!

You can also find news on a new critter, Ripjaw, and..

Our CEO and lead game designer Hrvoje Horvatek will be doing an AMA at Reddit today at 5PM EST / 11PM CET! Be there and get your questions ready as he will answer almost anything about the game and our development process :)

Well another day and I have another update from Ironward for The Red Solstice with news about free alpha access for everyone , a new video, and a new DLC add-on.

72 hours and counting!

We now have only 72 hours until the end of our Kickstarter campaign and are missing only 6.000$ to reach the goal! That is just amazing and we will be asking you to support us during this final push, with your help we can do it!

Alpha for everybody

During next 72 hours we will be opening Alpha access to EVERYBODY! Hurry over to LINK and download the game and indulge in intensive coop multiplayer! Devs will be dropping in during those three days to play with you, chat and help you out! During that time ALL players will be able to try and wear FLUFFY ARMOR!

Instructions

In no way any problems that might show up with either the game or the servers are representation of how will the game function in it's final release form!

If a crash happens game will automatically submit it to our database server so we will be able to fix it. If any major problem appears Ironward team will be online and ready to fix it.

Developers are yellow in chat and they will be there to help and answer your questions throughout the day.

DOWNLOAD THE GAME here: http://www.theredsolstice.com/demo.php or if you have the DEMO, try updating through your Launcher (Run it in admin mode), if it won't work then start the game using Game.exe from your BIN directory.

Register using this key in multiplayer: RGMGsU4e

Note: If you have participated in last alpha test, your account and experience is still there! Just use it!

If people cannot join your games, make sure you forward these ports 17887-17889 UDP/TCP

All DLC package as reward Add-On

Lots of you have been asking us to add a reward Add-On that would include all our future DLC/expansions in one package! So here it is, for adding 30$ per game key to your pledge you will get a full DLC package!

In the next kickstarter update for The Red Solstice Ironward share more information on the games funding, and a change to future DLC for all tiers above $200.

Sprinting to the goal

Now we are only 7000$ away from reaching the funding goal and we have 4 more days to wrap things up! All of you have been a tremendous supporters and backers and we can't find enough words of praise for everybody involved. Thank you so much for sharing absolutely everywhere the info about our Kickstarter, please continue to do so, continue backing and raising pledges as our final goal of 50.000$ is now in sight and reachable with the final push in last few days!

All future DLC for 200$ reward tier and above

Another thing some of you asked us for is to add the package with all future DLC/expansion content to the 200$ reward tier and above and we are happy to do so! If any of you have some wishes or suggestions for last minute additions to reward tiers that you think would be really interesting just drop us a comment!

New boss monster unlocked

As we managed to pass the first 1000 backers mark we are adding new vicious boss monster to the game - Atrocity. This hideous creature, an experiment of a sort is a result of a long term incubation of a virus, an effort to create a super soldier but instead they created a beast. It's intelligent, strong and vicious. Atrocity will try to decimate your group using various tactics, either attacking from shadows or pulling your teammates into 1 vs 1 clashes. It's essential when in combat that this creature is not handled alone.

Ironward has posted a new kickstarter update for The Red Solstice about the game being close to getting funded, To help it along they have changed a few add-ons & Tiers.

Goal within reach

We are entering the last 5 days of our Kickstarter campaign and need to kick things into high gear! We are still missing 15.000$ to reach our main funding goal. So to push things up a bit we are introducing some nice bonus additions to existing reward tiers. Since we are entering those last few days while thanking you for all of the kind show of support so far we need to ask everybody to reach out even further and if you have the possibility to increase your pledge as every single dollar will count towards reaching the goal!

DLC expansion for backers at 30$ level

We have a detailed plan for adding DLC content at some point in the future after The Red Solstice is released. Part of that is releasing a substantial expansion pack that would add a lot more content to the game. We will be giving away our first big expansion to everybody who backs us during the Kickstarter campaign at 30$ reward tier and above!

Big Game Hunter - Fluffy shotgun for backers at 50$ level

This awesome weapon of choice for only the bravest and toughest of the marines that managed to survive an encounter with Fluffy and lived to tell the tale will become a part of your arsenal if you back the game at 50$ reward tier or above!

Alpha for everybody!

After we have given an exclusive Alpha access for 24hours to all of you our backers and everything went really well with only minor problems appearing with servers, we decided to open up the Alpha to everybody for last 72 hours of our campaign. So spread the word to your friends and invite everybody for intensive last 72 hours of The Red Solstice multiplayer coop gaming!

Ironward has posted another kickstarter update for The Red Solstice that has more information the game marines, and describes the skills of the in-game unit.

Get on the READY line marines!

Everybody at Ironward is currently preparing for big Alpha access that will be available to all our backers from Sunday 11 AM GMT! To remind you it will be a slice of coop multiplayer gameplay (singleplayer will not be available at this time) in it's unpolished Alpha form. If you still did not back our Kickstarter campaign you have enough time to do it and get in the Alpha as we will be sending Alpha access instructions to all of our backers Sunday morning at 09:00 AM. To prepare you for the intense multiplayer coop experience carefully listen to the instructions of our Drill Sergeant.

Final words of wisdom

We are getting near the 1000 backers and 70% of our funding goal reached mark! As we are entering last week of our Kickstarter campaign we need to turn this into sprint, so please keep pushing and supporting! We are grateful to every single on of you amazing people that helped and supported in any way possible! You are making us honored and full of respect, thank you!

Ironward talks about the setting and the story of The Red Solstice in the games latest kickstarter update. The game has 8 days left, and needs $20,000 tpo get funded.

Setting and the story...

There was an interesting question regarding the single player story yesterday, and the story of The Red Solstice in general. Other then what was revealed in earlier videos we'll use this update to share some more details and possibilities we will be exploring.  

Also another sneak peak at Fortification mode that you all like so much! You will be able to try it this Sunday during 24 hour Alpha access for backers!

Story and campaign

The Red Solstice has actually two separate stories interwoven on top of each other. Coop multiplayer story is used as a huge introduction to the setting and follows the missions of two different squads "Unit Black Light" and "Unit Night Fighter". Some of the story threads are also closely related to different characters that belong to "The Lost Generation" a group of genetically modified humans that we will be talking about later.

Single player story/campaign will feature a total of 14 missions and will be divided into two parts. Basic idea is that during various chapters you will assume roles of different squad members of those two units as the dramatic story evolves around them and the characters they meet on the missions.

Another cool thing that we are exploring right now is to try and enable multiplayer campaign to be played in single player option as well - something similar to how X-COM tackled that issue. It would be based around you training your soldiers while trying to finish missions in control of a whole squad. This is is something that we're looking forward to adding to the game at certain point of development, but it might not be a part of the initial game launch.

Ironward shares new information about the various monsters you will fight against in the latest kickstarter update for The Red Solstice.

Monsters of TRS

Hey everybody, so as we have promised we are making our update cycle even more intensive as we enter last 10 days of TRS Kickstarter campaign. We are almost at 60% of our funding goal reached and things are going exactly where they should be :) Thank you, thank you so much for supporting us!

Bestiary

Monsters and monster design in The Red Solstice is something that has been given a really special care. It is heavily influenced by various styles and some major SF and horror movies. It is really important to note that as we are reaching certain goals during this Kickstarter campaign (every 1000 backers / every 1000 Facebook fans) we will be adding new monsters / boss monsters to The Red Solstice. So let's have a look at some of those baddies.

In the tenth kickstarter update for The Red Solstice the developer Ironward posts information every backer can can get limited access to a new Alpha version.

Alpha access for backers!

We are really happy that adding the substantial single player campaign to the already amazing up to 8 players coop experience resonated with so many of you! We really are all about listening to your ideas and suggestions. So if you have some interesting requests send us your comments here on the Kickstarter! We are listening friends!

Surprise Alpha access

As we promised in the last update we have a nice surprise for all of you! Every backer so far, and everybody else who backs The Red Solstice Kickstarter by Sunday 11:00 AM GMT time will be getting a 24 hour coop Alpha access to the game, lasting until Monday 11:00 AM GMT. It will be a great opportunity to try out the amazing gameplay of the multi/coop aspect of the game.

Ironward has another update for The Red Solstice with a huge update on a variety of topics, and contains a few new videos about the games Fortification mode.

So many things

End of the great week and amazing achievement with our Kickstarer campaign so far, thanks go to all of you our backers that have shown so much of your support, you are all just awesome!

Big news of the day is that because so many of you have kept asking for addition of singleplayer campaign we can confirm that we have decide to include the basic version of it, with a shorter story as part of our MAIN funding goal, meaning the game will have a substantial singleplayer with great gameplay even if we only reach the main funding goal! We do listen to all your comments and requests and this was definetly one on the top.

Our Kickstarter campaign in numbers so far

So we have 13 more days to go and so far with an amazing support from all of you we have managed to reach 590 backers, 51% of the main funding goal and got 1020 new Facebook fans. We respect and love you all for it and promise to the deliver an amazing coop/sp experience once the game launches!

From now on we will be increasing the update frequency so expect to hear from us almost daily, keep pledging, keep supporting marines!

Ironward has posted two more Kickstarter updates this week for The Red Solstice. The first update talks about a bunch of boring, but amazing numbers about the kickstarter.

Let's start this update with few boooring but amazing numbers. So far we got more then 400 backers, more then 800 new Facebook fans and have reached almost 40% of our funding goal with 18 more days to go. Besides that our Kickstarter campaign was covered by more then 100 gaming media outlets from all over the world, including the few really big ones like Rock Paper Shotgun. We thank all of the press for helping us reach you, our supporters! What is it all meaning? Well, we are on the way to greatness and reaching the goal that we need to make The Red Solstice an amazing gaming experience we have always dreamed of doing!

The second update shares news the game is now half funded with 15 days left.

The Red Solstice campaign is finishing it's first 14 days of running with 16 more days to go! We are getting near half of the path to our main funding goal and things are looking GOOD with more media doing coverage of the project and a lot support from our developer friends - big respect and shouts go to Chris Avellone from Obsidian, Renaud Charpentier from Creative Assembly and Julian Gollop of X-COM fame!

Ironward has posted a new kickstarter update for The Red Solstice with a look at the in-game voice overs, and posted a new gameplay video. If you are interested in how funding is going the game has managed to get $18,148 of the $50,000 goal.

The voices of Red Solstice

Hi everybody, first of all we really wanted to thank you from the bottom of our heart for all your kind words, support and pledges you have given The Red Solstice and the team at Ironward so far! You are the best!

Good progress so far

As we are past 1/3 of our Kickstarter timespan we managed to breeze through more then 34% of our goal with a lot of momentum picking up during last few days! We are near reaching the first stepping stone for our "New monster every 1000 Facebook fans" goal and will have a lot more to say about that in our next update.

Ironward posted a new update for The Red Solstice that goes into detail on what we can expect from the co-op game, and single player portion of the game.

Perfect co-op game / epic single player experience

Yes friends, as some of you may already know, we are doing two in one, both a perfect 8 player co-op tactical action experience with RPG elements that we have always dreamed of doing and as we already revealed an epic and intensive single player game as well. As most of our Kickstarter campaign videos have been focusing on all the co-op action so far, we will be showing you more of our singleplayer gameplay right away.

Single player gameplay

If you have wondered how very rough version of The Red Solstice single player experience may look like check our newest gameplay video with commentary by our CEO Hrvoje Horvatek. Don't forget this is a rough unfinished version with a lot of stuff missing and that in the final TRS single player experience our focus would be on adding intensive cinematic cutscenes, dramatic and epic storyline and all that while showing you a cast of great characters.

The Red Solstice has a new update where the developers Ironward talk about how you can customization, weapons, and ranks of your ingame marines.

Pimp my space marine

As most of you already know, customization of your equipment set and skill advancement during the game are some of the core elements of The Red Solstice gameplay. So we are going to use this update to give you a lot more details about them!

Customization

Marine Combat Suit is primarily equipped with 4 components, they can be swapped in the customization menu. Each component can give your marine certain passive or active skills. As player progresses new components and options will be unlocked for each class. Each Combat Suit/Marine class has a different set of components.

Power-Ups are specific smaller components that give both negative and positive effect, so you can "pimp" your marine(combat suit) to the way you want to play it. Power-Ups like damage boosters will increase your damage, but also reduce your movement speed, so be careful!

Global and specialist ranks

As you play the game no matter the outcome, you WILL gain experience, everything you do is rewarded. But if you play with a certain class a lot more, this means you will gain specialist ranks with that class. Global ranks unlocks weapons, power-ups etc, while specialist ranks unlock specific components available just for that class - they will open up new play styles with that class. For example Terminator will gain "self destruct" skill - it's basically small nuke that can kill entire team if used in a bad way.

Kickstarter campaign progress

So we have almost reached 20% of our main Kickstarter goal funding, more then 200 backers supported us so far and we have gained more then 600 new Facebook fans since we have started the campaign. We are gaining momentum every day and going strong! Thank you for all your support so far, keep sharing,

#hiRipuXv0qA

Primary and secondary weapons

Weapons by type are divided how they are used – as a primary or secondary weapon. Primary weapons use bullets (standard ammo) and as you advance new kinds of primary weapons become available, while secondary weapons are much more powerful and use specific ammo found on the field. Exception is the pistol, which is very powerful and uses normal ammo, but also has some strong limitations imposed.

Take a look at short equipment customization video that was done by one of our big fans/supporters Juan Gabriel Mateo.

Broken Cartridge had the chace to do an audio interview with Hrvoje Horvatek the CEO, and game designer for The Red Solstice. Here is the link to the games Kickstarter.

Tony talks to Hrvoje Horvatek, the CEO and game designer for The Red Solstice.  In our interview today we go over what The Red Solstice is and many of the features that will be going into it along with their Kickstarter.  Be sure to check out their Facebook page and donate to them to be a part of this new strategic RPG.

Ironward has posted the first update for The Red Solstice were the developer talks about the games single player, and shares a new exteneded gameplay demo.

On the funding side the game has made $7,015 of projects $50,000 goal.

Single player campaign

So we have been getting a lot of questions regarding what is happening with possible single player aspect of the game? Well besides the 8-player coop core campaign in TRS we currently do have fundamental development and setup done for narrative focused single player campaign as well. It will definetly be a part of the game but we do need more funds to develop it as we originally intended, with enough details, emotion and flavor. If we manage to hit the needed stretch goals we will have enough to invest into developing a rich and epic story based single player campaign with great cutscenes.

All in all we do agree completely with you that the setting of The Red Solstice is a great backdrop for a great story driven single player SF strategy/RPG experience.

Extended gameplay video

You have seen our Kickstarter video, played the demo, but you want more details? Well the best thing would be to have a peek at extended gameplay video being narrated by our charismatic CEO Hrvoje Horvatek. So here you go...

Ironward Studios has send out a press release in which they announce the start of the Kickstarter for their game in development The Red Solstice, cooperative multiplayer strategy/RPG game for which they are asking $50.000. This is needed to polish the game from its alpha status up to the release version and add more content.

Ironward Launches Kickstarter campaign for
The Red Solstice

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 21^st 2014, Warsaw, Poland

 

The Croatian indie development studio Ironward is launching its first crowd-funding project, titled The Red Solstice. It is a science-fiction based cooperative multiplayer strategy/RPG game, inspired by such classics as StarCraft and Dawn of War that is now available for media preview.

 

Check the Kickstarter campaign right away: The Red Solstice Kickstarter campaign.

In the year 2060 the Earth was ravaged by a virus pandemic of a magnitude greater than the Bubonic plague. The virus spread quickly, those who were infected became something less human, willing carriers of the modern-day plague. Government action came too late, and as the chaos escalated corporate agencies rushed space programs in a desperate bid to evacuate the planet, since a cure could not be found. The fledgling colonies of Mars became humanity's last bastion, and since no traces of the virus was found among the lucky few who boarded the space vessels bound for the Red Planet, it was believed the danger had been averted.

It is now the year 117 AE (After Earth) terraforming is well under way, however during an exceptionally violent storm dubbed The Red Solstice, communication lines between Tharsis, the colony referred to as The Capital and the remaining human settlements of Mars are disrupted. The Elysium Corporation deploys its elite marine task force to investigate what happened to the colony.

In The Red Solstice you control one of eight space marines trying to find out what happened to human colonies on Mars during that storm. The mix of a dark and gritty science fiction setting and addictive, adrenaline-filled gameplay - based on both advanced tactics and quick decisions - forges the game's unforgettable atmosphere and creates a great gameplay experience.

Game main features:

• 8 player co-op multiplayer
• Adrenaline filled and quick tactics focused gameplay
• 8 different classes to chose from: Assault, Heavy Support, Recon, Marksman, Demolition, Terminator, Hellfire and Medic
• Experience based character development system
• High replayability
• Dark and gritty survival sci-fi story and setting
• Unending waves of monsters during ~1 hour gaming sessions
• Challenging Boss Fights

The Red Solstice is played in roughly hour-long gameplay sessions, during which players need to scavenge for supplies, find and fortify their base and then defend it from an almost infinite number of monsters to finally evacuate survivors. An experience-based character development system and the ability to upgrade your space marines' equipment during a battle is another fundamental part of the gameplay.

"It is the type of game that we always wanted to make", - says Ironward founder Hrvoje Horvatek. "The Red Solstice combines the unique, gritty setting of well-known sci-fi movies with action-filled cooperative gameplay based on quick thinking and smart use of advanced tactics. It is a game you can jump in right away but master completely only after dozens or even hundreds of hours spent with your friends on addictive gameplay."
 
With most of the development having been financed by the studio itself, the Kickstarter campaign for The Red Solstice is the final stepping stone needed to finish the game. Developers are seeking for only $50,000 in funding to be able to polish the game from its alpha status up to the release version and add more content. The studio has ambitions to add an epic single player campaign, support for Mac, Linux and iOS plus more gameplay modes and huge boss monsters - in case the campaign attracts enough backers to exceed the set amount. The game is planned to be released in August 2014.

Gamers can download the free demo using this link: The Red Solstice Demo and find out more about the game on the official website: www.theredsolstice.com