Steam Next: Starship Troopers Terran Command

Snap back to reality

Finally I've managed to worm my way around all of this content talking about the Steam Next fest to land on one of only two games that I didn't download on a mad roulette-wheel whim. This is game that I saw recommended by an influencer I respect and specifically kept my eye out for in order to pick up, not for his sake, but because it spoke to a property that was important to my own childhood as well. I loved Starship Troopers back in the day, as I should for any film released on the year of my birth, and whilst the years have really not been too kind on the movie on a special effect's stage; to be honest the effects weren't ever really that hot to begin with, so that doesn't kill the experience at all. I'm just surprised that there haven't been more Starship Trooper games throughout the years, but I'm glad the one that was demoed during the fest looks to be a quality one.

Actually, there were quite a number of these titles throughout the years, but the reason you've not heard of them is because they're the exact type of bargain bin filler that you might have expected them to be. The most recent of which was actually a mobile tie-in to that weird animated movie they did with some highly questionable plot points in it. The only game that looks sort of cool, and I'm basing this on screenshots because apparently no one has ever captured footage of the thing, is the 2005 first person shooter by Strangelite limited. It got middling to average reviews but I bet I would have liked it. Oh, and fun fact; The very first Starship Troopers game was actually 1982's 'Klendathu', and that's because that game is based on the book, bizarrely. (And if you're curious, from what I can tell the book seems entirely devoid of the over-the-top sardonic military-fascism from the movie to the point where it almost feels like the film is a direct mocking condemnation on the book's overt pro-military bias'. Verhoeven sure knows how to pick 'em, don't he?)

Terran Command promises to be a game made for the fan of the old-school movie, before sequels that no one has ever seen started rearing their ugly, unprofitable heads. (I hate the fact that there are three of those movies, why did you have to take something fun and ruin it? Why?) And whatsmore, it promises to do so in a real time strategy environment, which is a kick in the butt for me because I haven't played an RTS in nigh on 10 years now. (Ouch, that one hurt to admit.) Yes, despite owning Warhammer Dawn of War, I was never able to get into it and the last title I truly gave the time of day from this style of genre would have been Army Men RTS. A title which sort of functions as a 'my first RTS' sort of title, but one that I vehemently loved. Oh wait, I did play a bit of 'Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2' at some point in the intervening years, but you can see just how much of an effect that left on me now that's stuck on as an afterthought. (I should get around to finishing that, but it's on the Origin Launcher. So I won't.)

In this game, you take command of units of Space Marines on the various mining colonies fraught with bug infestations across the colonies, and are tasked with being the last living thing standing, and maybe save the odd civilian as an absolute side-objective task. There's no great goal to be achieved, no true evil to overcome, you're just required to squash the ever loving heck out of every single multilegged organism on the planet, just like a true Terran commando should. And, true to the movie, all the action seems to be taking place on various red-rock Mars-like planets, despite the fact this is a title set in the colonies and it wouldn't kill anyone to try and be a bit more diverse. But when you're trying to nail the feel of a classic that badly; I suppose it helps to stick to the utmost basics.

RTS games mostly play out the same as one another, which is something the tutorial of this game itself points out as it teaches you. The player moves various units into positions wherein they can shoot at their enemy and must deal with positioning, unit composition and taking strategic points. Really involved RTS' can even involve total base building mechanics, but I get the feeling that Terran Command either doesn't want to go that involved or isn't ready to show that side off yet. What makes this RTS formula slightly different is the inclusion of line-of-sight, and this really is quite the game changer. Basically, Line-of-sight means that even if a horrible deadly insect creature is within shooting range, a unit won't fire at the thing unless it has a clear shot to do so. Obstacles can be anything from rocks, barrels, or crucially, other units. That's right, you need to position the teams so that they take up the space available to them effectively whilst not being in each other's way. A unique challenge, and a welcome edition to the genre in my eyes.

Bugs too make for quite different foes on the RTS scene, for the way that they are just as deadly as they are in the film, therefore it's not so much about trading shots with groups, but finding the best way to keep these murderous killing machines away from your units for as long as possible. The second they touch in melee range, people are dying, and to make things worse there are a collection of other types of bugs pulled into the game that do a bit of ranged damage too. The only problem with this being that, when mixed with the stringent lines of fire that require you to go the extra distance of telling your soldier's which way to face when you command them, micromanaging becomes a must. It's not really all that feasible to design a strike squad, deploy them to one corner of the map, and get working on something else whilst that distraction is going, because people need to be told explicitly where to stand else 90% of your people don't shoot, and that can get frustrating.

In scenes like the third map from this demo, where your fending off regular hordes of wall climbing bugs, this can be really invigorating. But when you're just trying to move through a valley and a bug ambush costs you half your unit because everyone was too busy scrambling over where to stand, that's not exactly the greatest feeling in the world. This is mitigated a little with elevation, which overalls lines of fire, but the frustration is still present everytime you need to reposition. Were I making the design choices, I'd have rigged it so that a blocked line of fire merely debuffs a unit's full damage potential, but they can still at least shoot. Because otherwise you have strange edge cases like the engineer units who come in packs of two and are wielding flame throwers. Instinct says you want to keep them protected with a ranged party to take potential damage, but then they can't fire, so how are you supposed to make the best of them?  There are fundamental balance questions that need a little working here.

But when it comes to an RTS game, all you have to do is give me that push and pull struggle that makes me feel like a bit of genius on the otherside and I'm happy; and after pushing through that tough-as-nails third mission that was exactly how I felt. This game also has that great quality of RTS' where you can make a huge mistake and still manage to salvage it with enough time and effort, unlike many other tactical games of the genre which are pretty much one swing and you're out. I really enjoyed my time with this demo, even though I question it's presence during an event that's supposed to be dedicated to indie titles. (seems a bit unfair to pair up some professional quality work against theirs) Needs some balancing work, but I'm already sold; give me that 1990's action movie goodness!