Relic Entertainment, the Vancouver-based developer behind games like the first two Homeworld, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Company of Heroes, and Age of Empires IV, returned to independence last year after SEGA decided to sell it. Earlier this month, the developer announced a roadmap for its future, including support of existing titles like Company of Heroes 3 and the development of smaller titles.
Today, Relic unveiled Earth vs Mars, one of this new indie-style breed of games. These ‘Relic Labs’ games will allow the studio to explore new sub-genres, experiment, and release games more frequently. Earth vs Mars is a single player turn-based strategy game where a group of commanders must lead Earth’s military as they face an overwhelming Martian invasion of high-tech saucers, grav tanks, and elite alien warriors in a battle for the survival of the planet.
Players have the opportunity to combine human “volunteers” with Earth creatures to create powerful hybrid super soldiers to fight alongside Earth’s regular military. As they go through the campaign, new creatures, powerful unit upgrades, and game-changing commander abilities can be unlocked. But the enemy will evolve as well, deploying everything from the sentient organic weapon known only as The Creep to the Martians’ own mutant creations.
Many of the units featured in Earth vs. Mars will have their own unique abilities, adding new strategies and gameplay depth to this style of play. There will also be multiple commanders in the game, each bringing passive and active abilities to enhance the way you play.
Earth vs Mars will feature an expansive, narrative-driven campaign consisting of over thirty hand-crafted missions. There’s also a VS mode where players can fight against the AI on custom maps.
In online multiplayer, the game pits you against other commanders as either the armies of Earth or the forces of the Martian invaders. Moreover, a full-featured map editor allows players to create custom maps and scenarios. There’s no release date yet, but you can wishlist the game on Steam right now.