Real-time strategy games are one of the longstanding bastions of PC gaming. Years before Steam digitised and slickened out how we play games, and before the PC was even deemed a mainstream gaming platform, games like Command & Conquer, Warcraft, and Total Annihilation kept PC gamers ticking over into the millennium, mouse-clicking deep into those long nights in front of glowing CRT screens.
Now, Crossfire: Legion is seeking to revive those glory days. The explosive new RTS game comes to us from stalwart developer Blackbird Interactive, who know a thing or two about reviving games in this genre, having previously brought us Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, the acclaimed prequel to the 1999 classic Homeworld.
Crossfire: Legion has been in Early Access since May this year, and has already made untold advances, adding new Acts to its story campaign, new maps, and a full-on level editor.
Set in a near future ravaged by war, the game sees you command one of three distinct factions. Global Risk are basically your space-age privateers, working for governments to suppress 'terrorist' threats, and specialising in picking their opponents off through long-range warfare. Black List are a mercenary group made up of former members of Global Risk, disillusioned with what they see as a corrupt order. Speed kills with these guys, who use guerrilla tactics and fast movement to catch the enemy off-guard. Finally, there's New Horizon, a transhumanist faction of mysterious origin built around heavy firepower and strong defence, making up in resilience what they lack in number.
Now with Update 1.5, Crossfire: Legion embraces more of the RTS community and passion. Making big advancements and bringing the game closer to its full release targets with, for example, a new map and stat tools to help players refine their battle tactics.
First of all, the fourth and final Act for the campaign is upon us, allowing players who have been progressing through it for all these Early Access months to finally complete their journeys. New players, meanwhile, will be able to play it all from start to finish as each Campaign Act explores the trials and tribulations of each faction, their protagonists and their quest to impose their ideology on the world.
As with all great strategy games, online play is crucial to Crossfire: Legion, and new maps are being added for the Co-op, Skirmish, and Payload modes. The latter mode is unique to Crossfire, and sees up to six players fighting it out over weapon crates that drop all around the map from the skies above. Escort three of these payloads to your opponent's base (or, y'know, just wipe out your opponent), and you’ll win the match.
The update also adds an aggressive new game mode, Brawl, in which units will spawn at your headquarters automatically, and upgrade on their own as the game escalates. Destroy all enemy headquarters to win the game. Yep, couldn't be simpler.
Rounding off the new additions are 12 new units, three new commanders, and countless fixes and quality-of-life improvements as the game powers on towards full release. It's a fine time to jump in and join the war in Crossfire: Legion, a classically-styled RTS from a studio with a deep understanding of what makes the genre special. You can pick Crossfire: Legion up now on Steam.
