In the golden age of the RTS we thought that FMV cutscenes were really cool and fun. Then, later on, we decided they were very bad and made us cringe. Now we have come full circle and realize that they are good, actually.
Thus we receive as a gift from old-school strategy publisher MicroProse a fresh and beautiful new single-player retro-RTS by developer Sarnayer, complete with cornball live action FMV cutscenes that I can already tell are going to be terrible but in a good way.
The game promises to have you fight through a journey in a post-apocalyptic world where you'll build a base, gather resources, and battle hordes of zombies and also what appears to be a swarm of really giant burrowing earthworms. It's that distinctly late-90s Command and Conquer pixel aesthetic that really sells it for me, because that in combination with the FMV just pushes a very specific, very appealing button in my brain.
- I felt goodwill and hope for the future seeing Cybrlich and the Death Cult of Labor, an FPS that's 60% HUD and looks like an Adult Swim cartoon where you smoke 'deepweed' to restore your health and blow clouds that spell out 'doink' and 'loud'
- Done with apocalypses, the new game from XCOM creator Julian Gollop is a bright, Brutal Legend-style action-strategy inspired by Pikmin and Clash Royale
"In Dying Breed, players will fight evil arch-enemies, zombies, and encounter retro-futuristic technologies. The game features fast-paced action, classic RTS mechanics, and encourages players to be both cunning and sneaky when necessary," said publisher MicroProse in a press release. It'll be set in a world "filled with shiny energy minerals, underground monsters, and warring factions."
As displayed in the trailer, which is mostly soldiers blowing up zombies and worms with a couple really dorky FMV bits, the game promises to have a wild '90s electro-metal soundtrack. Again, these are good things to me. It'll be a direct and honest love letter to 90s RTS games like we've not had outside of the modding scene in years.
You can find Dying Breed on Steam. It's the debut game by studio Sarnayer and will be published by the modern incarnation of MicroProse Software.
