It’s not fully symmetrical, but in classic Command and Conquer, there is still an evenness between the two factions. The GDI’s units are generally weaker, but they’re also cheaper and faster to build. NOD has better defensive structures, like the fearsome Obelisk, but its heavy tanks are slow and expensive. It’s that subtle dance between one side and the other that gives C&C its rhythm. Dust Front, a new RTS with grand strategy elements, takes that neat balancing and blows it into a thousand pieces. Inspired by the chunky world of Warhammer 40k, it throws you into a battle where the enemy is stronger, better-equipped, and outnumbers you dozens to one.
The world has ended and war is the only thing left. As the commander of a hybrid infantry and mechanized army, your job is to settle a new global order by eradicating every enemy settlement on the planet. Both an RTS game and a grand strategy game, Dust Front lets you choose your next skirmish from a sprawling tile-based map, and charges you with creating production and manufacturing lines that link captured territory. For the most part, however, it’s a real-time slaughterhouse where you sacrifice tens of thousands of units to capture a single objective.
Tanks, mutants, giant, rolling artillery pieces – as well as a variety of armaments, Dust Front lets you choose between three different factions, all with their own superweapons. Maybe you want to condemn your enemies to nuclear winter courtesy of an atom bomb, or choke their capital city by dropping canisters of an incurable virus. Depending on who controls different parts of the world, the values of certain resources will rise and fall. You can shape your army using the tech tree and also respond to in-game events, which shape the narrative by letting you make key decisions during crucial moments.
Visually inspired by some of the best Warhammer 40k games, Dust Front’s greatest strength is its aesthetic. This is a brutal, soot-and-sweat-covered world where life is cheap and casualties are measured by the thousand. We’re still waiting on a release date, but you can already wishlist Dust Front right here.
Otherwise, try some of the other best strategy games, or maybe the best 4X games available on PC today.
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