Command and Conquer and Total Annihilation, one half of the ‘90s RTS game Mount Rushmore. Westwood’s strategy series is on a semi hiatus and we haven’t heard from Cavedog’s classic since 2000 and the Iron Plague expansion pack, but the spirits of these games live on. You might have played Planetary Annihilation, the 2015 mech-themed tactics game that feels like a thematic successor to its erstwhile namesake. Beloved on Steam, it’s now, some ten years later, in line for a sequel – under a fresh banner, the team behind Planetary Annihilation has opened a Kickstarter for a new RTS and factory building hybrid. It’s early days yet, but this could be something very special. Get ready for Industrial Annihilation.
So, a quick rundown. The team behind Industrial Annihilation includes Jon Mavor and Steve Thompson who worked on the original Total Annihilation, and John Comes from Command and Conquer Generals. Back in 2015, they released Planetary Annihilation, an RTS game that has a ‘very positive’ rating on Steam based on more than 10,000 reviews. Now they’re back, and this new project combines strategy with automation and factory building.
Somewhat confusingly, they’re also now operating under the studio name Galactic Annihilation. So, just to get that straight: former makers of Total Annihilation also made Planetary Annihilation, and now they’ve returned to make Industrial Annihilation as a new development team named Galactic Annihilation. I used to struggle to spell ‘annihilation,’ but I think I’ve got it now.
In the upcoming IA (that’s easier) you can choose from multiple factions, invest in large-scale planet destroying mechs, or go a little smaller and more cost effective with mass-produced robot armies. Build artillery, play through a single-player campaign, and bask in the gloriously chunky, highly destructible voxel visuals. Waging war is just one half of the strategy game. You also need to design and build a highly functional production line, a la Factorio, to keep processing raw materials and pumping out units.
As it stands, Industrial Annihilation is in the earliest days – the Kickstarter campaign has just been launched and so far it’s raised just over $48,000 against a $200,000 target, with 27 days to go. Should it be successful, the team is aiming for a Steam Early Access launch in 2024.
In the meantime, try some of the other best building games, or maybe the best 4X games available on PC.
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