If nothing else, 4X games need to be big. The small-scale strategy of Frostpunk or Company of Heroes is fantastic, but sometimes you want to spread your wings and conquer entire nations, continents, planets. From the makers of Warhammer 40k Gladius, a beautiful, expansive new 4X is on show this week at WASD Live. With inspirations from Civilization and Stellaris, but reams of original, bold ideas, if you want to try it, a new demo is available right now.
Set against a terrifying vision of the apocalypse, Zephon is a 4X game with a vibrant art style and serious scope. At some stage in the distant future, a huge, Earth-spanning conflict between humanity, cyborgs, and aliens resulted in a uniformly destructive near-extinction event. Everyone, now, is close to death – mutant animals roam the planet, murderous robots search ceaselessly for fresh prey, and the alien invaders cower uselessly in their destroyed ships. Among the chaos, the final remnants of humankind emerge back onto the surface and attempt to rebuild and revitalize our home. The stage is set for a sprawling strategy experience.
You command more than 50 different units, each with their own animations, weapon types, and abilities. There are multiple architecture varieties, and you need to build combinations of utilities and fortifications, as you strive to expand outward while keeping the last shreds of the population alive. There are 150 technologies, ten different research tiers, and you can discover and explore beyond conventional science to unlock magical and cyberpunk-style units and upgrades.
Distress signals, social unrest, and extreme natural events all have to be confronted, and you variate between hard-nose militarism or complex, in-depth diplomacy. Every character has their own backstory and questline – as you build your civilization, you also complete missions connected to your chosen leader, and discover more about their identity.
You can play solo or via either competitive or cooperative multiplayer. Developed by Proxy Studios, the developer behind Warhammer 40k Gladius, Zephon is on show this week as part of WASD live. And if you want to try it for yourself, a brand-new demo has just landed – just go right here.
Alternatively, try some of the other best strategy games, or maybe think a little bigger with the greatest grand strategy games on PC.
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