There's a new real-time strategy game blowing up on Kickstarter, and while it's most obviously inspired by Starcraft, it also adds RPG elements from games like Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect.
ZeroSpace is the debut title from Starlance Studios and a collaborative effort with Ironward Team, described as a cinematic RTS with "an epic sci-fi story where your decisions determine the fate of the galaxy. No two matches play the same thanks to nearly limitless combinations of factions, mercenary units and heroes, introducing unparalleled strategic depth and player expression to the genre."
As a casual and occasionally curious observer of RTS games, the thing I'm most interested in ZeroSpace is the way it mixes in elements from classic RPGs, a genre I'm much more familiar with. Specifically, it features an "expansive lore" with deep stories as well as a story campaign with player choices that affect branching narratives.
Further drawing me into ZeroSpace is the developers' commitment to "making an RTS that any gamer can approach and enjoy thanks to clever and intuitive interface design." The studio also says hardcore RTS competitors will find plenty to dig into with "a limitless ladder of skill expression to master in PvP, a campaign mode, and a massively multiplayer co-op mode."
I'm not the only one keeping ZeroSpace firmly on my new games radar. The game's Kickstarter had an initial goal of $100,000 when it went live less than a week ago, and in just seven hours it had already blown right past that. At the time of writing, it's managed to reach $324,000 in funds from eager backers - more than triple the original goal.
There's no release date just yet, but you can Wishlist ZeroSpace on Steam right now.
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