The new Command and Conquer we always dream about may never come to pass; at least, it certainly doesn’t look to be on the cards. Yet the RTS genre is far from dead, with lots of developers working to bring us new games including Frost Giant’s Stormgate and Slipgate Ironworks’ Tempest Rising. Perhaps the most fitting among them is 9-Bit Armies, which very much leans into the classic C&C style, and you can snag the new strategy game at a discount in a Steam sale right now.
While we are still getting new Command and Conquer games, they’re probably not exactly what fans of the original, defining RTS games have been hoping for. Instead, then, 9-Bit Armies is much closer to what I think of when I remember my days playing C&C as a youth, meticulously building out my base and amassing hundreds of units before sending them across the map to obliterate the enemy forces. Since its early access launch in February, it’s earned a ‘very positive’ Steam rating of 88% from user reviews.
9-Bit Armies comes from developer Petroglyph Games, a studio formed by ex-Westwood programmers that previously brought us Star Wars: Empire at War and the EA-published Command and Conquer Remastered. It’s designed to be easy to pick up but with lots of space to master its finer elements, and the voxel design combines aesthetics that tickle your memories of classic C&C with the potential for plentiful destruction.
Offering plenty of buildings including powerful megastructures and, of course, some devastating superweapons, naval battles, bridges, and mod support through the Steam Workshop, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Its early access release features the campaign for one of its two central factions, the Sentinels, which you can tackle in solo or two-player co-op, along with skirmish modes that support up to eight armies on giant maps. If that sounds up your alley, a Steam sale discount is a great reason to give it a shot.
9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far is 25% off on Steam through Saturday July 27. That means you’ll pay just $14.99 / £12.56, down from its usual price of $19.99 / £16.75. With regular updates and livestreams from the development team, you’ll be kept up to speed with all the latest information as it continues its early access journey, but if you’ve got a hankering for some classic RTS action then what’s there now is certainly enough to justify picking it up in my book.
Alternatively here are even more of the best strategy games on PC. If you’ve got a taste for nostalgia, we’ve rounded up the best old games you can still play in 2024 as well.
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