Many RTS fans will be familiar with the frustration of only being able to play one or two games before having to call it a day. With all the micromanaging that goes into each match in games like Command and Conquer, it’s no wonder they can take so long. But in the future of the 26th century, war is lightning fast, that’s why games of Battle Aces take just ten minutes, so you can get your fill before bed time.
Battle Aces is a new RTS game that just got announced at Summer Game Fest. It’s the 26th century and humanity is waging war across the stars, fighting over limited space and resources. Wars are now waged with robotic drones controlled by mercenary commanders, the titular battle aces. The game sets itself apart from other RTS staples by allowing you to focus more on the heat of battle and less on the micromanagement back at base.
There’s automated resource gathering, instant spawning for your units, and presets for the expansions you want to make during each fight. It looks like success in Battle Aces will hinge as much on the preparations you make before battle as it will the snap decision you make during.
One way Battle Aces will keep you focused on the fight is by allowing you to manage unit production without the need to look back at your home base or production facilities, instead keeping your eye on the frontlines. The game also has unit decks that you can draw troops from which can be customized to suit your play style. All this should help to keep the pace of the 1v1 or 2v2 matches fast.
The matches look large and colorful, with scores of mechanoid drones shooting lasers and other projectiles at each other on battlefields scattered with industrial buildings. There’s even a melee unit called king crab that has saws for arms. The animal themes – another unit called Katbus looks like a, well, like a metal cat-shaped bus, and there’s a kraken-like flying monster of a machine.
If you’ve always been put off by the long match times in many real-time strategy games, then senior game director of Battle Aces developer Uncapped Games, David Kim, might be able to convince you to sign up for the closed beta that starts later this month. “What we’ve seen in our testing so far is that players new to RTS or less familiar with the genre have been able to learn Battle Aces and grow in skill more quickly than any RTS our team has ever worked on before,” Kim says.
The closed beta for Battle Aces begins later this June, and sign up for it right here. Or you could check out another cool RTS game, one where you control a colony of ants.
There are plenty of grand strategy games for you to sink your teeth into while you wait for the Battle Aces closed beta. Or you could check out some city building games if you want something with a slower pace.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.