Radio Commander is a realistic real-time strategy game, where the player commands his troops on the battlefield using only a radio and a map. Throughout the rich story, inspired by cult movie classics like ‘Platoon’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’, the player will be put under political pressure and face murky intelligence operations. And that is just the beginning…
Extending RTS genre boundaries
Radio Commander is an RTS unlike any other seen before. Instead of marking units and building structures, you give orders by radio and send helicopters to pick up wounded soldiers. Instead of massive attacks on the enemy – your men scour the terrain step by step, with you updating the tactical map and lurking in the jungle. Radio command of a unit during the Vietnam conflict is the essence of the debut game from indie studio Serious Sim.
– The Vietnam War was a devastating conflict with major consequences for the world. At the same time, it is a very catchy topic for films and games – explains Jakub Bukała, founder of Serious Sim and designer of Radio Commander. –However, we decided to approach the subject in a completely different way – to show chaos, communication problems, getting lost in a dangerous area full of hostile forces.
People to protect
– The story in the game is very important for us. – he continues. – And we hope we managed to introduce it in an original, unique way.
Missions are preceded by a film introduction, and during the tasks we get to know the members of our team better. The player will often face difficult decisions, which will then influence the future, and decide the fate of his soldiers and how important human life is. Troops are not just pawns that are being moved on the map. They are complicated, multi-layered human beings, center of hundred of original dialogues and scenarios to discover. And it will take more than one approach to discover them all.
Still a strategy
While following the story is important, the player still has a job to do. As a commander, the player is operating from his tent, using only a radio and a map. Listens to the reports and shots calls. Just like radio commanders used to do back in the days.
The player will take under his command infantry, air cavalry, field artillery or air support. While the player must rely on reports, there is a hidden, deep and complex simulation taking place in a background, with each unit being described by a set of statistics, with an access to various options, like flanking and terrain advantages. And it all matters on the battlefield.
Radio Commander includes:
- 9 campaign missions (every mission can be completed in several different ways), each with its own animated briefing
- 15 units types, including: infantry, evac choppers, gunships, field artillery, aerial reconnaissance, armored personnel carriers M113, and napalm-carrying F4 Phantom jets
- Full voice over
- Over 200 dialogue blocks, used to construct radio messages
- Over 600 story dialogues between units and the commander
- Voice recognition
Successfully founded on Kickstarter, Radio Commander will be released on PC in September by a publisher Games Operators.
