https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf64idjp3ww

Petroglyph Games, a studio made up for ex-Westwood Studios developers who primarily worked on the Command & Conquer series, have announced their latest strategy game – Forged Battalion.

The PC game is a traditional real-time strategy experience with a big focus on unit customization and building your own faction – alongside a revolutionary ‘persistent tech tree’ behind everything. Featured above, you can view the game’s announcement trailer.

Players will join a resistance group in the core story, whose mission is to take the world back from a military dictatorship known as The Collective. As you progress through missions and maps, you’ll unlock new things in your tech tree.

Units can be customized from their armor and weapons all the way down to their engine types. As you progress you can also unlock new blueprints to build new things. There’s a ‘dynamic story campaign,’ co-op and competitive multiplayer with up to eight players, and mod support.

Here are the first screenshots:

Here’s a rundown on the game, via Petroglyph:

Towards the end of the 21 century, the effects of climate change have devastated the world and a military force called “The Collective” has spread across the globe. As part of the resistance group it’s time for you to join the fight!

Customize your unique faction in a new take on real-time strategy as you fight in a variety of skirmish, solo, and multiplayer battles.  You are not only a commander, but also an engineer – so you have ultimate control over your faction’s units, factories, superweapons and economy.

Manage, customize, and develop the blueprints of your emerging faction to create ever-evolving factories and units.  Between missions a deep tech tree unlocks components that you’ll use to design combat units. As more technology is unlocked, your designs become more advanced and powerful.

Using resources gained in battle, you’ll unlock new options through the metagame Tech Tree to choose the archetype, armor, locomotor, weapons, and special abilities such as stealth and regeneration that will make your faction one of a kind.  Ultimately, you will have access to the most powerful options, including an array of deadly superweapons to launch against your foes.

Key Features:

• Forge your Faction
  Modify every unit chassis (Infantry, Light Vehicle, Heavy Vehicle, Aircraft) with a host of weapons, support and locomotor types. Add regenerative armor to your light vehicle, or add an anti-tank gun to your aircraft. Adapt to every situation, and every opponent.
• Persistent Tech tree
  Each battle you win, in each mode, contributes towards your faction’s technology upgrades with different science paths; advancing tech tree unlocks blueprints.
• A dynamic story campaign
  The resistance needs you to forge a new force to be reckoned with. Play through an exciting story campaign that will test your ability to react and adapt to the increasing threat of the ‘The Collective’.
• Online multiplayer
  Join up to seven other players in a variety of online multiplayer modes for intense tactical co-operative and versus action on dedicated servers.

Forged Battalion is set for a Steam Early Access release sometime in 2018 – with a planned initial launch of five campaign missions, multiplayer modes, and five multiplayer maps. Petroglyph are hoping to have the game in Early Access for only six months.