I’ll argue all day that Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 film Starship Troopers is a masterpiece. Yes, it’s a cheesy mess. But in true Verhoeven fashion, underneath its ridiculous, campy exterior is a still-relevant critique on tribalism and authoritarianism. And for the first time in 14 years, we’ll be getting a game: Starship Troopers – Terran Command, from developer The Artistocrats and publisher Slitherine. I doubt that it will convey the same underlying tones of the movie, but hey, we are going to get to kill some bugs. A lot of them.
You’ll be doing your part
The Artistocrats is hard at work on Starship Troopers – Terran Command, a real-time strategy game set in the movie universe. Players will assume command of a human colony overrun by the Arachnids. Commanding units of Mobile Infantry, players will be tasked with deploying soldiers to cover important choke-points, build defensive emplacements, and gain superior firepower through elevation and enfilade. In addition to the tactical deployment aspects of the game, Starship Troopers will mix real-time strategy combat and tower defense into the gameplay.
The Artistocrats’ previous title was Order of Battle: World War II, which had a heavy emphasis on tactics. It looks like that tactical gameplay might make its way into Starship Troopers – Terran Command. Mindlessly shooting hordes of Arachnids might be fun at first, but it would get old after a while. Outsmarting them, though, will provide a lot more gameplay opportunities.
An homage to a cult classic
The year 1997’s Starship Troopers is a cult classic. A lot of people just love the spectacle. Some love Verhoeven’s commentary. Many love both. It sounds like the developers over at The Artistocrats are big fans, too. According to Iain McNeil, development director at Slitherine, “When creating this game, we aimed to capture the essence of the original movie… by creating a coherent set of units and scenarios, but also by mimicking the language, visual elements, dialogues and the little details.”
It looks like they are hitting the mark. The FedNet is there, and hopefully, we’ll see some 1950s-esque “Would you like to know more?” propaganda. The Mobile Infantry, dropships, and structures are straight out of the film as well. Then there are the bugs. Arachnids, hoppers, tanker bugs, and plasma bugs are all present and accounted for. No news yet on a brain bug, but I bet you it’ll show up.
Check out the gameplay teaser below.
Starship Troopers – Terran Command will release in 2020. You can wishlist it on Steam.
