FPS and RTS collide in new Steam sci-fi strategy game Silica

pcgamesn.com:

If you love first-person shooters and real-time strategy games – or even if you’re only really into one of those two genres – Silica has something for you. This crossover Steam game is a loving blend of RTS and FPS games in the vein of PC classics such as Battlezone II and Natural Selection 2, but allows players the freedom of choice to decide which play style they prefer.

Coming primarily from solo developer Martin ‘Dram’ Melichárek, the lead developer behind Take On Mars, Silica is set for a release via Steam Early Access. It’s set on Baltarus, a fictional planet “located thousands of light years from Earth,” and offers you the option to take the hot seat of a commander controlling your chosen faction from above in the style of a traditional RTS, or put boots to the ground as an infantry soldier, playing as humans or aliens.

The strategy side of things will be very familiar to those of you with an affinity for the likes StarCraft and Command & Conquer. You’ll deploy harvesters to farm the prize jewel of Baltarus – an element called Balterium that contains “a tremendous amount of untapped potential that can power up human civilization for generations to come.”

As you collect resources, you’ll be able to build out your base, creating manufacturing and recruiting plants that will be able to send out a range of units to take on your opponents. The humans have five infantry classes and eleven vehicles to choose from, while the alien forces feature eight different creatures including a stealthy Crab, fast-moving Hunter, and heavily armoured Goliath.

Those of you who aren’t as strategy-minded needn’t worry, though – Silica doesn’t demand that of you, instead allowing the AI to take charge of all the commanding decisions if