Silica is a sci-fi mix of real-time strategy and shooter from Arma studio Bohemia Interactive and the designer of Take on Mars.
Itās a first-person shooter! Itās a real-time strategy game! Itās Silica, the first game from Bohemia Interactiveās new Bohemia Incubator indie label.
In terms of plot, Silica sounds very Command & Conquer and StarCraft. Humans have arrived at a remote alien planet, Baltarus, which contains a crystalline substance ā Altaraeum ā which can be used as a handy energy source. Unfortunately, the planetās insectoid population isnāt too happy about all the pesky humans turning up with their futuristic drilling equipment, and a big, Starship Troopers-like war swiftly follows.
Weāve seen shooter-strategy hybrids before ā 2020ās Disintegration springs to mind. Silica seems different, though, in that it appears to give players the freedom to completely ignore one half of the genre equation in favour of the other.
āSilica is an immersive blend of first person shooter and real time strategy, each true to its respective genre,ā developer/publisher Bohemia Interactive writes in a press release. āThe game allows players the freedom of choice, without forcing them to play as both. If you prefer sand-filled boots, bullets whizzing overhead, and menacing alien jaws closing in, the infantry role is for you. For those who’d rather command their forces from a distance, the esteemed role of Commander awaits you in the relative safety of orbit.ā
Silica looks all the more impressive given that, according to Bohemia, it was āmostly developed by a single developerā, Martin āDramā Melicharek, who previously served as lead developer on the studioās red planet survival sim, Take On Mars.
Silicaās main FPS-RTS campaign will be joined by two additional modes ā Prospector, which is described as a tutorial mode, and Arena, a multiplayer FPS battle mode.
The gameās set to launch into Steam Early Access at an unspecified future date, with the early access phase set to last between nine and 12 months. It all looks rather promising so far, we have to say.