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For many, H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds would have been the first time the concept of alien races and interplanetary invasions would have ever entered their heads. The classic late 19th century novel was so ahead of its time, going on to inspire so much other media and being spun off into several movies and TV shows. However, as far as War of the Worlds games go, we haven’t seen one since 1999. Well, The War of the Worlds Siberia is looking to change that, and the third-person action adventure game has just given us our first glimpse at some gameplay – and boy, does it look good.
Set in 1896 and covering the same Martian invasion as Wells’ book, The War of the Worlds Siberia shows us a new interpretation set in Imperial Russia. It follows the journey of survivors who are attempting to flee the former capital of Petrograd to the eastern side of the Russian Empire and will be a linear journey consisting of several hand-crafted levels, rather than being an open or semi-open world experience.
The action game will feature third-person combat and “dozens of weapons,” including cap-lock rifles and the Maxim, which is one of the earliest automatic machine guns ever made. There will be stealth mechanics at play as well – if War of the Worlds Siberia can get even close to emulating the close-quarters tension of that basement scene from the 2005 film, then I’m all in. “Spatial puzzles” will also crop up in your adventure that you’ll have to solve.
That all sounds great, but seeing it in action is even better. Today’s gameplay reveal has really taken me by surprise, if I’m honest. Visually, this game looks excellent – the character models are great, the environments are beautifully-lit and detailed, and the third-person combat looks really punchy and heavy (in a good way).
We also get our first glimpse at a towering walker, complete with tentacles glowing an ominous red and blaring out that haunting, low tone. This trailer really does make me scratch my head and think ‘why has it taken this long to get a new The War of the Worlds game?’ 1999 delivered us both an RTS game and a vehicular combat game in the same year, but since then, zilch. I really can’t wait for Siberia to end that long wait.
Unfortunately, there is still no release date for The War of the Worlds Siberia, but developer 1C Game Studio has confirmed that the game is coming to Steam. A store page will be going live at some stage in the near future, and you’ll be able to wishlist it then.
Until we get to see and hear more about this amazing-looking project, here are some other incredible single-player games that we wholeheartedly recommend. Many of the best space games can provide an extraterrestrial hit if that’s what you’re after, too.
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