Iron Sight’s End State is an isometric, turn-based, modern military strategy game that takes a lot of the core concepts of SirTech’s Jagged Alliance and then properly evolves them to the next state. This includes enhanced visuals, dynamic environmental destruction, body part-specific damage, and realistic weapons and ballistics.
The game is currently in development and scheduled to enter into Early Access over on the Steam store soon.
The game sees you taking control of an international mercenary company who is tasked with tracking down and eliminating various terrorists in a war-ravaged region where various criminals, rebels, and other private mercenary groups are operating and fighting for power amongst each other. You’ll have to hire a group of hardened soldiers, equip them with the best tech you can afford, and attempt to bring the pain to any and everyone who deserves to be on the receiving end of a righteous rifle round.
Visually the game looks really good. There’s a grounded, realistic depiction of the characters and the environments. It reminds me a lot of what a properly evolved version of Jagged Alliance 2 should look like with today’s tech.
Unfortunately all the other companies who managed to get their greedy mitts on the Jagged Alliance license have done nothing but ravage and destroy the property like a third-world crap-hole taken over by violently-funded rebels.
What’s cool about End State is that you’ll need to select missions from a satellite map, and then hire your crew, equip your crew, and deploy your crew. Most of your missions will take place across the Eastern European nation of Brekovia, which features a mixture of small villages, military installations, and lots of jungle areas to use for stealthy attacks.
Much like the classic Jagged Alliance titles, the game is played via turn-based combat. Thankfully it doesn’t clone the gameplay from Firaxis’ XCOM titles, but instead seems to mirror classical TBS titles but with its own flair.
For instance, when it’s time to pick your shots you can target specific body parts that will change the outcome of the encounter. Much like XCOM and other games in the TBS sub-genre, you can still interrupt enemy turns for kill-shot counters.
What really helps set End State apart from the competition is how much the environment plays a significant role in the way the battles unfold. You can blast apart cover, blow out windows, use explosives to blast down walls, or take advantage of bullet penetration to pierce an enemy on the other side of cover.
The game will allow players to utilize both stealth and Rambo-style antics, depending on your play-style.
You’ll have more than 40 different weapons to choose from and full character customization. Also, based on the trailer there are plenty of straight, white males to play as, which have become a rarity in most other AAA games.
You can learn more about End State by visiting the Steam store page to learn more about the upcoming modern military turn-based strategy game.
(Thanks for the news tip Akseli Eskolin)
