Classic-style RTS Crossfire: Legion gets a huge Early Access update

Real-time strategy games are one of the longstanding bastions of PC gaming. Years before Steam digitised and slickened out how we play games, and before the PC was even deemed a mainstream gaming platform, games like Command & Conquer, Warcraft, and Total Annihilation kept PC gamers ticking over into the millennium, mouse-clicking deep into those long nights in front of glowing CRT screens.

Now, Crossfire: Legion is seeking to revive those glory days. The explosive new RTS game comes to us from stalwart developer Blackbird Interactive, who know a thing or two about reviving games in this genre, having previously brought us Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, the acclaimed prequel to the 1999 classic Homeworld. 

Crossfire: Legion has been in Early Access since May this year, and has already made untold advances, adding new Acts to its story campaign, new maps, and a full-on level editor. 

Set in a near future ravaged by war, the game sees you command one of three distinct factions. Global Risk are basically your space-age privateers, working for governments to suppress ‘terrorist’ threats, and specialising in picking their opponents off through long-range warfare. Black List are a mercenary group made up of former members of Global Risk, disillusioned with what they see as a corrupt order. Speed kills with these guys, who use guerrilla tactics and fast movement to catch the enemy off-guard. Finally, there’s New Horizon, a transhumanist faction of mysterious origin built around heavy firepower and strong defence, making up in resilience what they lack in number.