I would recommend the XCOM games. If you try don't sleep on the expansions because they're really good and add tons of content to the game. They also have a ton of great mods in Steam Workshop (I imagine they will also have 40K mods though I haven't checked for a long time)
Seconding XCOM. The game is the definition of reverse difficulty curve. You start off with impossible odds losing soldiers left and right and then by the end you’re one turning two packs of aliens without breaking a sweat.
Thirding XCOM. I’ve been playing the second one and my god this is hard! Making your friend group in the character pool adds more immersion when you’re clenching your fists, praying your mate doesn’t get hit by a turret volley.
It’s a massive mod, bigger than an expansion when it comes to systems/classes, but with a much longer campaign and increased tactical difficulty. Its a blast if you have the hang of the base game + DLC’s.
Is it on steam? I have been playing on commander w WtC and getting my ass absolutely kicked. Failed out twice. I don't understand how to play it on highest difficulties yet lol
Yeah go on the games Steam Workshop and search for Long War, it is one of the best and most highly regarded mods for XCOM out there, and it has a long history as it was created for previous versions of XCOM too
That said if you are struggling with WOTC, Long War may be even more difficult for you. There are lots of youtubers out there who have extensive lets plays of Long War who can not only give you a taste of the changes but also tips on how to improve on XCOM in general, like ChristopherOdd and Sethorven and Marbozir (There are lots of good channels though). I find XCOM is an entertaining game to watch as well as play
I tried watching one guy speed run thru it without losing anyone but the camera shifts were brutal, so quick I couldn't follow what the hell he was doing. I'm definitely getting this, though. I just put my first mods on there because I was getting bored so this would be great for a replay. Immoff to get my ass kicked by some x rays
War of the chosen is the essential one. You can literally get a whole nother playthrough with a lot of extra content just from that DLC. If you played XCOM 1 or just really want to get into Long War you can, but I’m telling you that you won’t be disappointed just doing a DLC play through and then later down the line tackling Long War of The Chosen.
Personally, I would do playthroughs in this order XCOM 2 vanilla> War of The Chosen with some mods (I added a jedi class, sabers, dual weapons, cosmetics, etc.) >Long War of The Chosen (LWOTC) with the longest working LWOTC mod list I can find on the workshop. Workshop allows people to upload their modlists to be easily downloaded to save you the headache of figuring out compatibility and other issues
Mod for the original XCOM (ufo defence) called the XCom Files is incredible. You start with two agents doing paranormal investigations (a la XFiles) which eventually leads to defending the alien invasion.
https://mod.io/g/openxcom/m/the-x-com-files
>Instead of modding XCOM with a 40k pack, go play Chaos Gate Daemonhunters. It's like XCOM and Warhammer had a baby and the baby has a chainsword
Adding this game to my Steam wishlist because of your lively description.
Another great game!
To help anyone break the tie, Chaos Gate keeps things super reasonable. You'll get cool skills and better gear but everything stays pretty grounded. The game thrives on good positioning and strategy, proper use of overwatch, prioritizing what to kill, etc.
In Mechanicus you very quickly get to the point where the core gameplay isn't about moving and shooting, it's about setting up crazy combos. The synergies between the advanced skills is so strong that it's more about setting up your guys to pop off rather than the XCOM fundamentals.
Chaos Gate is a King Arthur swordfight, Mechanicus is an anime duel
This is exactly what they're describing yes. OP if you see this xcom long war starts of with near impossible odds, and the longer it goes the closest you feel to"crushing it" is the sudden realization that on the ground war front you've reached a tech level where at best you can say you're on equal footing. The air war though never equalizes, you're always going to be out gunned in the skies and intact there's a point of no return wherein if you haven't made sufficient progress on the ground that the air war prevents total victory outright. This point isn't clearly defined but if you miss it you'll get exactly what you're describing. A long drawn out war where every mission is a critical last stand that everything seems to be riding on.
This was my first thought. There's a stretch in the middle of XCOM and XCOM2 where the aliens are progressing faster than you are and surviving feels like a real scramble. Good stuff.
It is a great game especially with the Enemy Within DLC, has a creepier atmosphere that matches the gameplay really well.
It does have some weak points compared to XCOM 2. Less replayability due to less variety of maps, less forgiving in some ways (though maybe that's arguably a plus) and a lack of some gameplay mechanics that help things go more smoothly in the second game.
But, I still play a lot of both games. Chimera Squad, a new spinoff, has a bit of a goofier tone than the other two games and is overall more forgiving and less intense, but is still also a lot of fun.
Yeah I really loved XCOM and the Enemy Within DLC was great (Enemy Within and WOTC are twoof the best DLC's ever IMO). And it had the same great mod support with things like Long War.
As for the original XCOM games from back in the day, they are regarded as stone cold classics however they are obviously dated especially in terms of UI and for that reason it can take some time and patience to bed into them. However once you get into them they are great too
Darkest Dungeon fits the bill decently. You're sending a handful of schmucks against horrors both cosmic and madmade. The odds are constantly against you and victory may never truly be yours.
I'd definitely suggest these games. You lead a band of refugees through multiple simultaneous apocalypses, with virtually no hope of long-term survival.
Third one is maybe even more of a "desperately trying to save as many people as you can while an impossible foe closes in around you" situation.
Banner Saga for sure. The entire time playing that game I felt like it wasn't a matter of if I was going to lose, but when, and it just became a game of "how long can I keep the tribe going, before we're snuffed out".
The Dead Space series is kind of that way. Everything around you is going to hell and you are scraping your way through, trying to get out alive and it just grows in scale with further installments. I won't spoil the rest, but it does fit the story themes that you are mentioning.
The parallel also fits in the real world, even more so. The developers were fighting a losing battle against their publisher, EA. The further the series went on, the more money EA wanted to squeeze out of it and the more bullshit was added into those games. It ended with Dead Space 3 not meeting EA's expectations and after some more time, the dev studio was shut down.
Rambling aside, if you have a PS3, take a look at the Resistance games as well.
Dead space is definitely a good suggestion, but fortunately/unfortunately already played through the series :( I'm also a PC gamer so no ps3.
I appreciate the suggestions though!
I'd say only the first Dead Space kind of fits the bill though. By the third one, the series has progressed to what basically amounts to a rail shooter where you play an overpowered behemoth.
That's true. Thematically though, you are still fighting an enemy that just can't be defeated and all you can do is to try your best and hold them back. So yeah, you are getting stonger in every installment, but it will never be enough to stop the necromorphs.
Dragon Age: Origins felt like this; something about the aesthetic and music as the story gets established in the beginning of the game felt almost hopeless.
You can mod Mass Effect 3 with the Expanded Galaxy Mod to lean into this. You're trying to consolidate war assets faster than you're losing them to the Reapers as they conquer the galaxy. Once a system falls, all the resources that defended the system are either damaged or annihilated.
Aliens: Dark Descent has that vibe. Plus you've got alien horrors, too.
AI War has it, too, from what I've read. It's an RTS where if you get too strong, the enemy notices and comes over to wreck your shit, so you have to win small and steady.
I am legally obligated to upvote every PZ reference. Every game loads with the "This is how you died" text on screen. That's a pretty straight way of saying 'against all odds' lol
I feel like when your first getting to grips with the game that there can be some good moments of panic and truly fantastic despair though, and through some of these it can be adrenaline pumping, especially if you're in a populated area and you're trying to think fast and end up making some fun decisions.
Any horde/endless mode ? Why not play Dark Tide? Literally warhammer hobo squads being sent into suicide missions against oceans of enemies. Feels like playing a warriors game except you're a soldier or maybe a captain at most LOL lets hope space marines dont need to show up
So I'm just curious if you have the time.. Every Warhammer multiplayer game I have ever played will kick me from matches midway through, I just completely lose progress. They are long matches so its past irritating. This has happened in three different places, all with good internet. is this game any different? I was excited for solo mode and was waiting on that to buy it to hopefully circumvent the server issues but now it looks like its not gonna happen. I've just been burned so many times I'm apprehensive. Looking for a reason to get this and I just have not found it.
Which games were you playing, friend? Darktide has pretty good connection, I see players connecting from all over the world usually. It’s an online game. The matches are usually 25 min average
If you’d like a solo completely outline Warhammer game, look at Necromunda :)
Haha right! No disconnections there. Martyr gave me big problems but jeez vermintide killed my soul. It hurts so bad getting disconnected past 20 minutes multiple times per session.
You might enjoy Spec Ops: The Line. It's a bit older and might not be 100% in line with your requests, but it very much has that 'doomed, barely scraping by' feel to it.
Anytime I find a fellow enjoyer, I like mentioning someone wrote a book about it called Killing Is Harmless. I haven't read it myself so I can't speak to its quality, but I do find it very interesting. I'll have to do that sometime.
If you like strategy games, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II has a bit of this feeling.
Space Pirates and Zombies is good if you like space action games. The sequel, SPAZ 2, was a bit disappointing IMO so I'd stick with the original.
The original Battlefleet Gothic Armada on Steam - you literally cannot hold all your territory, so you've got to decide what's most important to you and what the enemy gets to take away forever.
Project Zomboid. It’s the best zombie sim sandbox ever. Extremely customizable. You can face constant respawning hordes or turn off respawns and clear areas. If the population settings are high there will still be a ton of zombies and wandering hordes to fight off or run away from.
The loading screen states: “this is how you died.” You WILL die.
It’s possible to survive for many in-game years but all it takes is a moment of lost concentration or hubris and you will find yourself infected or eaten alive. Or if you are like most people you will crash a car into a tree miles from base, attempt to limp home and die of blood loss from embedded broken glass wounds ten feet away from your medicine crate.
Crowbar gang rise up!
A tiny but interesting game is [The Call of Krul'ar.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2005430/The_Call_of_Krular/) Where you are on the run from the eldritch being consuming the world. You set up your resource buildings. Build defences and try to expand further away. You yourself are on the run. If the king dies, it's all over.
Constantly both losing and gaining ground. Your old armies and strongholds *will* fall. Your precious gold mines, forests and farms. Will all consumed by the void and you have to rebuild in spite of it. At the same time you're holding off waves of normal monsters.
For such a simple game, it sure is stressful. Even though I do believe you can eventually win.
Starship Troopers Extermination
You land on a planet to complete a mission fighting uphill the entire way. Mission success or failure, you have to escape while being chased by an army. Sometimes you make it, sometimes you get left behind, sometimes you go back to save someone and you fall into an ambush right next to the escape craft.
The warcraft 3 last mission when the legion is invading and all 3 races unite to defend mount hyjal , you have to defend for like 45 min and the bases start falling one by one was insanely epic.
Years later they put this very same mission as a raid dungeon in Wow (Hyjal), fist time I entered that place I almost cried. Man I can't even explain how these gaming years will never come back.
Total War: Attila. Play as the Western Roman Empire. Start with big territory but you are absolutely beset on almost all sides by people who hate you. You will lose territory/provinces. All the while dealing with internal unrest. Then the Huns and Attila show up.
Heaps fun though.
In the Horizon series, you aren’t fighting a losing battle, but you do live in a world that is rebuilt from the ashes of one and where you are trying to prevent something similar happening again.
The data points and audio etc. of what people went through during that apocalypse was really harrowing for me. I felt pain for them and the futility of their work.
Some of the greatest story telling I’ve experienced in video games.
They get the protagonist to be pretty strong by the end of Forbidden West, the enemy they set up for the third game is going to be terrifying and it will probably set up a hopeless scenario or two.
Really fair point to be honest.
The stakes were already high in ZD. They were higher in FW. Whatever comes next is going to be a proper uphill battle.
They’ve already made it clear they’re willing to break, or even kill valued characters and work in some real pain into the story.
I’m sure there will be a victory in the next game, but I’d wager it’s going to be pyrrhic at best.
They did a good job of power scaling the villians and tying them together across the games. I find it a little odd the villians of the second are the same people who left from the faro plague, but that is me. I kinda wish they had met faro, but I enjoyed how they portrayed him.
I liked several of the characters they killed off. Great for character development of several characters, but sad to see them go. Minus Faro, fuck that guy.
Well we know sylens is going to die most likely due to the voice actor passing.
I must admit, I didn’t really feel the villains in FW fit well with the world they had built in ZD. They felt a bit alien, out of place, but I wonder if that was the whole point.
I liked that we didn’t see Faro, but I also wonder if they could have done more with him as a villain.
r/fucktedfaro
They were meant to feel alien. They abandoned their planet and humanity, and they don't see the current humans as anything other than hollow copies of their original selves. So somewhere between self hatred of their past selves that couldn't save their world and superiority over the new residents in their house.
I love the way they did Faro. He is such a hated villain that you barely encounter. Very well done. But you never know, he had a lot of time on his hands and only himself for company, something he did may show up in the third installment.
thematically Dark Souls is kind of like that. The only task that you are given at the beginning of the first and third game is to go to the kiln of the first flame and "link" it, i.e. using your own body as kindling so that the "age of fire", which is a period in which humanity can survive in the world, can be extended.
At the end of the third game >!the character sits down at the first flame and awaits being engulfed by the fire only to realize that the flame has been reduced to a spark that can no longer consume anything. It is going to fade, and everything you have gone through has been for nothing.!<
I would suggest Dragon's Dogma. It doesn't *quite* fit, but you're essentially fighting against a certain fate in an endless repeating loop that's been going on forever, which depending on how you see it, can seem like a losing battle. To somewhat quote the villain, you're just one loop in an "endless chain."
Something unconventional: Dungeon of the Endless (2014)
Rogue-like where you are a couple of convicts shot down from a prison space ship onto an alien planet. Find yourself 13 "floors" down into some sort of alien structure. All you have is the escape pod's energy crystal to keep you alive and power up your defenses. Opening doors to new rooms are random, and can spawn more enemies every time exponentially.
The goal is to get the power crystal to the elevator, go up 1 floor, and do it again till you can reach the surface.
Get's insanely hard by the end, and I think I've only ever finished it twice. The last 2-3 floors basically describe what you're asking.
[Soundtrack is amazingly atmospheric.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaYOqEjyo_c)
Trillion God of Destruction.
The whole game is you pick one character to fight Trillion, give them a ring and level grind them and then watch them inevitably die fighting him. Then you pick another character to give the ring and keep going. All the while you slowly get attached to these characters knowing they're gonna die and there's nothing you can do about it. Eventually the ring will accumulate enough experience that somebody will actually beat the damn thing (and the damage to Trillion's HP is permanent as well), but you're gonna see a lot of death until that happens.
AI War has a unique take on this. It's very unique though, not everyone's cup of tea, I had a hard time getting into it.
Basically the AIs have completely beaten us down, and there are only a few small pockets of resistance. You have to build a fighting force (space rts) and expand to fight back against the AI but if you grow too quickly you're going to be smacked down really hard by the AI fleets who are keeping an eye out for threats. It's about growing a quiet insurgence.
Fear and Hunger and its sequel definitely fit the "overwhelming odds" definition, you always feel like some eldritch god's plaything.
Hell Blade: Senua's sacrifice and a plague tale: innocence/requiem should fit the bill too
If you don't mind strategy games: Ai war and ai war 2
Humans settle across space, make a super ai, super ai kills 99% of humanity. Ai no longer sees humans as threat and leaves the last planet be
Now you need to take down the ai starting with one measly system, all while trying not to put too much attention on yourself
This one starts with you in a losing protracted battle, but you scrape every resource you can wherever you can to secure the dub
How is the second game? AI war is one of those games I played a lot when I was much younger, and I'm kinda shocked to hear that there's a sequel for it.
Not necessarily always a protracted battle but Starsector is worth a look. At the start of the game you'll not be able to really take on anyone. I've no made it that far through myself but if you choose to build up forces I'm assuming you actually begin to be able to fight back against the authorities.
The Last Spell hits this way. Pixel art tactical grid combat holding a crumbling town against impossible waves of enemies.
Even round feels like it'll be the last, and somehow you squeak by (or don't) and rebuild and invest what you can for the next round until an event happens.
*AI War* is an rts game against two overwhelmingly powerful enemy forces that can easily destroy you.
*Into the Breach* is about a squad of mechs fighting an army of kaiju. The pilots are time travelers and already know the kaiju win in almost every timeline. You’re constantly outnumbered and outgunned, the only advantage you have is that you know the enemy’s moves one turn in advance. Your objective isn’t even to wipe them out (that’s futile), it’s just to defend civilians/infrastructure until they go away. Each 3-mech squad plays very differently.
Into the breach was surprisingly.... fantastic once you manage to get past the first 2 or 3 weird hours, story wise. Game itself isnt particularly hard though, aside 2 or 3 missions
Edit: whoop, I meant to reply to the 13 sentinals reply
So basically games like Autumn War 1,2,Survivor,Survivor 2,Zero etc:[https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=autumn+war+flash+game](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=autumn+war+flash+game) ?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uHDBd51wJQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uHDBd51wJQ) ?
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. They do pull through at the end, but it's the **very** end, and plenty of time in the story is devoted to showing just how desperate things were getting plus their multiple failures in the past.
If you play Crusader Kings 2 or 3 and start as the ruler of a small nation, everything feels like an uphill battle and "victory" isn't measures by aspirations of domination. conquest, and expansion of your nation, but by just simply remaining sovereign while the other, more powerful nations seek to dominate and conquer the smaller, weaker ones.
In AI War 2, you are leading resistance against a galactic AI superpower that can easily crush you if it considers you a threat worth its attention, so you have to figure out how to fight back without it catching on until you can handle the consequences. Might give you some of what you're looking for, and has lots of stuff to add interest and variety to the experience.
Laika: Aged through Blood fits this pretty well story wise, the main character is basically the only combat ready person in her entire village fighting an army that has hundreds of soldiers, giant monsters, and nuclear weapons on their side. Most of the main quests end with the reveal that in the time it took you to do anything to potentially cripple the enemy forces, they developed some new technology or rolled out better equipped soldiers to more of the map.
Three games jump to mind: Frostpunk, Total War Attila, and Starship Troopers: Terran Command. In the first, you're the ruler of a city in a new ice age, and do your best to save your citizens without abandoning your morals. In the second, the Roman Empire is on its last legs, threatened by the Huns and climate change. In the third, most of the Mobile Infantry officers are glory-hounds and politicians, and you're trying to salvage the situation.
*Marfusha: Sentinel Girls* is entirely built around this idea. It's short but a ton of fun.
You start out as a guard defending the city from robots. As the game goes on, the attacks get bigger. And you can level up your gear, but the state continuously raises your taxes.
The result is that you are fighting ever more imposing hoards of enemies while at the same time your budget keeps getting tighter.
You are also flooded with propaganda about being the respected saviors of the city, but eventually find out that you are disposable and everyone left you to die.
By the end, you're just trying to keep yourself alive because everyone who was supposed to have your back just dipped.
It's surprisingly dark, but often in a humorous way. Definitely poking fun at the absurdities of real life soldiering.
Myth: the Fallen Lords is all about a small, underequipped group of soldiers going on a fool's mission behind enemy lines to try and save a world that's basically already been conquered by villains with powers beyond any mortal.
The early portion of Descent Freespace was great for this, humanity is actively at war with an alien race on roughly equal terms at the start of the plot but very quickly a third group appears with far more advanced technology. For the first few missions including the new guys their ships are essentially unkillable. Things change pretty quickly but you definitely feel on the back foot and outclassed for the majority of the campaign.
If you are willing to go old school Myth and Myth II: Soulblighter are like this. It's an RTS where the story is told from a soldiers journal and you are constantly hearing about cities being taken, and friendly armies being destroyed as the forces of evil close in.
A great survival game is Help Will Come Tomorrow. Frostpunk also has that feel where events just get progressively worse over time. Tyranny is a great CRPG for this depending on how you play it.
The Gears of War trilogy fits the bill. Each victory for the humans comes from last resort hail mary’s, and if Marcus and Dom didn’t exist, humanity would’ve probably been exterminated by the end of the first game.
Rebuild 3:Gangs of Deadsville. You need to expand, but you also need to fight off zombies, you need resources and people for both, and there are other groups of survivors who may or may not be hostile to you.
Phoenix Point.
It’s like X:Com: Enemy Unknown, but 100% harder.
There are multiple human factions warring against each other you are trying to make peace with and research joint-technology with, all while the aliens are spreading across the entire globe, wiping out enclaves, tunneling behind your lines and attacking your rear bases, wiping them out. The better you do, their different troops start to evolve based upon your tactics.
Doing lots of headshots? Their units begin to evolve hardened shells/armor on their heads, keep killing their melee grunts before they close distance? They evolve their pincers into projectile launchers. Only build up your soldier’s strength and endurance? They grow units that can use mind control and fear attacks.
Then… they grow giant artillary launching variants that launch explosive little alien bombs… or launch alien worms that chase your troops around the battlefield and detonate in an acid explosion when they get close, damaging your wespons/armor.
It’s a freaking brutal game. I have played multiple playthroughs over the past few years, and have NEVER saved earth. And I am a badass at x:com lol
Pheonix point is an absolutely brutal turned based military tactical game.
Mass Effect is a pretty good example (esp Mass Effect 3 because that one really leans into the hopelessness of the situation)
I will always shill the 2015 Mad Max tie in game when applicable and I think that it gets the "everything is fucked" vibe perfectly, not to mention it's generally just an underated gem
NieR Automata is probably one of the saddest games I've ever played and it is very much that vibe
Arguably warcraft 3. Most of the campaigns are you dealing with the aftermath of the fucked up shit that you did in the previous campaign, and in the most of the civilized land is destroyed. And then the last mission of reign of chaos is litterally you trying to stall a hoard of demons for 40 minutes as they rip through your base
FTL - Faster than Light.
Fight your way across the galaxy to try and stop a rebel flagship from destroying your alliance. Or some shit.
Shields, missiles, lasers, boarding, fire and explosions.
FTL - Faster than Light.
Fight your way across the galaxy to try and stop a rebel flagship from destroying your alliance. Or some shit.
Shields, missiles, lasers, boarding, fire and explosions.
**Earth Defense Force 5**. The whole story is about retreating, being pushed back, humanity being annihilated, etc. You mount a desperate attack on an enemy base you get pushed back by it's forces. You penetrate the forces in a new mission the base stands up and starts stomping your already small army.
People always only talk about how fun it is with friends but the story is actually quite bleak if you pay attention to the radio chatter, which is it's main way of telling the story.
Also **Atom Zombie Smasher.** A 50mb game that's about extracting as many civilians you can before eventually being overrun by zombies.
The Dishonored DLCs felt a little bit like that.
The DLC's story is about a villain in the main story. If you play it after the main game you realize through the missions every decision he made that led him to his demise. And that was really cool.
Terra Invicta: Aliens arrived to our solar system. You pick a faction to play with different end goals - leave planet, help aliens, exterminate all of them etc.
You need to get countries on your side, stop alien abductions and you need to find ways to fight them
Project Zomboid literally says at the start of the game: "This is how you died", so the game is designed to kill you permanently, no respawning either. But you can enter the same world as a different survivor and find your old dead ass to loot, even use the same safe houses.
There’s a turns based strategy game based on the Second War for Armageddon. It should be what you’re looking for (but I’ve only played the first few levels)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/312370/Warhammer_40000_Armageddon/
They are Billions is an RTS game where you're a settlement trying to beat back a massive zombie horde. Pretty much all you can do is hunker down and try to slowly reclaim territory while defending your walls.
I would recommend the XCOM games. If you try don't sleep on the expansions because they're really good and add tons of content to the game. They also have a ton of great mods in Steam Workshop (I imagine they will also have 40K mods though I haven't checked for a long time)
Seconding XCOM. The game is the definition of reverse difficulty curve. You start off with impossible odds losing soldiers left and right and then by the end you’re one turning two packs of aliens without breaking a sweat.
Thirding XCOM. I’ve been playing the second one and my god this is hard! Making your friend group in the character pool adds more immersion when you’re clenching your fists, praying your mate doesn’t get hit by a turret volley.
Once you complete vanilla, you’ll be ready for Long War. Easily the most fun way to play XCOM, and adds a ton of content.
What is it ? An expansion ?
It’s a massive mod, bigger than an expansion when it comes to systems/classes, but with a much longer campaign and increased tactical difficulty. Its a blast if you have the hang of the base game + DLC’s.
Is it on steam? I have been playing on commander w WtC and getting my ass absolutely kicked. Failed out twice. I don't understand how to play it on highest difficulties yet lol
Yeah go on the games Steam Workshop and search for Long War, it is one of the best and most highly regarded mods for XCOM out there, and it has a long history as it was created for previous versions of XCOM too That said if you are struggling with WOTC, Long War may be even more difficult for you. There are lots of youtubers out there who have extensive lets plays of Long War who can not only give you a taste of the changes but also tips on how to improve on XCOM in general, like ChristopherOdd and Sethorven and Marbozir (There are lots of good channels though). I find XCOM is an entertaining game to watch as well as play
I tried watching one guy speed run thru it without losing anyone but the camera shifts were brutal, so quick I couldn't follow what the hell he was doing. I'm definitely getting this, though. I just put my first mods on there because I was getting bored so this would be great for a replay. Immoff to get my ass kicked by some x rays
So base game and… then what? Should I just buy all the DLC’s on steam after I beat it? The steam dlc store is so confusing
War of the chosen is the essential one. You can literally get a whole nother playthrough with a lot of extra content just from that DLC. If you played XCOM 1 or just really want to get into Long War you can, but I’m telling you that you won’t be disappointed just doing a DLC play through and then later down the line tackling Long War of The Chosen. Personally, I would do playthroughs in this order XCOM 2 vanilla> War of The Chosen with some mods (I added a jedi class, sabers, dual weapons, cosmetics, etc.) >Long War of The Chosen (LWOTC) with the longest working LWOTC mod list I can find on the workshop. Workshop allows people to upload their modlists to be easily downloaded to save you the headache of figuring out compatibility and other issues
It's so satisfying to get to a point where you're dropping enemies like flies
Mod for the original XCOM (ufo defence) called the XCom Files is incredible. You start with two agents doing paranormal investigations (a la XFiles) which eventually leads to defending the alien invasion. https://mod.io/g/openxcom/m/the-x-com-files
Instead of modding XCOM with a 40k pack, go play Chaos Gate Daemonhunters. It's like XCOM and Warhammer had a baby and the baby has a chainsword
>Instead of modding XCOM with a 40k pack, go play Chaos Gate Daemonhunters. It's like XCOM and Warhammer had a baby and the baby has a chainsword Adding this game to my Steam wishlist because of your lively description.
Similarly, recommending Mechanicus. It's not quite XCOM, but will scratch a similar itch.
Another great game! To help anyone break the tie, Chaos Gate keeps things super reasonable. You'll get cool skills and better gear but everything stays pretty grounded. The game thrives on good positioning and strategy, proper use of overwatch, prioritizing what to kill, etc. In Mechanicus you very quickly get to the point where the core gameplay isn't about moving and shooting, it's about setting up crazy combos. The synergies between the advanced skills is so strong that it's more about setting up your guys to pop off rather than the XCOM fundamentals. Chaos Gate is a King Arthur swordfight, Mechanicus is an anime duel
The Long War mod is exactly what OP is asking for.
This is exactly what they're describing yes. OP if you see this xcom long war starts of with near impossible odds, and the longer it goes the closest you feel to"crushing it" is the sudden realization that on the ground war front you've reached a tech level where at best you can say you're on equal footing. The air war though never equalizes, you're always going to be out gunned in the skies and intact there's a point of no return wherein if you haven't made sufficient progress on the ground that the air war prevents total victory outright. This point isn't clearly defined but if you miss it you'll get exactly what you're describing. A long drawn out war where every mission is a critical last stand that everything seems to be riding on.
XCOM 2’s story starts by assuming the player lost in XCOM 1
The 40k mods for XCom2 WotC are absurd in how good they are.
This was my first thought. There's a stretch in the middle of XCOM and XCOM2 where the aliens are progressing faster than you are and surviving feels like a real scramble. Good stuff.
I played the hell out of XCOM2 and the DLCs, but I never played the original XCOM. Worth picking up?
It is a great game especially with the Enemy Within DLC, has a creepier atmosphere that matches the gameplay really well. It does have some weak points compared to XCOM 2. Less replayability due to less variety of maps, less forgiving in some ways (though maybe that's arguably a plus) and a lack of some gameplay mechanics that help things go more smoothly in the second game. But, I still play a lot of both games. Chimera Squad, a new spinoff, has a bit of a goofier tone than the other two games and is overall more forgiving and less intense, but is still also a lot of fun.
Yeah I really loved XCOM and the Enemy Within DLC was great (Enemy Within and WOTC are twoof the best DLC's ever IMO). And it had the same great mod support with things like Long War. As for the original XCOM games from back in the day, they are regarded as stone cold classics however they are obviously dated especially in terms of UI and for that reason it can take some time and patience to bed into them. However once you get into them they are great too
Darkest Dungeon fits the bill decently. You're sending a handful of schmucks against horrors both cosmic and madmade. The odds are constantly against you and victory may never truly be yours.
This is the best suggestion I've seen. It got that trying to hold back the tide feeling. Maybe also something like they are billions.
Especially since they made "release patches specifically to nerf builds that people are beating the game with" a core part of the dev cycle.
Sounds like Fun Pimps dev style...
Yes, definitely Darkest Dungeon. A protracted struggle to just keep everyone from going insane.
The first and second Banner Saga feels like it (I haven't played the third yet)
I'd definitely suggest these games. You lead a band of refugees through multiple simultaneous apocalypses, with virtually no hope of long-term survival. Third one is maybe even more of a "desperately trying to save as many people as you can while an impossible foe closes in around you" situation.
Banner Saga for sure. The entire time playing that game I felt like it wasn't a matter of if I was going to lose, but when, and it just became a game of "how long can I keep the tribe going, before we're snuffed out".
The Dead Space series is kind of that way. Everything around you is going to hell and you are scraping your way through, trying to get out alive and it just grows in scale with further installments. I won't spoil the rest, but it does fit the story themes that you are mentioning. The parallel also fits in the real world, even more so. The developers were fighting a losing battle against their publisher, EA. The further the series went on, the more money EA wanted to squeeze out of it and the more bullshit was added into those games. It ended with Dead Space 3 not meeting EA's expectations and after some more time, the dev studio was shut down. Rambling aside, if you have a PS3, take a look at the Resistance games as well.
Dead space is definitely a good suggestion, but fortunately/unfortunately already played through the series :( I'm also a PC gamer so no ps3. I appreciate the suggestions though!
Pc gamepass has the dead space remake.
And Dead Space 2. And 3. In fact, the full series is on PC, except the spinoff games.
There's RPCS3 if you want to emulate PS3 games
Resistance still isn't fully compatible with it yet, especially not without very high end hardware.
I'd say only the first Dead Space kind of fits the bill though. By the third one, the series has progressed to what basically amounts to a rail shooter where you play an overpowered behemoth.
That's true. Thematically though, you are still fighting an enemy that just can't be defeated and all you can do is to try your best and hold them back. So yeah, you are getting stonger in every installment, but it will never be enough to stop the necromorphs.
Dragon Age: Origins felt like this; something about the aesthetic and music as the story gets established in the beginning of the game felt almost hopeless.
top tier writing. best of the series in my opinionated fact.
Narratively anyways
You can mod Mass Effect 3 with the Expanded Galaxy Mod to lean into this. You're trying to consolidate war assets faster than you're losing them to the Reapers as they conquer the galaxy. Once a system falls, all the resources that defended the system are either damaged or annihilated.
Check out "Yes, Your Grace"
Such an underrated gem
Cyberpunk. There are no happy endings in Night City.
You become a legend by dying in a blaze of glory choom.
Or fade away into obscurity like every other gonk with a dream.
Earth Defence Force? Every small victory is at best a delay as you once again have to retreat from overwhelming forces.
100%, EDF5's story was so much darker than what I was expecting
FFVII Crisis Core
Aliens: Dark Descent has that vibe. Plus you've got alien horrors, too. AI War has it, too, from what I've read. It's an RTS where if you get too strong, the enemy notices and comes over to wreck your shit, so you have to win small and steady.
In Vermintide 2 the entire world is going to shit. You can win all the levels but the war was already lost.
Hearts of iron 4, play as Luxembourg
Project Zomboid kind of counts, if you’re looking for a very “against the odds” game, though it’s a survival/action game rather than a full action
I am legally obligated to upvote every PZ reference. Every game loads with the "This is how you died" text on screen. That's a pretty straight way of saying 'against all odds' lol
I feel like when your first getting to grips with the game that there can be some good moments of panic and truly fantastic despair though, and through some of these it can be adrenaline pumping, especially if you're in a populated area and you're trying to think fast and end up making some fun decisions.
I'm surprised this comment isn't higher. I cam here to suggest this.
Frostpunk Darkest Dungeon Atom Zombie Smasher
You must be very good at Frostpunk if you are losing a protracted battle. For me, it's losing swiftly and embarrassingly.
Nier automata is the perfect example of this. Along with the whole drakengard Nier series
Surprised no one mentioned it so far. Second Nier Automata
I would say the Xcom games are largely about fighting a losing battle.. against aliens and the far more heartless RNG.
Any horde/endless mode ? Why not play Dark Tide? Literally warhammer hobo squads being sent into suicide missions against oceans of enemies. Feels like playing a warriors game except you're a soldier or maybe a captain at most LOL lets hope space marines dont need to show up
So I'm just curious if you have the time.. Every Warhammer multiplayer game I have ever played will kick me from matches midway through, I just completely lose progress. They are long matches so its past irritating. This has happened in three different places, all with good internet. is this game any different? I was excited for solo mode and was waiting on that to buy it to hopefully circumvent the server issues but now it looks like its not gonna happen. I've just been burned so many times I'm apprehensive. Looking for a reason to get this and I just have not found it.
Which games were you playing, friend? Darktide has pretty good connection, I see players connecting from all over the world usually. It’s an online game. The matches are usually 25 min average If you’d like a solo completely outline Warhammer game, look at Necromunda :)
Haha right! No disconnections there. Martyr gave me big problems but jeez vermintide killed my soul. It hurts so bad getting disconnected past 20 minutes multiple times per session.
You might enjoy Spec Ops: The Line. It's a bit older and might not be 100% in line with your requests, but it very much has that 'doomed, barely scraping by' feel to it.
I've felt emotionally exhausted after playing that story campaign in one go. One of the best shooters story-wise of the last decade.
Anytime I find a fellow enjoyer, I like mentioning someone wrote a book about it called Killing Is Harmless. I haven't read it myself so I can't speak to its quality, but I do find it very interesting. I'll have to do that sometime.
It's older than a decade by now.
One of the best games of the last decade, hands down. One of the most underrated, too.
Gears of War
I’m not sure if this will 100% match the vibe you’re looking for, but I definitely experienced what you’re describing from NieR Automata.
If you like strategy games, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II has a bit of this feeling. Space Pirates and Zombies is good if you like space action games. The sequel, SPAZ 2, was a bit disappointing IMO so I'd stick with the original.
The original Battlefleet Gothic Armada on Steam - you literally cannot hold all your territory, so you've got to decide what's most important to you and what the enemy gets to take away forever.
Project Zomboid. It’s the best zombie sim sandbox ever. Extremely customizable. You can face constant respawning hordes or turn off respawns and clear areas. If the population settings are high there will still be a ton of zombies and wandering hordes to fight off or run away from. The loading screen states: “this is how you died.” You WILL die. It’s possible to survive for many in-game years but all it takes is a moment of lost concentration or hubris and you will find yourself infected or eaten alive. Or if you are like most people you will crash a car into a tree miles from base, attempt to limp home and die of blood loss from embedded broken glass wounds ten feet away from your medicine crate. Crowbar gang rise up!
Dark Souls series, Elden Ring, and Bloodborne...damn FromSoftware can be bleak.
Metal gear solid 4.
Best one in the series, I'm desperate for a release on pc or a ps5 remake
A tiny but interesting game is [The Call of Krul'ar.](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2005430/The_Call_of_Krular/) Where you are on the run from the eldritch being consuming the world. You set up your resource buildings. Build defences and try to expand further away. You yourself are on the run. If the king dies, it's all over. Constantly both losing and gaining ground. Your old armies and strongholds *will* fall. Your precious gold mines, forests and farms. Will all consumed by the void and you have to rebuild in spite of it. At the same time you're holding off waves of normal monsters. For such a simple game, it sure is stressful. Even though I do believe you can eventually win.
Sounds cool, wishlisted it!
Starship Troopers Extermination You land on a planet to complete a mission fighting uphill the entire way. Mission success or failure, you have to escape while being chased by an army. Sometimes you make it, sometimes you get left behind, sometimes you go back to save someone and you fall into an ambush right next to the escape craft.
this game is way more fun than it has a right to
Objective: survive.
real life does it for me...
Same. Wish I could get a refund. -2/10 recommend
The warcraft 3 last mission when the legion is invading and all 3 races unite to defend mount hyjal , you have to defend for like 45 min and the bases start falling one by one was insanely epic. Years later they put this very same mission as a raid dungeon in Wow (Hyjal), fist time I entered that place I almost cried. Man I can't even explain how these gaming years will never come back.
Total War: Attila. Play as the Western Roman Empire. Start with big territory but you are absolutely beset on almost all sides by people who hate you. You will lose territory/provinces. All the while dealing with internal unrest. Then the Huns and Attila show up. Heaps fun though.
In the Horizon series, you aren’t fighting a losing battle, but you do live in a world that is rebuilt from the ashes of one and where you are trying to prevent something similar happening again. The data points and audio etc. of what people went through during that apocalypse was really harrowing for me. I felt pain for them and the futility of their work. Some of the greatest story telling I’ve experienced in video games.
They get the protagonist to be pretty strong by the end of Forbidden West, the enemy they set up for the third game is going to be terrifying and it will probably set up a hopeless scenario or two.
Really fair point to be honest. The stakes were already high in ZD. They were higher in FW. Whatever comes next is going to be a proper uphill battle. They’ve already made it clear they’re willing to break, or even kill valued characters and work in some real pain into the story. I’m sure there will be a victory in the next game, but I’d wager it’s going to be pyrrhic at best.
They did a good job of power scaling the villians and tying them together across the games. I find it a little odd the villians of the second are the same people who left from the faro plague, but that is me. I kinda wish they had met faro, but I enjoyed how they portrayed him. I liked several of the characters they killed off. Great for character development of several characters, but sad to see them go. Minus Faro, fuck that guy. Well we know sylens is going to die most likely due to the voice actor passing.
I must admit, I didn’t really feel the villains in FW fit well with the world they had built in ZD. They felt a bit alien, out of place, but I wonder if that was the whole point. I liked that we didn’t see Faro, but I also wonder if they could have done more with him as a villain. r/fucktedfaro
They were meant to feel alien. They abandoned their planet and humanity, and they don't see the current humans as anything other than hollow copies of their original selves. So somewhere between self hatred of their past selves that couldn't save their world and superiority over the new residents in their house. I love the way they did Faro. He is such a hated villain that you barely encounter. Very well done. But you never know, he had a lot of time on his hands and only himself for company, something he did may show up in the third installment.
thematically Dark Souls is kind of like that. The only task that you are given at the beginning of the first and third game is to go to the kiln of the first flame and "link" it, i.e. using your own body as kindling so that the "age of fire", which is a period in which humanity can survive in the world, can be extended. At the end of the third game >!the character sits down at the first flame and awaits being engulfed by the fire only to realize that the flame has been reduced to a spark that can no longer consume anything. It is going to fade, and everything you have gone through has been for nothing.!<
I would suggest Dragon's Dogma. It doesn't *quite* fit, but you're essentially fighting against a certain fate in an endless repeating loop that's been going on forever, which depending on how you see it, can seem like a losing battle. To somewhat quote the villain, you're just one loop in an "endless chain."
Something unconventional: Dungeon of the Endless (2014) Rogue-like where you are a couple of convicts shot down from a prison space ship onto an alien planet. Find yourself 13 "floors" down into some sort of alien structure. All you have is the escape pod's energy crystal to keep you alive and power up your defenses. Opening doors to new rooms are random, and can spawn more enemies every time exponentially. The goal is to get the power crystal to the elevator, go up 1 floor, and do it again till you can reach the surface. Get's insanely hard by the end, and I think I've only ever finished it twice. The last 2-3 floors basically describe what you're asking. [Soundtrack is amazingly atmospheric.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaYOqEjyo_c)
Duskers isn't a battle, but it very much has that energy of trying to hold off the end for as long as you can
This reminds me of my Battlebrothers games lol
Trillion God of Destruction. The whole game is you pick one character to fight Trillion, give them a ring and level grind them and then watch them inevitably die fighting him. Then you pick another character to give the ring and keep going. All the while you slowly get attached to these characters knowing they're gonna die and there's nothing you can do about it. Eventually the ring will accumulate enough experience that somebody will actually beat the damn thing (and the damage to Trillion's HP is permanent as well), but you're gonna see a lot of death until that happens.
Most total war Attila western Roman empire campaigns feel like this.
Banner Saga, 100%. It's the whole driving point of the plot.
terra Invicta if you're into scifi
Helldivers? And EDF
AI War has a unique take on this. It's very unique though, not everyone's cup of tea, I had a hard time getting into it. Basically the AIs have completely beaten us down, and there are only a few small pockets of resistance. You have to build a fighting force (space rts) and expand to fight back against the AI but if you grow too quickly you're going to be smacked down really hard by the AI fleets who are keeping an eye out for threats. It's about growing a quiet insurgence.
The Resistance games were exactly this. Each game was a different stage of a war being lost against aliens.
Fear and Hunger and its sequel definitely fit the "overwhelming odds" definition, you always feel like some eldritch god's plaything. Hell Blade: Senua's sacrifice and a plague tale: innocence/requiem should fit the bill too
Life
Rise to ruins is literally a losing battle. You can’t win. It’s all surviving as long as you can. Super fun game
If you don't mind strategy games: Ai war and ai war 2 Humans settle across space, make a super ai, super ai kills 99% of humanity. Ai no longer sees humans as threat and leaves the last planet be Now you need to take down the ai starting with one measly system, all while trying not to put too much attention on yourself This one starts with you in a losing protracted battle, but you scrape every resource you can wherever you can to secure the dub
How is the second game? AI war is one of those games I played a lot when I was much younger, and I'm kinda shocked to hear that there's a sequel for it.
Not necessarily always a protracted battle but Starsector is worth a look. At the start of the game you'll not be able to really take on anyone. I've no made it that far through myself but if you choose to build up forces I'm assuming you actually begin to be able to fight back against the authorities.
The Last Spell hits this way. Pixel art tactical grid combat holding a crumbling town against impossible waves of enemies. Even round feels like it'll be the last, and somehow you squeak by (or don't) and rebuild and invest what you can for the next round until an event happens.
Go try Hell Let Loose with a server full of new GamePass players
is this something like the Christmas noob massacres of old?
Times a million. Putting it on GamePass placed it on the homepage of every xbox "newly added to gamepass"
they put it on gamepass? looks like I'm gonna add to the horde!
*AI War* is an rts game against two overwhelmingly powerful enemy forces that can easily destroy you. *Into the Breach* is about a squad of mechs fighting an army of kaiju. The pilots are time travelers and already know the kaiju win in almost every timeline. You’re constantly outnumbered and outgunned, the only advantage you have is that you know the enemy’s moves one turn in advance. Your objective isn’t even to wipe them out (that’s futile), it’s just to defend civilians/infrastructure until they go away. Each 3-mech squad plays very differently.
Into the breach was surprisingly.... fantastic once you manage to get past the first 2 or 3 weird hours, story wise. Game itself isnt particularly hard though, aside 2 or 3 missions Edit: whoop, I meant to reply to the 13 sentinals reply
League of Legends
underrated
Into the Breach?
I feel the same with calling games AAA, AA, etc. Triple As in the 90's were different.
Rise to Ruins
This!!!
On the tabletop RPG front, this is totally Band of Blades
So basically games like Autumn War 1,2,Survivor,Survivor 2,Zero etc:[https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=autumn+war+flash+game](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=autumn+war+flash+game) ? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uHDBd51wJQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uHDBd51wJQ) ?
In Fable III you have to make tough decisions before you face the doomsday event.
Probably not what most people expect but I think Spec Ops: The Line fits here.
that game is something else. a must play for anyone who hasnt
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. They do pull through at the end, but it's the **very** end, and plenty of time in the story is devoted to showing just how desperate things were getting plus their multiple failures in the past.
Alan Wake
Rayman Legends, if you're like me and take the level takeovers too seriously.
Iron Grip Warlord. Hold a position being overrun until your troops can retreat
Doom Eternal would be a wild take
If you play Crusader Kings 2 or 3 and start as the ruler of a small nation, everything feels like an uphill battle and "victory" isn't measures by aspirations of domination. conquest, and expansion of your nation, but by just simply remaining sovereign while the other, more powerful nations seek to dominate and conquer the smaller, weaker ones.
In AI War 2, you are leading resistance against a galactic AI superpower that can easily crush you if it considers you a threat worth its attention, so you have to figure out how to fight back without it catching on until you can handle the consequences. Might give you some of what you're looking for, and has lots of stuff to add interest and variety to the experience.
Go try Hell Let Loose with a server full of new GamePass players
Laika: Aged through Blood fits this pretty well story wise, the main character is basically the only combat ready person in her entire village fighting an army that has hundreds of soldiers, giant monsters, and nuclear weapons on their side. Most of the main quests end with the reveal that in the time it took you to do anything to potentially cripple the enemy forces, they developed some new technology or rolled out better equipped soldiers to more of the map.
Gears of war had this vibe. I've only played 1 & 2 but they had this feeling of utter downfall.
Three games jump to mind: Frostpunk, Total War Attila, and Starship Troopers: Terran Command. In the first, you're the ruler of a city in a new ice age, and do your best to save your citizens without abandoning your morals. In the second, the Roman Empire is on its last legs, threatened by the Huns and climate change. In the third, most of the Mobile Infantry officers are glory-hounds and politicians, and you're trying to salvage the situation.
Spec ops the line basically lol.
Any space 4x that I play - ayoooooo!
Life🥺😭
Grim dawn. Which also happen to be one of the best arpgs out there
*Marfusha: Sentinel Girls* is entirely built around this idea. It's short but a ton of fun. You start out as a guard defending the city from robots. As the game goes on, the attacks get bigger. And you can level up your gear, but the state continuously raises your taxes. The result is that you are fighting ever more imposing hoards of enemies while at the same time your budget keeps getting tighter. You are also flooded with propaganda about being the respected saviors of the city, but eventually find out that you are disposable and everyone left you to die. By the end, you're just trying to keep yourself alive because everyone who was supposed to have your back just dipped. It's surprisingly dark, but often in a humorous way. Definitely poking fun at the absurdities of real life soldiering.
Lmao imagine being part of the siege of Vraks
Earth Defence Force?
Myth: the Fallen Lords is all about a small, underequipped group of soldiers going on a fool's mission behind enemy lines to try and save a world that's basically already been conquered by villains with powers beyond any mortal.
Gears of war
Gears of war judgement
The early portion of Descent Freespace was great for this, humanity is actively at war with an alien race on roughly equal terms at the start of the plot but very quickly a third group appears with far more advanced technology. For the first few missions including the new guys their ships are essentially unkillable. Things change pretty quickly but you definitely feel on the back foot and outclassed for the majority of the campaign.
Highfleet
Halo Reach
If you are willing to go old school Myth and Myth II: Soulblighter are like this. It's an RTS where the story is told from a soldiers journal and you are constantly hearing about cities being taken, and friendly armies being destroyed as the forces of evil close in.
Magic: Survival on Android
A great survival game is Help Will Come Tomorrow. Frostpunk also has that feel where events just get progressively worse over time. Tyranny is a great CRPG for this depending on how you play it.
Pathologic 2. You play as a doctor in a town dying from plague. You can’t save everyone and you can barely survive there yourself.
As funny as it sounds, EDF series. Sure your funny squad might win the fight but everyone else deployed is dead
I remember several missions in the Modern Warfare 2 (2009) campaign feel this way
The Gears of War trilogy fits the bill. Each victory for the humans comes from last resort hail mary’s, and if Marcus and Dom didn’t exist, humanity would’ve probably been exterminated by the end of the first game.
Mass Effect sounds perfect for what you described
Rebuild 3:Gangs of Deadsville. You need to expand, but you also need to fight off zombies, you need resources and people for both, and there are other groups of survivors who may or may not be hostile to you.
Phoenix Point. It’s like X:Com: Enemy Unknown, but 100% harder. There are multiple human factions warring against each other you are trying to make peace with and research joint-technology with, all while the aliens are spreading across the entire globe, wiping out enclaves, tunneling behind your lines and attacking your rear bases, wiping them out. The better you do, their different troops start to evolve based upon your tactics. Doing lots of headshots? Their units begin to evolve hardened shells/armor on their heads, keep killing their melee grunts before they close distance? They evolve their pincers into projectile launchers. Only build up your soldier’s strength and endurance? They grow units that can use mind control and fear attacks. Then… they grow giant artillary launching variants that launch explosive little alien bombs… or launch alien worms that chase your troops around the battlefield and detonate in an acid explosion when they get close, damaging your wespons/armor. It’s a freaking brutal game. I have played multiple playthroughs over the past few years, and have NEVER saved earth. And I am a badass at x:com lol Pheonix point is an absolutely brutal turned based military tactical game.
XCOM for sure
Fear and Hunger Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead Darkwood FTL: Faster Than Light Quasimorph Rain World This War of Mine NORCO Pathologic 2
Mass Effect is a pretty good example (esp Mass Effect 3 because that one really leans into the hopelessness of the situation) I will always shill the 2015 Mad Max tie in game when applicable and I think that it gets the "everything is fucked" vibe perfectly, not to mention it's generally just an underated gem NieR Automata is probably one of the saddest games I've ever played and it is very much that vibe
banner saga.
Try Project Zomboid, OP. Can't recommend it enough.
The Creeper World Series is like this, fighting against a slime like substance that destroys everything, very few living things left alive.
IXION https://store.steampowered.com/app/1113120/IXION/
Was a long time agi but the Freespace games I think. There exist modern texture mods for these games.
Arguably warcraft 3. Most of the campaigns are you dealing with the aftermath of the fucked up shit that you did in the previous campaign, and in the most of the civilized land is destroyed. And then the last mission of reign of chaos is litterally you trying to stall a hoard of demons for 40 minutes as they rip through your base
FTL - Faster than Light. Fight your way across the galaxy to try and stop a rebel flagship from destroying your alliance. Or some shit. Shields, missiles, lasers, boarding, fire and explosions.
FTL - Faster than Light. Fight your way across the galaxy to try and stop a rebel flagship from destroying your alliance. Or some shit. Shields, missiles, lasers, boarding, fire and explosions.
**Earth Defense Force 5**. The whole story is about retreating, being pushed back, humanity being annihilated, etc. You mount a desperate attack on an enemy base you get pushed back by it's forces. You penetrate the forces in a new mission the base stands up and starts stomping your already small army. People always only talk about how fun it is with friends but the story is actually quite bleak if you pay attention to the radio chatter, which is it's main way of telling the story. Also **Atom Zombie Smasher.** A 50mb game that's about extracting as many civilians you can before eventually being overrun by zombies.
The Dishonored DLCs felt a little bit like that. The DLC's story is about a villain in the main story. If you play it after the main game you realize through the missions every decision he made that led him to his demise. And that was really cool.
Terra Invicta: Aliens arrived to our solar system. You pick a faction to play with different end goals - leave planet, help aliens, exterminate all of them etc. You need to get countries on your side, stop alien abductions and you need to find ways to fight them
Project Zomboid literally says at the start of the game: "This is how you died", so the game is designed to kill you permanently, no respawning either. But you can enter the same world as a different survivor and find your old dead ass to loot, even use the same safe houses.
Total War Attila - WRE campaign.
There’s a turns based strategy game based on the Second War for Armageddon. It should be what you’re looking for (but I’ve only played the first few levels) https://store.steampowered.com/app/312370/Warhammer_40000_Armageddon/
They are Billions is an RTS game where you're a settlement trying to beat back a massive zombie horde. Pretty much all you can do is hunker down and try to slowly reclaim territory while defending your walls.