Awesome RTS game 9-Bit Armies adds multiplayer survival mode

Because the prospect of a truly new Command and Conquer game in the style of the classics feels like a utopia, 9-Bit Armies is one of my favorite contenders for its vacant throne. That should come as no surprise given the pedigree of developer Petroglyph Games, which was founded by former Westwood programmers and brought us the fantastic RTS game Star Wars: Empire at War and the Command and Conquer Remastered collection. Now, the new survival mode offers yet another way to play, and you can even grab it cheap during an ongoing Steam sale.

9-Bit Armies’ survival mode was introduced in a preview format for testing a few weeks ago, and now this new update expands on the feature dramatically, most critically the ability to play it co-op or have a friend keep an eye on you in observer mode. For me, the glory days of the best RTS games are always going to be those co-op comp stomps where you and your friends work together against the AI, and so the prospect of doing that in a new challenge format is very appealing.

Survival mode, as you might expect from the name, sees you take on wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies. As of the update, it now features three difficulty levels: you start at the most basic level, and unlock subsequent, more challenging offerings as you reach certain milestones in the current level.

As mentioned, you can now also invite your friends via Steam to form groups of up to four players and play through Survival Mode together. There are also a number of additional improvements to the mode, including an interrupt timer that pushes new waves at you regardless of when existing enemies are defeated, and a fix for a nasty bug that could cause you to be overwhelmed by an unfairly large spawn of dangerous enemies. You can also now watch replays of Survival Mode games, if you’re curious about where it all went wrong.

That’s not all for this update, though. With a 9-Bit Armies discount still running, Petroglyph has also given the game’s build menu a visual overhaul to spruce it up and make it more readable. There are also a number of AI tweaks that should make it more effective at flanking, reduce the need for caution when entering combat, improve its endgame builds, and ensure it doesn’t accidentally blast its own units with superweapons.

Finally, Petroglyph says that work on the second campaign for 9-Bit Armies is going smoothly and suggests that it should be released soon. For now, an ongoing Steam sale discount means that 9-Bit Armies is 25% off on Steam until Saturday, July 27th. If you buy the game early, you’ll pay $18.21 / £12.56.

If that’s not enough to keep you busy, we’ve got even more of the best strategy games for you. You can even throwback to the good old days with some of the best classic PC games to play in 2024.

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