Developed by stillalive studios and published by astragon entertainment, Drone Swarm is a brand new strategic RTS set in space. In Drone Swarm, you control a massive ship protected by 32,000 drones that will anything at your will whether it comes to defending you from enemy attacks or blasting away enemy ships that try to attack you. Drone Swarm brings a completely new idea when it comes to an RTS game and it is surprisingly a pleasant one as well. This is our review of Drone Swarm on PC in which we command a massive swarm to take over the galaxy.
The story of Drone Swarm begins with a normal day on earth however everything changes when a sphere enters the earth’s atmosphere which happens to be controlling a large swarm of robotic drones that can destroy everything. Humans are on the brink of destruction however a single man manages to transfer his soul into one of the drones which gives humanity a chance of survival. More humans follow his suit and pretty soon the drones are all human souls and the sphere, including the drone swarm protecting it, comes under the control of humans. At this point, the earth is too damaged to sustain life and humans then build a new ship ARGO above the sphere and set into the unknown space to find Earth 2.
Your main goal in Drone Swarm is to find a new planet where you can reinhabit humans and this is where you enter the game as Captain Carter who is now in charge of ARGO and the fate of humans aboard the ship. Your main enemies in the game are the faction Voohr however as you travel throughout the galaxy you also fight more factions including the guerilla warfare fighters Dashan. Each of these factions is unique in their own way and requires a different strategy for tackling. Lucky for you, Drone Swarm offers plenty of options where you can use your very own strategies to take down the enemies in the game.
The main campaign of Drone Swarm is played in the form of a tree where each mission actually represents a new star system that you have to explore and scan to see if the system has a planet that can become Earth 2. The earlier missions in the game simply serve as tutorials to various aspects of the game however once it has filled you will all the basics, the game quickly picks up the pace and really tests your strategic skills in combat. Apart from the main missions in the game, you also have some side missions which not only allow you to explore star systems that you might have missed otherwise but most of these star systems also grant you will additional tech skills which come in handy in combat scenarios.
While most of the missions are pretty straight-forward where you warp into a star system, kill all the bad guys and scan the system for any planet that might sustain human life, some of the levels in the game also come with special modifiers which the game calls as System-wide effects, for example, a planet might come with a sun that offers armor regeneration or it might increase your damage output but reduce the level of shields. These modifiers make the game easy for you or add a new challenge that you might need to overcome while trying to stay alive as different factions attack your ship in the game.
Your main weapon in Drone Swarm is the Swarm itself. Your ship ARGO comes with 32,000 drones for every battle and they are replenished if some of them get destroyed. You use the mouse and chart out their attack patterns which are then followed by the swarm to destroy anything that comes in these patterns. 32,000 is a pretty big number of drones and you can issue multiple commands at the same time to attack multiple enemies as well. After completing your charted routes, these swarm drones return back to ARGO and await your next instruction. As long as they stick with ARGO, they also form a defensive shield around it but as soon as they get a command, they will leave ARGO and attack your enemies.
These drones are not there for just attack as well. They are also your main defense in the game as well as you use them to form defensive shields around you. These defensive drones remain in defense formation until you cancel the formation or the drones get destroyed. You create these defensive formations in the same manner in which you attack with the swarm however you only have to select the defense icon at the bottom of the screen or else they will remain in attack formation by default. In addition, the more drones you use for defense, the fewer will remain at the ship and fewer will attack your enemies.
This makes you rethink your strategy of how many drones you want to use in your offense and how many you want to assign at your defense. Your ship is quite vulnerable and while 32,000 drones might sound like a number that is too big, in battles, you continue to lose drones and if you are surrounded by enemies, the number becomes too small since you have to form defenses and attack your enemies at the same time as well. This is where the RTS factor kicks in because Drone Swarm is not a mindless drone control game where you simply use your drones to attack enemies and go home at the end of the day.
At its core, Drone Swarm is an RTS and you have to use a strategy to complete different levels especially at the later part of the game. The start of the game is pretty easy and levels are not that difficult but as you progress in the game, you have tougher enemies on the battlefield and an increased number of enemies at the battlefield as well. With your basic arsenal, you cannot just complete these levels because some of the enemy attacks can even penetrate through your defenses and attack your ship directly. This calls for some additional firepower and defense at your side and luckily, you do get them in the game pretty easily.
As you continue to complete campaign missions, you unlock new passive upgrades, equipable upgrades, and Swarm Skills. These range from new weapons for your ship to new offensive attacks by your drones to making your shields more powerful. New Swarm Skills are a game-changer in later levels because they allow you to really dish out the pain onto your enemies in the game. However, to keep the level of strategy high, you never really feel a true powerhouse in the game and a time will come when you will start feeling underpowered yet again. This keeps the strategic element alive in the game where you have to quickly think of both offense and defense strategies on the go.
You unlock these new upgrades with skill points which are earned every time you level up in the game. As you destroy more and more enemies, at the end of each level, you will get more XP and eventually level up which will grant you skill points to purchase any unlocked upgrades or skills. Skills are acquired automatically however you can further unlock upgrades for your skills and upgrades which will make them more effective in combat scenarios. While these skills and upgrades give you a lot of new moves to play around with, you still have to carefully balance both offense and defense to make sure that you escape from each system with your life. Some of the upgrades also give you boosts such as regenerating your health and recovering any lost drones on the go which really turn the tide of the battle in your favor.
While most of the upgrades are basic where you get a more powerful shield that not only blocks enemy fire but can also block or slow down enemy ships, some of the powerups and skills are really fun to have in the game such as the ability to use the drones to push objects here and there. You can stack your drones at a place and then quickly release them to push objects in a certain direction giving them a small or a massive boost. These work really good against enemies as you can control the location of certain enemies and move them to areas where you have shields and can free up your sides to use the drones elsewhere. You can combine and use these skills and upgrades randomly to gain an upper hand on your enemies even when you are completely surrounded by enemies.
Drone Swarm is a pleasant change from the current RTS titles that we have available in the market however while the idea may seem unique, it somehow fails to hold that for long. The missions somewhat become repetitive and while the challenge surely increases and you get some really cool upgrades and skills as you progress in the campaign, the core idea remains the same where you have to repeat the same thing over and over again. For me, the unique charm of Drone Swarm wore off after I completed almost 70% of the main campaign however some of the battles nearing the end of the campaign were really challenging which offered a good fight against the enemies.
Final Verdict:
While Drone Swarm’s story might not be its strongest suit in terms of keeping you glued to the screen, its gameplay is pretty solid and it was probably what kept me going all the way to the end. The element of a true RTS is always alive in the game and no matter how much better you get at the game with your new skills and upgrades, you still have to worry about maintaining a good balance between offense and defense. Destroying enemies while commanding the 32,000 drones surely feels satisfying in the game and using the upgraded powers really gives combat that extra oomph. If you love RTS titles however you want to try out a new player with solid gameplay, beautiful sci-fi visuals, and brilliant mechanics, then I will suggest that you must try out Drone Swarm. Just don’t expect too much from the story.
Final Score: 7.8/10
