Corruption 2029 is set in the not-so-literally-distant future of post-apocalyptic America but a technologically further flung reality of augmented super soldiers and cloaking devices. You’ll command a squad to “infiltrate an inhuman regime and discover the cause of an ominous corruption that turned America into a war-torn wasteland,” The Bearded Ladies say. You’ll use stealth, take cover, and strategically choose how and when to engage with enemies. Corruption 2029 sounds like it’s set up to be a lot more of the plotting, planing, and sneaking that made Mutant Year Zero so thrilling. It does have 100% fewer talking animals though, so hopefully these grim super soldiers with dour names like “Wolf” and “Briggs” have some personality. It may seem like your standard tactical XCOM-like fare on paper, but The Bearded Ladies’ previous game Mutant Year Zero got RPS’ “Bestest Best” stamp just over a year ago. In his Mutant Year Zero review, Alec found some excellently tense situations to set it apart from the easiest comparison that you might shake at it. “Fail to fell a lone foe in the first turn and they’ll yell for help, or resort to high-damage options such as assault rifles and grenades and everyone’s gonna know about it,” he says. “You need to not pull the trigger unless you’re sure you can finish the job silently, in a single turn. It’s unfailingly difficult, because enemies almost always have more hitpoints than your silenced weapons have standard damage, but it’s such a thrill.” That paired with the real-time world exploration before fights made The Bearded Ladies’ last tactics game worth spending some time with. Corruption 2029 is launching on February 17th. You’ll find it on the Epic Store for $20.
