Image: Ularis Badler & Microprose

Archrebel Tactics–from solo developer Ularis Badler–has been one of my most-wanted squad command games for a while now. It's a heartfelt tribute to Rebelstar and Laser Squad, the '80s games that walked before the original '90s X-Com could blow all of its action points running into a Sectoid's reaction fire. And much like how the original Rebelstar was a single, expansive scenario, so is Archrebel's tactics demo. A single massive scenario that'll take even experienced tactics players an estimated 6-8 hours to beat.

The demo calls itself a 'short game', but that's only in comparison to the full release, which will have a non-linear mission-based campaign where you can work for multiple factions, plus a mission generator. Today's demo is a single, massive rolling disaster scenario. You control the four-soldier squad (now missing), sent in to investigate where the previous missing squad has gone, after being sent in to investigate why a corporate resource colony had gone dark.

From the very first seconds, you're having to make tough calls. Your landing ship's power is failing, and you can only pick one supply crate - weapons, survival gear, upgrades, etc.- to eject before everything seals up. There's no do-overs either. This is Ironman mode, and every mistake is permanent, short of restarting the mission from scratch. And to add even further to the tension, everything is scored, too.

For those more accustomed to Firaxis' more board-game'y XCOM reboot, welcome to the world of Time Units. Instead of performing just one or two actions per turn, every unit operates at their own speed, consuming fragments of time on their turn, whether it's to fire a shot, run, or switch weapons, allowing for a lot more tactical freedom, if a bit more fiddliness. Thankfully, the UI here is designed by a true retro tactics fan, and smooths out some of the pain points.

While the game's sprites are intentionally old-school (evoking the look of C64-era tactics games), this is a modern game through and through, with complex inventory management, some great quality-of-life features (like moving your squad as one big blob), as well as plenty of audio and visual details to give it some flair. Missiles launch slowly and then dart across the screen as thrusters ignite. Heavy robot units cause the screen to shake a little with each footfall.

The demo also includes a big slice of the content from the full game. This may be one (long, open) mission, but your squad can grow to up to 12 units, level up, and choose classes as they progress. There are location-based damage and injury systems, stamina and morale to manage, and even a complex weather system where rain, fog, and storms (which you have a running forecast of) can change how combat works.

There are also enemies across three different factions. Human soldiers, native insectoid aliens, and rogue robots are all represented, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. The developer highly recommends using the scan goggles to both identify those soft spots and increase XP gain, helping your squad keep ahead of the rising difficulty curve.

Again, this may be called a demo, but clocking in at 6+ hours for a single playthrough (and it's designed to be replayable, too), there's a whole lot to chew on here for tactics fans. There's no release date yet for the full version of Archrebel Tactics, but that just means you've got time to get to grips with the combat here.