All’s dread in the Dreadlands, a post-apocalyptic Xcom-style turn-based skirmish game from the publisher behind Warhammer: Vermintide. Take your ragtag band of misfits across the lush wasteland as you battle for survival and supremacy. You can pick your crew from a variety of gang factions, each with their own unique playstyles, lore and visuals. It apparently will take the elements of an online MMO and mix it with tactical turn-based combat.

“Explore the wondrously diverse regions of the Dreadlands, overcoming the wealth of challenges provided by the treacherous terrain, voracious Beastlife and trigger happy locals.”

In Early Access there will be 2 gangs for which you can choose to play as, the Scrappers or the Tribe-Kin. Soon after the Early Access release they will be joined by a third faction: the Skarbacks.

“All playable Gang Factions have their own background campaign. The storyline will introduce the player to the faction’s worldview, mentality, culture and of course, current problems that have to be dealt with.”

What’s interesting to note is that players will have to play the gang faction’s campaign first in order to play the main story campaign. I’m assuming the gang faction campaign will be some sort of tutorial or introduction to the game and it’s various mechanics.

The combat system will include a Free Action Point System like a lot of modern Xcom-style games, so you can choose what you want to do in any order you like. There will also be a morale system that seems to also affect your enemies: “In the Dreadlands there is more to battle than just killing!” Along with that will be an XP challenges system and a Tactics card system. There will also be some sort of purchasable upgrades for your base as well as unique artifacts that you can combine and turn into powerful gear.

“Exploring the Dreadlands will be a diverse and dangerous trek. The region resembles a patchwork of contracting biomes, a strange brew definitely not concocted through the methodical work of mother nature.”

Dreadlands is coming to Steam Early Access on the 10th of March.