The Riftbreaker is a mutant hybrid, part base-building romp with serious tower defence vibes—not entirely surprising given that it comes from the creators of X-Morph Defense— and survival mechanics, part action-RPG where you can slaughter thousands of aliens in your resilient mech. Take a gander at the new trailer above.

Watching tides of alien nasties exploding in a shower of blood and gibs sure is satisfying, and also a gratuitous level of goriness we don't normally see in strategy (or in this case strategy-adjacent) games. You can blast them with nukes, set fire to everything, or get up close and personal and just start slicing everything up with your sword. It's all very extra.

The aliens don't seem too friendly, but it's worth noting that we're probably the bad guys here. Galatea 37 is an alien world where we have to establish a base that will allow travel between the new world and Earth, letting humanity colonise even more of the universe. So we're exploiting natural resources, killing the natives and building big ugly bases—we kinda suck.

Luckily, we probably won't have time to question the morality of our endeavour, as The Riftbreaker looks like it will keep us busy. Though you're not building an army, the base-building seems potentially as elaborate as it would be in a pure RTS, but you'll also need to leave the protection of your walls to explore new biomes, build outposts and hunt down more resources. While you're having a good time outside, you'll need to be ready to hop back to your base quickly, as the more it grows, the more the planet fights back. You'll also need to research specimens to unlock new tech, use sensors to find buried treasure and build new components for Mr. Riggs, your mech.

The Riftbreaker is due out this year, but you can take it for a spin before then via the alpha preview. Applications for Alpha 2 are being accepted through the official Discord now, and here's what's new:

Enjoy new customisable streaming features and engage your fans to influence your playthrough even more

Adjust the game to your personal needs with custom and random difficulty modes

Equip yourself with the Treasure Detector—an item that adds a whole new gameplay layer of searching for

buried resources through a "hot 'n' cold" mechanic

Explore new surfaces and see how your character reacts when stepping on the ground, metal floor, sand or mud

Build more power plants, floors, entirely new structures and upgrade your towers and walls

Craft new weapons like a Plasma Gun, High Powered Laser and more.

New critical hit system

Overcome improved, more powerful enemies

New weather system with gameplay changing events like meteor showers, storms, tornadoes and others

A lot of new tweaks and improvements to the current features

In the meantime, check out some new screenshots.

(Image credit: Exor Studios)

(Image credit: Exor Studios)

(Image credit: Exor Studios)

(Image credit: Exor Studios)