Take XCOM’s squad combat, mash it up with a post-apocalyptic roguelike, add a dash of FTL and you’ve got something that looks a lot like HOF Studios’s Depth Of Extinction. Due for launch “soon” – possibly even this month – this one has flown just under my radar. Not too surprising, given that it’s set partially underwater. Maybe we need to install sonar here, too? Players lead a ship full of high-tech mercenaries in a flooded world, raiding surface outposts and undersea cities for fun and profit. Fancy yourself as a terror from the deep? Check out the launch trailer below.

Depth Of Extinction has apparently been floating around for a while now, and even had a demo available for a time, though the downloads have since sunk without trace. You can see it in action here, captured by YouTuber “mush-room”. It’s familiar stuff, with grid-based movement, high and low objects to take cover behind, and prominent percentages displayed for every action you’ll be rolling the dice on. Comparing the old footage to the trailer below, it seems the game looks a bit fancier now, but the combat systems – cribbing from the best – look good even in older clips.

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While the player might be leading a crew of scurrilous sea-dogs, it seems there’s a variety of factions seeking to control the sea. I’ve spotted creepy cultists who don’t like shirts, more orderly-looking military sorts with big guns, and a faction of robots, their terminator-like basic troops backed up with larger mech units and flying drones. While the demo footage only shows off the tactical side of the game, I’m hoping the strategic layer forces players to take the occasional loss and roll with the punches – that’s where all the fun XCOM stories come from, after all.

Developers HOF Studios don’t have a hard release date for Depth Of Extinction yet, but they figure it’s close enough to put out a launch trailer. The Steam store page says September, but you can also find it on GOG and Itch.