New Game Alert: ICBM evokes the spirit of DEFCON and Bravo Romeo Delta By Joe Robinson

You'd think that in 2019 we'd be able to come up with a better use of our time than planning the ‘perfect’ nuclear annihilation scenario, but I guess someone has to do it. While browsing the Groghead forums we came across this new project from the developer of Polaris Sector: ICBM - The Global Conflict.

In a homage to games like Introversion’s DEFCON, this is a strategy/war game about Thermonuclear War, with added bells and whistles like a Tech Tree and buildable military units. Here’s some early gameplay footage:

It seems interesting enough. Polaris Sector had a great tactical battle section, as well as one of the finest tech-tree systems in any 4X I’ve ever played, but the strategy layer was a bit weak and it struggled to come together as a whole. Still, it proved developer Vladimir Ufnarovsky has some real creativity he can bring to genre staples.

ICBM seems a far cry away from a space 4X, but it will be interesting to see how the more ‘advanced’ features pan out. DEFCON was released in 2006 by Introversion software, and stood out as a very ‘budget’ game that none-the-less offered some very compelling gameplay decisions. If you’re an older Grog, you might also remember 1993’s Bravo Romeo Delta, which was less a strategy game and more of a simulation. You can actually play it for free via the Internet Archive now.

If you want to keep an eye on ICBM’s development, head on over to the Grogheads thread where the developer is already posting gameplay videos and screens. He might even let you become a tester, if you’re lucky.

I suspect ICBM will be the kind of DEFCON successor we don’t really need. It's probably not even the best use of Vladimir's talents, but if this is what's currently got him engaged and designing, who are we to say otherwise. If you're harking for some thermonuclear nostalgia, I daresay you're in good hands.