I’ve been an RTS fan since I stepped into the world of video games. Starting my journey with games like Dune,Total Annihilation and Age of Empires, I had come pretty far. I developed a taste for RPGs much later, being influenced by quite a few friends alike (yeah, that includes Jaykrishnan). Playing your own character and shaping your own story is a huge thing on its own. If you’re like me, then you’d be sure to like a new indie title called ‘The Hive’
True to its name, The Hive puts one in command of a ‘hive-mind’ of an insect swarm. Just like the leader of the swarm, grow your nest and lead your swarm into glory. Kill a variety of enemies and gather DNA to release new traits that improve the survivability of the species. Scavenge for relics among the corners of New Eden, a beautiful but dangerous planet full of a variety of volcanoes and springs and other earthen formations. The aura of the environment looks pretty good, resemblant of the style of Ori and the Blind Forest. The art style itself is particularly attractive by nature.
The game blends the strategy and role-playing style seemingly without leaving any scope for any fan of the genre feeling left out. The developers promise a rich storyline that tells the story of the planet of New Eden, which is the setting for the game, besides 10 levels with 10-12 hours of gameplay. The hybridization of RTS and RPG was last felt in Might and Magic (and let’s face it, the franchise went downhill after the fifth game), and this game plans to rejuvenate the genre with brand new mechanics and most importantly, an aesthetic environment in a calm and serene world. The story seems particularly intriguing, as I wish to find out how ruins built by supposed humanoid creatures exist on the planet, and what happened to them.
The developers, Skydrome Entertainment, seem to be new to development, with The Hive being their first game. They are pretty across Reddit, and that is exactly how I came across the game – on the r/pcgaming subreddit where one of the developers had posted a screenshot showing an update for the game.
Folks interested in checking the game out can get the game from the Steam store. All developer updates can be read here if you wish to follow the developers and see their progress.