Squad (video game)

Last updated

Squad
Squad (videogame) 2016 frontcover.png
Digital edition frontcover
Developer(s) Offworld Industries
Publisher(s) Offworld Industries
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows [1]
ReleaseSeptember 23, 2020
Genre(s) First-person shooter, tactical shooter
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Squad is a realism-based military tactical first-person shooter video game developed and published by Canadian indie developer Offworld Industries exclusively through the Steam distribution platform. It is a spiritual successor to the Project Reality modification for Battlefield 2 . The game depicts realistic modern warfare between military and paramilitary factions in large and expansive battlefields. Squad became available on Steam Early Access in December 2015, [2] and was officially released on Steam in September 2020. [3]

Contents

Gameplay

Squad is a tactical shooter based around squad gameplay designed to encourage teamwork and communication. A match is played between two belligerent teams, with each team being made up of squads that cap at nine players. Players in squads select from various soldier classes which play distinct roles in combat, such as suppressive fire from an automatic rifleman, anti-tank support from a MANPATS gunner, or medical support from a combat medic. A squad of players is led by a squad leader, who can communicate with other allied squad leaders and construct structures such as forward operating bases and defensive emplacements. [4] Any squad leader can additionally nominate himself for the position of commander, who, once voted into position, can coordinate his team's battle plan and call in additional support such as UAV recon and artillery.

Squad borrows many of its gameplay aspects from its predecessor, Project Reality , with its game modes placing heavy emphasis on team coordination. [5] Matches take place on extremely large realistic battlefields up to 36 km2 (14 sq mi) in size, facilitating the use of a wide variety of vehicles such as main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, transport trucks, and helicopters. The two teams, utilizing vehicle and infantry warfare, compete over various objectives, such as strategic locations to hold or weapon caches to destroy. [6] To facilitate maneuver warfare, squad leaders can construct forward operating bases around the map, which provide a team-wide location for soldiers to respawn and must be kept supplied by a logistics network.

Both teams are kept in check by the "ticket" system, which simulates combat effectiveness. The loss of strategic locations, destruction of forward operating bases or vehicles and soldier deaths all remove tickets from a team's pool. A match ends once a team's ticket pool has been reduced to zero. A team that fails at defending too many of its strategic objectives will begin to lose tickets rapidly, starting at a loss of one per minute and capping out at a maximum of ten per minute. As such, teams have the ability to achieve victory in multiple ways, such as exhausting the enemy's ability to fight or by completing all of their tactical objectives.

There are currently thirteen playable factions in Squad, which are divided into three categories; BLUFOR, REDFOR, and INDFOR, and change based on the map and game mode being played. The real-life militaries featured include the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, British Army, Canadian Army and Australian Army for the BLUFOR side, as well as the Russian Ground Forces, Russian Airborne Forces, People's Liberation Army and People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps for the REDFOR. Five conventional and unconventional stock factions are included as part of INDFOR: the Insurgents, modeled after various Middle Eastern insurgent groups; the Irregular Militia, modeled after paramilitary forces in Eastern Europe and the Balkans; the Middle Eastern Alliance, a fictional military alliance amalgamation of the armed forces of various Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries, the Turkish Land Forces; and a Private Military Contractor faction based on various Western PMCs.

Development

Development of Squad was announced in October 2014 when Project Reality developer Sniperdog (a.k.a. Will Stahl [7] ) made a post on the Project Reality forums. [8] The announcement carried the news that the team of fifteen was making a spiritual successor to Project Reality on Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4.

The game's Kickstarter campaign started in May 2015. It featured six backer levels with various rewards such as merchandise, in-game rewards, and pre-alpha testing access. [9] [10] Five days after the Kickstarter launch, the game had raised over $200,000. [11]

On April 5, 2015, Squad appeared in Steam's Greenlight service and was announced in an update called "Vote For Us". [12] It was officially greenlit eight days later. [13] [14]

Squad was released on Steam Early Access on December 15, 2015, [2] and officially released on Steam on September 23, 2020. [3]

Squad is currently at version 8.1 as of the 26th of September, 2024. [15]

Reception

As of 2022, the game has sold over 3 million copies. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Battlefield 2</i> 2005 video game

Battlefield 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows. It was released in June 2005 as the third game in the Battlefield franchise.

<i>Warmachine</i> Tabletop steampunk wargame by Steamforged Games

Warmachine is a tabletop steampunk wargame originally produced by Privateer Press but currently under the ownership of Steamforged Games.

Project Reality is a series of military tactical first-person shooter video game modifications that aim to create a realistic teamwork-based shooter centered around modern warfare and combined arms. The original version, Project Reality: BF2, was released in 2005 for Battlefield 2; this version is still being updated on a regular basis and became a stand-alone game in 2015. Project Reality: ARMA 2, a version developed for Arma 2, was released as a beta in 2011; development was later moved to Arma 3 in 2013, with the project being renamed to Project Reality: ARMA 3. In September 2015 it was announced that the Arma project had been suspended.

<i>Arma 2</i> 2009 video game

Arma 2 is a 2009 tactical shooter simulation video game developed and published by Bohemia Interactive for Microsoft Windows. It is the second main entry in the Arma series and the third installment in the series overall. The game is set in the fictional Eastern European country of Chernarus during a civil war between the Chernarussian government and communist revolutionaries, and follows escalating tensions when the United States Marine Corps is deployed to defeat the rebels.

<i>Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat</i> 2007 video game

Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat is a multiplayer tactical shooter total conversion mod for Valve's Source engine, developed by the Insurgency Development Team and published for Windows, macOS, and Linux on October 23, 2007. Set during the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan, the game follows the conflict between the United States Marine Corps and the Iraqi insurgency.

<i>NeoTokyo</i> (video game) 2009 video game

NeoTokyo is a multiplayer tactical first-person shooter total conversion modification of Half-Life 2 in a futuristic cyberpunk setting, created by American developer Studio Radi-8. Initially released on 3 July 2009, and later re-released for Steam on 4 July 2014, it was voted to be released through Steam Greenlight on 16 October 2012. The game presents itself in a dystopian setting, with inspiration drawn from Akira, Deus Ex and Ghost in the Shell for its art-style, music and aesthetics.

<i>Interstellar Marines</i> 2013 video game

Interstellar Marines is a science fiction first-person shooter video game that was developed by indie studio Zero Point Software until 2019. It was added to Steam Greenlight on September 3, 2012 and later released on Steam Early Access on July 2, 2013.

<i>S.T.A.L.K.E.R.</i> Video game franchise

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a first-person-shooter survival horror video game franchise developed by Ukrainian game developer GSC Game World. The series is set in an alternate version of the present-day Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine, where, according to the series' backstory, a mysterious second Chernobyl disaster took place in 2006. As a result, the physical, chemical, and biological processes in the area were altered, spawning numerous nature-defying anomalies, artifacts, and mutants. The player takes the role of a "stalker" - a name given to trespassers and adventurers who have come to explore the exclusion zone and its strange phenomena.

<i>H-Hour: Worlds Elite</i> 2020 video game

H-Hour: World's Elite is a tactical shooter video game, that was developed by SOF Studios. The game released in early access for Microsoft Windows via Steam in May 2015. A version for the PlayStation 4 was planned to be released at a later date.

<i>Verdun</i> (video game) 2015 first-person shooter video game

Verdun is a squad-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game set during World War I. It was released on 28 April 2015 on Steam, after more than a year in Steam Early Access. The console versions for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released between August 2016 and June 2021.

<i>Paranautical Activity</i> 2014 video game

Paranautical Activity is a first-person shooter video game developed by American indie studio Code Avarice, and later by Digerati. It was released for Microsoft Windows in a beta form in February 2013, and after completing the Early Access program on Steam, was fully released on October 20, 2014.

<i>Running with Rifles</i> Tactical shooter game

Running with Rifles is a top down open world tactical shooter game published and developed by Osumia Games. It was developed by Pasi Kainiemi in Tampere, Finland and Jack Mayol in Stuttgart, Germany, working under the team name Modulaatio Games. The game is primarily voxel-based, with the map texturing done using "splat map" texture layering, and with the modeling being done with typically low-poly or simple .mesh files. Because of this, the game runs very well on old hardware, making it more accessible to more players.

<i>PULSAR: Lost Colony</i> 2021 video game

PULSAR: Lost Colony is a science fiction space exploration video game by independent developers Leafy Games, LLC. The video game was greenlit on Steam Greenlight on October 3, 2013, and was later funded successfully on Kickstarter on October 31, 2013. The game was released in an Alpha state on February 25, 2014, and was later available on Steam's Early Access program following an official release on June 23, 2021.

Starfall Online is an MMO real-time strategy video game with wargame elements, that mixes intense tactical combat with in-depth spaceship customization. The project is developed by independent Russian company Snowforged Entertainment.

Tactical Legends is an upcoming turn-based tactics video game for Microsoft Windows. The game has been through the Steam greenlight process, and was released in December 2016. An online version, as well as versions for macOS, Linux, Xbox, PlayStation 4, iOS and Android, are currently planned. The game is currently available to download from the developer's website.

<i>Call to Arms</i> (video game) 2015 real-time strategy video game

Call to Arms is a real-time tactics and strategy video game developed by German company Digitalmindsoft as the spiritual successor to the Men of War series. It was released in April 2018. A stand-alone expansion pack, titled Gates of Hell: Ostfront, was released in 2021.

<i>Rising Storm 2: Vietnam</i> 2017 video game

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is a 2017 multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Antimatter Games and Tripwire Interactive and co-published by Tripwire Interactive and Iceberg Interactive. It is a direct sequel to 2013's Rising Storm and is set during the Vietnam War. The game was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows through digital distribution platform Steam on May 30, 2017.

<i>Hell Let Loose</i> 2021 first-person shooter video game

Hell Let Loose is a 2021 multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Expression Games and Cover 6 Studios and published by Team17. Players fight in iconic battles of the Western, North African and Eastern Fronts of World War II at the platoon level.

Squad 44 is a 2018 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by the Canadian studio Offworld Industries alongside the British studio Mercury Arts, and published by Offworld Industries. It is set during World War II, specifically during Operation Market Garden, Operation Overlord, the Battle of France, Battle of Crete, and the Battle of the Bulge. The game features several playable factions — the United States Army, British Army, Polish Armed Forces in the West, French Army, Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, Australian Army, New Zealand Military Forces, and the Hellenic Army — with some of them having multiple different playable units.

References

  1. ↑ "Squad for Linux?". Archived from the original on April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Squad Greenlight Page". Archived from the original on April 9, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Squad v1.0 release notes" . Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  4. ↑ Birnbaum, Ian (October 20, 2016). "Squad has grown into a deep military shooter". pcgamer.com. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  5. ↑ Tiscali. "Tvůrci modu Project Reality představili svou vlastní online střílečku Squad". Games.cz. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ Savage, Phil (April 7, 2015). "Squad is a team FPS from the makers of Battlefield 2 mod Project Reality". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Sniperdog's forum profile" (Website). Project Reality Forums. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  8. ↑ Merlin / Sniperdog. "Squad: A commercial game made by developers of and inspired by PR:BF2" (Website). Project Reality Forums. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  9. ↑ Developer (May 21, 2015). "Kickstarter Announcement" (Website). joinsquad.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Squad – Communicate. Coordinate. Conquer". Kickstarter. Archived from the original on December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  11. ↑ Holtmann, Matthias (June 2015). "Squad - »Project Reality«-Nachfolger erfolgreich auf Kickstarter [Update]". Gamestar. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  12. ↑ Developer (April 5, 2015). "Vote For Us" (Website). joinsquad.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Steam Community :: Discussions". steamcommunity.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Squad od twórców moda Project Reality trafiło do Steam Greenlight". Eurogamer.pl. April 6, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  15. ↑ "SQUAD 8.1 RELEASE NOTES". joinsquad.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Squad's 50v50 tactical FPS action has moved over 3 million copies". Shacknews . June 30, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.