Gray Zone gives a glimpse of tactical RTS gameplay in new trailer

The second teaser trailer from EastWorks Studios has just dropped, and it gives us our first look at Gray Zone’s gameplay. Described as a tactical RTS with RPG elements, Gray Zone will tell the story of an escaped slave named Valern who is fighting a corrupt government across the galaxy. When it launches in early access, there will be six large missions and one bonus mission.

Let’s get tactical

In the Gray Zone gameplay trailer, we can see that terrain plays a big role in combat. You can tell your units to take cover behind rocks and walls to protect them from enemy fire. They can even use shadows to hide from enemies. You can then instruct them to fire on certain areas or groups of enemies.

It’s not about moving large groups of units around a map or armies fighting in big spaces. The gameplay of Gray Zone is a lot more nuanced. Smaller squads, more detailed commands, and unit abilities will require players to take in a scenario and create clever tactics. Thankfully, there’s a “tactic mode” that will allow you to pause the game while you consider all the variables and plan your moves.

With combat on this scale, individual units become a lot more valuable. It needs to be this way if RPG elements are going to come into play. I can already see myself bonding with some units as they rack up kill after kill for me.

The teaser also gives us a look at some of the vehicles available in the game. There are the dropships that bring in enemy units at the beginning, as well as some speeder bikes a bit later. Allies come to the aid of the defenders in a large six-wheeled transport – which units can fire out of.

Gray Zone is scheduled to release on Steam Early Access in March 2020 for $19.99. For now, you can add it to your Steam wishlist. The game’s official website says the price will rise as future content is released. So, if you’re interested in the game, it might be worth picking up sooner rather than later.