I was lucky enough to receive an early access code for Industrial Annihilation. Initially, it appears to be a standard real-time strategy (RTS) game. You play a giant robot commander teleported onto a battlefield who then gathers resources, builds a base, and raises an army to defeat opponents.

The main difference between Industrial Annihilation and previous RTS games is logistics. Resources must be physically transported between buildings via conveyor belts or trucks. Mid- and late-game buildings or units also require intermediate components instead of just mined or gathered resources.

As a result, Industrial Annihilation is as much a factory game, like Factorio, as it is an RTS, like Planetary Annihilation. Experienced factory game players will feel at home with the early access version’s more strategic, measured play that optimizes base building. However, experienced RTS players may miss the hectic urgency to out-build, out-manoeuvre and destroy their opponents.

Unfortunately, the early access version of Industrial Annihilation does not address how these disparate play styles will complement each other. While both modern RTS and factory games have roots in early RTS games, each engages distinct player groups. The success of Industrial Annihilation hinges on their synergy.

As expected, the pre-release version is not what we would expect from a completed game. For example, Industrial Annihilation comes with a four-mission campaign. These are intended as tutorials, but guidance is minimal. The player has to figure out what buildings and units do and how to achieve the required goals. This can be fun but also tiresome and frustrating.

Moreover, Industrial Annihilation lacks many quality-of-life features, like showing the unit’s weapon range, an energy management overview or double tapping a group’s number to centre the camera on it. Placing conveyor belts and connectors is fiddly. The audio is minimal. You cannot even save your game, so if you get impatient during a tutorial mission and go blasting away with your commander, you may need to replay the entire multi-hour mission if you screw up.

Releasing a version of the game in this state is risky. Many have criticized the developers for Industrial Annihilation‘s poor quality and unclear vision. Early access games are often more polished and complete. However, releasing an early access version is also a brave attempt to engage the player base early to find bugs and elicit broad feedback.

Whether you should engage with Industrial Annihilation now depends on your tolerance for in-complete software and whether you want to be part of the development journey. Industrial Annihilation has the potential for something special, but it is only potential for now.