Developed by Data Realms since 2001 and released in September of 2012.
Build bunkers and mine gold, also see how easy it is to die from a flying dropship part!
Also won the technical excellence and audience awards in the 2009 Independent Games Festival!
About
In Cortex Command, you play as a prospector, explorer, and general in a time where complete cybernetics and whole-body amputations are common practice. Your severed brain is able to control many different types of bodies remotely from its underground bunker: clones, robots, spaceships, defensive turrets, and so on.
The game can be divided into 3 sections the meta-game, bunker building, and a hectic action-strategy section. The goal of the campaign is to become the wealthiest force on Midas. Then you need to mine precious gold from the de-formable pixel terrain in order to buy more and better ships, soldiers, weapons, digging tools, and deployable defenses. Use these assets to defend your disembodied brains and destroy or bankrupt your opponent!
Control your team of remote bodies either directly or let the friendly AI do your bidding through real-time strategy elements built into the game. Play with up to four players in split screen -- 2v2 team fights, a four player free for all, all four cooperatively against the computer, or even combinations of the three. You can also enjoy the campaign mode with friends.
The basic tutorial on how to play in image form:
The soundtrack. (Which also doubles as gameplay footage.)
Story
Earth was over.
Once peaceful, our world was awash in bloodshed, wracked by wars backed by holy men. It was humanity's darkest hour, and the boldest decisions were simply all we had left.
Forged in the rush of war, a curious symbiosis between man and machine formed. Our numbers bleeding away, technology enabled the survivors to control robots and clones from safety. And in the end, we found our bodies an obsolete constraint, and cast them off. Brain and mind interfaced with machines, we became more spirit than flesh-- one person living through many bodies.
And in this new form we attained escape from the corpse of our world. Interstellar rocket ships for the decades-long flights to reach new worlds became common once life support for entire bodies was unnecessary.
Fleeing into the dark unknown, humanity discovered it was not alone, but also not important. Humanity struggled for acceptance in this alien community, eventually forging the Orion Spur Amalgam. Interstellar trade flourished, and with it came rapid expansion. As the era of faster-than-light dawned, humanity could live again in peace and prosperity.
But human nature wasn't cast off as easily. For every city and space station compounded the ever-growing hunger for resources. Worlds were stripped in civilized sectors where law ensured conquest by the highest bidder. So all eyes turned outward, to star systems where no law existed but what you could enforce.
As the gold rush brings commanders from several rival groups to one such world beyond the far eastern fringes of the OSA, all prepare to assume... Cortex Command.
Now that you've been given a run-down on what the game's about and why you're there, I'll give you some info on what techs you'll be facing in vanilla and what Free Trade offers as I don't want a single post that takes an hour to read through.
More information on techs here:
Data Realms WikiTechs
Free Trade is the (Not extremely evil for once) Mega corp that runs the TradeStar Midas that orbits the planet.
"Free Trade (FT) is a super corporation so massive it's above all goverments, morals and conflicts. They deal with everyone and everything. They construct the massive TradeStars to fascilitate their business. Wherever they are, they mark the center of commerce. Everything else has to adapt.
"Various corporations can rent space and produce goods aboard a TradeStar. Some types of goods are restricted and can only be procured via black market channels. Free Trade officially only deals in trade, but may hire an army when they need to enforce a deal, or place a blockade."
They are unable to be selected as a playable faction but they have their own basic actors, crafts, tools, and weapons which are cheap.
Coalition"In some parts of the galaxy coalitions of large corporations is the only form of government effectively available. The military arm of one such coalition is simply referred to as the Coalition Military Forces. The rapidly grown superhuman body is a popular choice of the CMF."
A militaristic organization which produces large quantities of clones and gatling drones and weapons to choose from. This faction is balanced, which makes it a perfect faction for anyone starting out.
This is also the faction which is prominently displayed across almost every piece of promotional material involving Cortex Command.
Primary Colors: Green with some white.
Dummy"The cheap robotic body used by the orange dummies is often used for training exercises and testing. Originally the dummies were controlled by a cheap neurotube CPU. AI programs are still not very sophisticated, but sometimes the random (and nonreplicable) qualities of the neurotube technology leads to the unexpected emergence of somewhat intelligent CPUs. This is what happened to the CPU controlling the orange dummies during a training mission. In an attempt to preserve itself, the CPU used the research facilities aboard a TradeStar to develop a defense against its antagonists. This bought it enough time to replace itself with a decoy and escape.
The official stance of various governing corporation is to respect all forms of sentient intelligent life (as many types of it has been found throughout the galaxy). The Dummy CPU is technically free to commerce just like everyone else, but the rarity of its existence has made it sought after on the black markets."
Mass-produced units comprising of test dummies protected only by plastic and a large walking tank referred to as the "Dreadnought"
Dummies can survive falls better than other actors, but beware, their plastic is not good armor and they're fragile to bullets.
Primary Colors: Orange, Grey, Black and Yellow.
Ronin"These outcasts travel in rusty old ships hoping to prey upon unprepared colonies and transports. They have little or no armour, antique weapons and crazy haircuts. They use bodies belonging to convicts and occasionally some unfortunate civilian who got lobotomised after getting with the wrong crowd. Desperate poor people have also been known to rent their body (with their 'muted' brain still inside) in the hope of being able to afford disembodiment. The ranks of the Ronin are often infused with new blood every time FreeTrade kills a star system, i.e. pull out their TradeStars."
As the text suggests, these guys/girls are regular humans, which means they're soft, squishy, and probably won't survive a huge beating, but their weapons are still powerful, even if they're antiques, and they have the fearsome RPC
Note: Rocket Propelled Chainsaw Launcher.
Primary Colors: Tan, Mixed.
BrowncoatsThese guys don't have any lore text on the wiki.
A bunch of mercenaries clad in (as the name suggests) brown coats. Beware of these guys, as they have a love for fire and as such, their weapons use incendiary bullets which hurt like hell and they're extremely tough compared to other human units.
Primary colors: Brown, Metal White, Gun Black and Yellow.
ImperatusCoal, Oil, Forest, Ore and Energy are the simple names for a few of the massive corporations who through brute force have made sure they are not obsolete in the galactic age. To aid them in their conquest of new natural resources they have formed the Imperatus conglomerate.
Bipedal robots that are tough to take down (Except for the scout robot) but get damaged by falls more easily. Their weapons deal higher damage at slower rates than other guns, but since the enemy will probably be dead in two to three headshots it won't matter.
Primary colors: Black, Rust.
Techion"The Techion were formed by a small group of elite corporations focusing on high-tech research and manfacture. They are sometimes employed and trusted by the TradeStars to do guard and escort duty."
Another faction comprising of bipedal robots, but this time they're more futuristic instead of industrial focused, and with "pulsar" weapons which are accurate and fast. Their micro pulsar even homes in on targets like Titanfall's Smart Pistol.
Primary Colors: White, with minor Dark Blue/Grey
Actors
Brains
Brain Case"Hmm, maybe if I- nope nevermind, he turned into blood paste."
A glass case that contains your brain. This is
you. Don't let enemies get to it.
Brain Robot"I've forgotten what anything feels like."
Your Brain Case mounted on a robot body. This version can use guns and items, but it's still a glass encased brain.
Culled ClonesA.K.A. Zombies
Skeleton"Spooky scary skeletons send bullets to your skull."
A skeleton kept moving by an ultra-thin plastic film over the bones. They're never in a bad mood and are extremely cheap.
Thin Culled Clone"At least I've got skin!"
A thin and fast clone rejected for various flaws during tank development. Weighs the same as a "medium" culled clone for some reason.
Culled Clone"Give me a blunderbuss and I'm all set."
A medium sized culled clone which stops bullets better (relatively speaking) than the thin culled clone.
Fat Culled Clone"I'm ready to mine!"
A fat culled clone who stops bullets and absorbs impacts the best out of other culled clones. They're also reliable and cheap miners.
Mecha
Medic Drone"I wish I had a gun so I could hurt people."
This guy heals your allies as long as they're in proximity of it. A good drone to have in case you want to have a sniper isolated somewhere but don't want him instantly dead.
Anti-Air DroneThere's no picture of the drone, but trust me, there is one.
A crab-leg drone with two S.A.M. missiles on its sides and one large gun. Better air defense than regular units, but it can't fight on the ground very well.
Misc
Crab"Look, sir, Free crabs!"
These little crawlers are free due to TradeStar's "Look, sir, free crabs!" promotion, which means they're good for using as a distraction against enemies.
Craft Note: you pay for the delivery and get paid back based on how much the contents and the craft cost along with its HP when returning to orbit. This also means you can sell actors and weapons stolen from the enemy.
Drop Crate"Prepare for crate-fall."
An extremely cheap alternative to a rocket or dropship. It's also a good way to use the physics engine to your advantage by stuffing it with crabs to create the all-destroying "crab bomb."
Rocket Mk. 1"It's not piloted by Kerbals, which increases survival by at least 20%."
The basic rocket model which is good for transporting two soldiers onto a battlefield in a flat area i.e. a landing platform or plains. It also doubles as a cruise missile if you're desperate.
Rocket Mk. 2"Again, not piloted by Kerbals, which increases survival chances."
The Mk. 2 is basically the Mk. 1 improved in every way, except for its height, which makes it a bigger target.
Drop Ship Mk. 1"Any terrain, any place, it doesn't matter. I'm also good at stealing guns from dead units."
A landing craft which can drop off units in any terrain type without fear of it landing on its side and killing anyone near it.
Weapons
Pistol
- Cost: 5G
- Automatic: No
- Shots before reload: 11
- Range: Medium-Short
- Damage: Medium-Low
- Description: "This semi-auto pistol is cheap, reloads quick enough, and fires an odd 11th bullet, just to keep them guessing."
SMG
- Cost: 20G
- Automatic: Yes
- Shots before reload: 30
- Range: Medium-Short
- Damage: Medium-Low
- Description: "Standard sub-machine gun. A full-auto carbine firing pistol bullets, but in a rifle-like frame with 30-round clip. The affordable compromise."
Shotgun
- Cost: 15G
- Automatic: No
- Shots before reload: 6
- Range: Medium
- Damage: High
- Description: "A powerful weapon capable of killing weaker enemies such as dummies and light soldiers in one shot. Also very effective against enemy dropship engines. The rounds of this weapon have 8 particles of shot, which are heavier and duller than bullets. This makes the gun capable of inflicting many wounds, as well as significant knockback. The bullets are also packed tightly to allow the shotgun to hit targets far away, while it may not be the best choice for sniping over long maps."
Battle Rifle
- Cost: 50G
- Automatic: No
- Shots before reload: 5
- Range: Medium-Long
- Damage: High
- Description: "Free Trade's standard rifle, fires five 0.5kg bullets. Noticeable reload time, but good accuracy and power. Essentially a sniper rifle offering serious stopping power but with an aiming range more like an assault rifle."
Blunderbuss (Or as I like to call it, the Blunderfuss.)
- Cost: 15G
- Automatic: No
- Shots before reload: 1
- Range: Medium-Short
- Damage: Medium
- Description: "Single shot shotgun. Features large spread and power, but must be reloaded after each shot."
Blunderpop
- Cost: 5G
- Automatic: No
- Shots before reload: 1
- Range: Short
- Damage: Medium-Low
- Description: "Smaller version of the mighty blunderbuss. Shorter range, but the fast reload time and large spread make it a great sidearm."
Modding
Oh yes, modding, how wonderfully easy it is to make your own custom mods for this game.
There is full workshop support, which means you can easily share your own mods for the game.
Workshop link:
http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=209670&browsesort=trend§ion=readytouseitemsThe fan forums also has mods not available on the workshop.
It's extremely easy to install mods. You just place the .rte folder into the common/cortex command folder.
(Don't place them in the coalition folder, it just got accidentally highlighted. Unless it's a Coalition mod.)
Gallery
Post gifs/images of things that happened in your games and it might end up here!
