January 2016 has been a huge month for RTS. We’ve seen the launch of Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak and an expansion to classic Age of Empires title Age of Mythology; we’ve seen Stardock’s Ashes of the Singularity enter beta in preparation for a launch later this year. And now, one of 2015’s most underrated RTS has received a free expansion.
Yeah, a free expansion.
As one of the unabashed supporters of Petroglyph’s homage to the Command and Conquer RTS model, I can scarcely contain my excitement to tell you all that Descent of The Shroud, a comprehensive overhaul and legitimate expansion for 2015’s Grey Goo, is going live today, around noon CST.
It contains not only the new Shroud faction, which are hard hitting, tactically diverse, and a good combination and extension of the base building and economic models of the game’s other 3 factions, but manage to up the micro game as well. The shroud keep with Grey Goo’s design intent to never make you activate an ability, but Shroud units are some of the most micro-capable in the game, with passive on-attack effects such as charges (e.g. charging into combat), persistent area-effect attack abilities, suicide bombers, transport units, units that resurrect dead enemies to create temporary zombie armies, and more.
They feature several turret types including an area of effect, army-melting plasma weapon, as well. The Shroud have tons of fun toys, balanced by a somewhat slower-starting and more fragile economy than the other factions, and generally slower production, making a catastrophic army loss a major setback.
In addition to the new faction, an entirely new campaign has been added as well as what sounds like several stand-alone missions and the previously for-purchase DLC “Emergence.”
Each existing faction is also getting a new unit which serves to further differentiate their play styles, which is a nice touch.
Topping off this confection of an expansion is a permanent reduction in the price of the game as a complete package, putting Grey Goo, including its new content, at a cool $30 for new purchasers (and, again, all this is on the house if you already owned the game). I’ve been a long time supporter of Petroglyph Games, and have been a vocal proponent of Grey Goo since its launch last year. Players have a lot of choices right now in terms of what RTS to put their time and money into, from the deserts of the new Homeworld game to the tens-of-thousands of units that can be built in Ashes of the Singularity. But now, recommending or choosing Grey Goo has been made a lot easier.
I hope to see you on the battlefields of Ecosystem 9!
Link to press release: https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/news/descent-shroud-new-faction-revealed/
Wayward Strategy 
Sounds interesting.
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