New Iron Harvest trailer looks like a World War 1 Company of Heroes with mechs

Alt-history mech RTS Iron Harvest’s second multiplayer alpha test has kicked off, but if you aren’t in it, you can at least console yourself with new footage full of lumbering war machines and very big guns. Take a gander at the video above.

My heart skips a beat whenever there’s a new RTS about. The genre’s in a weird place at the moment. StarCraft 2, a game that came out over eight years ago, remains at the top of the pile, and it’s become harder and harder to find a good base-building romp.

Dawn of War 3 seemed like it was poised to return to its roots with its campaign, but it proved to be a disappointment. Other RTS games like Grey Goo and Deserts of Kharak impressed at launch, especially the latter, but there are currently more people playing Homeworld Remastered Collection than the newer prequel.

So Iron Harvest is a pretty exciting prospect. With its destructible environments, intimidating, tank-like behemoths, objectives and cover system, it reminds me of Company of Heroes, probably the best thing to happen to the genre during its post-90s slump. And if you miss building bases, there will be plenty of that, with the alpha introducing bunkers, fortifications and building upgrades, too.

Also included in the second alpha are two 1v1 maps, a 2v2 map, around 20 units and two factions. The maps can be played in multiplayer and in skirmishes against the AI. The plan is to eventually give players 30 mechs to play with, on top of all the other units, like the infantry who scurry beneath them. You’ll need to preorder to take it for a spin right now.