Most people will know Fortnite as a silly, increasingly AI-riddled battle royale game with more crossover content than you can shake a billion-dollar stick at.
However, those of us who were paying attention to it at launch will remember that the game Epic first released to market was not a battle royale at all, but rather a tower defense game with crafting and chaotic combat.
This is relevant because today’s newly announced title from Black Lab Games (whose previous credits include Warhammer 40k: Battlesector and Battlestar Galactica Deadlock) is a strategic tower defence action hybrid called Survive ’til Dawn, which sounds a little bit like the original concept behind Fortnite, back before Epic “borrowed” the battle royale concept from PUBG and H1Z1.
The studio’s new third-person shooter has you scavenging for gear and materials in the wasteland, and then using these resources to craft defences so you can protect a world-saving gadget from wave after wave of mutant attacks.
As the name implies, all you’ve got to do is stay alive until the sun rises. To do that, you’ll have to set up and manage your defences, and then if/when they fail, it’s time to roll your proverbial sleeves up and get stuck in.
While not overtly advertised as a roguelike or roguelite, Survive ’til Dawn! will offer a survival mode where you must fight off “escalating waves of mutant mayhem […] drafting sweet upgrades between rounds until your glorious, inevitable demise.” Now… that sounds very roguelite-like to me!
Other points of interest mentioned in the announcement include the promise of two-player co-op, as well as gore that you can turn on or off – ideal if you plan on playing with or in the vicinity of a young un.
If you like the idea of a post-apocalyptic, action-infused tower defence game that sounds a bit like Fortnite meets Orcs Must Die!, then I suggest you check out the announcement trailer below, or head over to the new Steam page for Survive ’til Dawn to wishlist and find out more ahead of the game’s launch next year.
