D.O.R.F. is shaping up to be the Command & Conquer spiritual successor I’ve been dreaming of. It’s impressive how well grainy, isometric sprites replicate the look and vibe of those golden age real-time strategy games.
Many spiritual successors get the aesthetics of a period right. Still, the latest D.O.R.F. trailer, released in the PC Gaming Show, reveals developer DORFteam has everything from the industrial synth-heavy music to the washed-out color palette down.
D.O.R.F. is set in a dark future version of an Earth wrecked by genetic experiments, endless warfare, and extraterrestrial anomalies. The attention to detail in how the game is stylized is impressive, including the UI. The trailer shows a retro wireframe build menu, with static video effects from old analog TV screens playing over clunky close-up videos of the units you’ve selected.
The game’s three factions each have an individual story campaign: the industrial Crumbling Empire, the advanced New World Order, and the Mad Max-esque Barbarians. The latter look to have the wackiest weaponry (read: giant steel rolling ball of death crashing through enemy defenses). I’m a fan of their manufacturing building shaped like a giant diesel-punk skull. All the factions have a unique arsenal at their disposal, such as the Crumbling Empire’s ground-mounted cannon that wipes out an entire settlement in one blast or New World Order’s battle tanks that look straight out of the future battles in the original Terminator—basically, a chunky robot torso rolling on caterpillar treads.
D.O.R.F. is the work of just two developers: John Williams (not the composer, though wouldn’t that be rad?) and Thomas van Leth. Its development so far has been funded via Patreon, and the game will release on Steam and GOG. You can wishlist the game now.