Dustwind

2018 model Fallout Tactics real-time multiplayer. What I have been looking for 15 years, recommended to anyone who waited for the same.

Genre - Post Apocalyptic Isometric Tactical Combat
Similar to - Fallout Tactics
3 negatives:
No campaign mode
No progression
Small player base
3 Positives:
Great fun
Sandbox style with Bots
Variety of weapons
I am a huge fan of isometric tactical games like Fallout and Xcom.
This game captures the combat perfectly and allows you to jump into various game modes with and against bots. The AI is reasonable and the game looks and plays well. It is not turn based but relies on quick thinking.
There are only a few races currently but hoping for more later. Weapons are varied but we could always have more.
Tongue in cheek post apocalyptic Tactical shooter. Probably more fun with friends. If you can find some!

In A Nutshell
Pros
+ Decent character creation system.
+ Decent variety of weapons, gear, accessories and items.
+ Decent combat system.
+ Good graphical style, models and effects.
+ Multiplayer PvP modes in a Tactical RPG: a fresh gameplay concept rarely seen.
+ Level editor included to create missions and content, integrated with Workshop.
+ Multi-crew vehicles and deployable defenses are nice features.
Cons
- Active player-base is very small and finding anyone to play with is very difficult. In a multiplayer focused game.
- No Single Player campaign, but only some co-op missions adapted to Solo Mode.
- No story, role-playing interactions, or background lore.
- No quests, objectives or challenges. Only steam achievements.
- No character progression. Characters are created then stay the same forever.
- No character classes or skills.
- No Tactical pause in Co-Op but only in Solo Mode.
- Mission loot is meaningless as it is lost when a mission is completed and cannot be saved.
- Absence of unique or special gear pieces.
- Cannot save during single-player missions.
Dustwind (DW) is a Tactical RPG that tries to be innovative and shift the focus of the gameplay upon multiplayer, this is commendable, but ultimately fails because of lacking player-base amount, this is the major issue with the game. Other than that, it has decent combat systems, character creation depth, and equipment variety, but still none of these aspects can really stand out and be more than "just" alright.
Relying on the player-base to push out new missions and maps using the Editor / Workshop can be a double-edged weapon, because if active players become few like in this case, then there will not be much new content, unless the Devs themselves release additional one.
Overall, I suggest buying Dustwind only if you have already a trusted team to play with in Co-Op or PvP, and even in this case, wait for a sale, as the amount of content is not really that much to justify the price, considering the major player-base related issues. Avoid this title if you are a lone wolf player, as it will only disappoint you.
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In-depth Feature Analysis
Gameplay
The gameplay of DW is double-sided: it plays out as a proper Tactical RPG (with real-time pause) in Single Player mode, while it is much more like an Action RPG in Co-Op and Multiplayer modes (no pause!).
Character creation is done with a dedicated panel where you can choose a Race (Human, Robot, Dog or Valkyrie), each having pros and cons to them, restrictions to what gear they can equip, and also different maximum ability levels. Abilities are divided into your run-of-the-mill RPG ones, such as: proficiency with different weapon categories, amount of HP, regeneration amount, stealth, detection, ranged and melee accuracy, and so on. There are also a series of Traits you can pick to specialize your character further into specific roles, giving additional bonuses.
A fully stocked Armory is at each character's disposal to equip it with weapons, armors and gadgets. All of this is paid using Creation Points, each character has ten thousand at disposal, and each skill, trait and gear piece costs some. Your characters will not gain XP or progress, how they come out of creation is how they are going to stay.
Co-Op / Solo missions are stand-alone levels with a beginning and end, there is no story to link them together (there is no story at all), and they play out with one or multiple objectives to complete. Don't expect complex tasks, as mainly you will have to either kill all enemies, defend from waves without dying, or reach a certain place on the map.
Of course, levels are filled with loot ranging from mines, to guns, to gadgets, to turrets, and while sometimes finding some extra ammo or kits is certainly welcome, loot mostly feels useless as it is not saved when the mission ends, and cannot be sold since there is no trading in this game, so it just goes to waste.
Multiplayer modes are a handful, from TDM to variants of Domination, and they are supposed to be the "core" of the gameplay. While the idea behind this is good and fresh, it does not work for one simple reason: there very rarely are people playing, often the server browser is deserted, with just maybe one person in rare occasions. Since the core gameplay part is mostly not feasible, only a pre-arranged group of friends could viably make use of it.
Story
Each mission has a brief description giving vague detail about the situation and objective, but little else. There is not a real story in this game at all.
Combat System
Combat happens in real-time, and has a fairly decent depth to it: heavier guns will pack a bigger punch but take more time to shoot, burst fire and explosions can damage your teammates, aiming at different body parts can lead to different effects such as knockdown, stunning, disarming, and so on. Generally, you will have to create a balanced team composed of different specialists in a type of task (medics, assaulters, heavy gunners, explosive experts...) to face different situations.
Enemies and character are not really spongy even with high health and armor, everything dies pretty quickly and a few shots are enough for most to die. it really depends on difficulty, as harder difficulties will upgrade enemy damage and downgrade yours.
Content & Pricing
it will take you a couple of hours to finish the 8 Single Player missions (which are the exact same as co-op), it depends on how many times you retry before finding a good strategy. Since multiplayer content is crippled by lacking player-base, I'd say to wait for a decent sale before buying this game, and do so only if you already have friends to play with to at least make multiplayer somewhat viable.
Balance & Challenge
Some aspects of combat mechanics are outright broken: Stealth can be instantly refreshed when breaking line of sight, so quickly turning behind corners, attacking, and then running again will permanently refresh it, making stealth, fast melee characters very OP. Grenade throws against AI will not trigger any reaction, you just can see enemy position and spam grenades to kill them from a safe place, they will not try to avoid grenades or run if they don't see you.
Generally the balance is decent though, as weapons are quite specialized and each is a tool for a different job or situation.
Technical Analysis
Graphics
Quite detailed graphics, good quality overall, the use of ragdolls and gore is pleasant, effects are of average quality. Not much to complain about considering the genre.
Sound
Average quality of effects and music without any special praise.
Performance & Stability
The game consumes way more GPU memory than it should, probably a fault due to using Unity. The FPs is good enough and have not noticed performance issues generally.
Artificial Intelligence
Enemy Ai is nothing special and will chase and attack players if they see them, while stop and patrol if they lose contact.
Quality of Life
Interfaces and controls are good enough and there's nothing bad about them.
Bugs & Issues
Some issues with character pathfinding resulting in errors when moving. Enemy Ai not reacting to certain attacks like grenades. Sometimes your own men will not shoot close-by enemies for no reason.
Conclusion
A fresh gameplay concept, ultimately ruined by the lack of players, and also perhaps by the lack of some of the core mechanics of the RPG genre that could have been implemented, but have been not.
RATING: 6.0 / 10

Buy game thinking there is campaign with character customization.
Finds out game has no campaign
Jumps into PVP last man standing game to try before refunding
Played for like 20 hours straight had a blast outsmarting oppenents.
Improvise adapt survive!

What to say? This game is great. Basically it's like Fallout Tactics with real-time only, but the real-time aspect really is very well done here. It's a lot of fun with both fast-paced action and a serious tactical element.
While the game does focus on multiplayer, you can still play solo scenarios, there is a ton of content on the workshop and with an super-easy to use editor there is bound to be more and you can always create your own. The devs also suplied a very good and fun tutorial, that will teach you about all the aspects of the game in a painless manner.
The only drawback I see is a lack of a campaign mode, which could really make this title a 10/10 game.

Review by Gaming Masterpieces - The greatest games of all time on Steam.
Is this game a masterpiece? It looks like Fallout Tactics. I loved that game, but there never was a real sequel. So I must play Dustwind!
Ok... this does not play like Fallout. It plays like a post-apocalyptic real-time strategy game. No turns, no time to think, everything real-time. Of course, this game was developed as an online multiplayer game, so they had to use real-time. No local multiplayer, too, btw.
Is it good? Yes, it is good once you understand how everything works and do not have to think a few minutes to find the correct buttons. I advise to finish the tutorial first, it takes a bit longer but explains the basic functions rather good. You have to get used to the attack system... no click on anyone necessary, your character just shoots whenever he sees an enemy.
The heart of the game was the co-op mode, where you can fight through the wasteland together with your friends. Or the competitive modes, like Capture the Gas (Flag) or Deathmatch. While the solo missions were already playable alone before (but half the fun that way), the last big patch has now finally brought a real 16 mission single-player campaign to the game where you play a woman that got treated badly by some bandits (not what you think...). It starts as a classic revenge/rescue story...
You can customize your character (even play a robot or a dog), have lots of weapons to experiment with, including auto-fire turrets, mines, flamethrowers, grenades and can play with friends (online) or alone.
Conclusion:
Clear recommendation if you like post-apocalyptic isometric tactical games in combination with real-time. Especially good if you play it with a friend or two!

The illigitimate child of Fallout Tactics has arrived to claim the crown.
ALL HAIL DUSTWIND!