by theygamesIf strategy game subgenres were rock ballads, Songs of Silence is like a greatest hits album. A dash of 4X here. A sprinkling of autobattlers there. An injection of RTS combat. Voila. Oh, and some stunning artwork for the cover, too. This medley of strategy influences both looks and plays unlike almost anything else, and now it’s just got even bigger and better with the arrival of its first DLC expansion, Lighteaters.
While the kingdom management elements of Songs of Silence give you some time to explore, breathe, and consider how to build up, support, and direct your army, actual battles are an altogether different experience. Requiring the quick decision making and smart tactics that the best RTS games demand, conflict is beautifully chaotic. With multiplayer support and over 100 randomized skirmish maps, you can unleash that chaos on other players too.
Songs of Silence’s visual style has drawn eyes towards its direction, with a gorgeous Art Nouveau aesthetic for its environments and some amazing designs for the mystical creatures that you can summon into battle. The base game offers a really impressive amount of content for its price point (especially if you pick it up on sale, like it is now) but today’s 1.2 update and the launch of its Lighteaters DLC cranks things up a notch.
With the free 1.2 update, all players can now jump into a new combat scenario where you’ll face off against waves of Lighteaters (more on them in a moment) and there are three new achievements to earn as well. A host of balancing changes are also going to shake things up no matter which faction you play.
As for the paid DLC, things are even juicier. The new faction, the Lighteaters, will be at your disposal to use in single-player content and in online multiplayer battles. The Lighteaters are a race of creatures stuck in a purgatory between life and death and consist of two new hero archetypes, six hero vocations, eight units, 13 cards, and one fresh unit perk. This new faction also has a new capital that “allows immediate recalls” and “advanced recruitment options” that grant you “rapid repositioning and unrelenting pressure on enemies.”
The new Lighteaters DLC for Songs of Silence and the game’s 1.2 update are both live right now. If you already own Songs of Silence, you can grab the new DLC for $7.79 / £6.69. If you’re only now learning about it and want to give it a go, the base game is currently 34% off until Thursday, March 6, making it just $19.79 / £15.83. Head over to its Steam page here if you want to add it to your library.
If Songs of Silence isn’t quite what you’re after, take a look at some more traditional (but still excellent) 4X games, or our overall best strategy games guide.
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