White Sands

White Sands thrusts players into a post-apocalyptic future in which humanity is struggling to survive after a massive solar storm devastated the planet. As commander of the Union, an organization with military and research capabilities, your goal is to help rebuild civilization in this hostile wasteland.

Fans of strategy games like XCOM 2 and Frostpunk will feel right at home with White Sands' challenging resource management and base-building gameplay. The game opens by dropping you into the role of a Union commander, tasked with expanding bases, providing aid to settlements, and fighting off the hordes of cyborgs, bandits, and mutants that roam the wastelands.

The setting creates an engaging backdrop, and I appreciated the detailed backstory about a solar storm pushing the Earth's magnetic field beyond its limits. This allows for creative enemy designs and an interesting – and unforgiving – mutated landscape.

Fighting For Resources In A Desolate Land

Once you survey the devastated terrain, it becomes clear survival will be difficult. Resources like food, water, medicine, and building materials are scarce. Securing convoys and supply caches from enemies is crucial but requires strategic planning.

I often faced tough choices on whether to raid bandit hideouts for supplies or focus on building sustainable farms and water purification at my bases. The resource management adds a layer of strategy that keeps each new area feeling fresh and challenging.

High Tech Military Meets Mutant Hordes

The opposition you face covers a wide range – from desperate scavengers to cyborgs and 15-foot-tall mutants. Fortunately, the Union has access to advanced military weaponry including mechs, drones, and laser rifles. However, superior numbers and surprise attacks from multiple factions kept me on my toes.

I enjoyed customizing my squad's loadouts and high-tech gear to counter specific threats, similar to XCOM 2. But no matter how well equipped, I often found my bases overwhelmed by massive hordes, forcing me to fall back and salvage what I could. If there ever was a game where the RNG felt painfully punishing, this is it.

Base Building Balances Defense and Expansion

Your bases serve as hubs for gathering resources, researching new tech, and training soldiers. Base building mechanics focus on fortifying your location while allowing room to grow. I liked being able to construct automated turrets, electric fences, and radar towers to help defend against attacks.

However, expanding the base required strategic planning too – if I built too narrowly focused, I would run out of room to add critical facilities later. There's a nice balance of defense and expansion that felt rewarding. Fans of post-apocalyptic strategy games should find battling across White Sands' scarred wastelands to be a tense but entertaining challenge.

Still, the early stages can be a bit of a grind for some players. White Sands takes a while to heat up – but once it does, you'll be managing facilities and repelling threats like a pro.

Pros:

• Satisfying resource management
• Cool high-tech military units
• Challenging base-building balance

Cons:

• Steep learning curve early on
• Occasional pathfinding issues