Here’s one of the latest tactical RPGs announced just hours ago—fresh off the press and now featured on the pages of my beloved and humble website. This intriguing title comes from the indie studio Rhinotales and looks like it’s offering us a tactical take on Resident Evil, which has me seriously hyped.
It’s called Critical Shift, a new turn-based strategy RPG blending survival horror and sci-fi elements, slated for release on PC and consoles. Set beneath the icy surface of Antarctica, Critical Shift tasks players with leading a tactical strike squad into ICE-1 Station, a once-secret research facility now plunged into chaos. Following a cryptic distress signal and a total blackout, your team is sent to uncover what happened—and to make sure nothing escapes.
Written by Guiltythree, the mind behind the cult-favorite web novel Shadow Slave, Critical Shift promises a dark, immersive story filled with psychological dread, unexpected plot twists, and rich character development. What begins as a rescue op quickly spirals into something far more disturbing—where time fractures, reality bends, and something ancient watches from the shadows.
At its core, Critical Shift is a turn-based tactics game with zero RNG nonsense—if your attack has a 99% hit chance, it’s going to hit, and this might save a lot of mouse and controllers. The combat emphasizes positioning, thoughtful ability usage, and smart resource management. Ammunition is scarce, and every action matters.
Your squad will have access to dozens of unique abilities and weapons, but the real edge comes from the decisions you make—both in battle and out. Between operations, you’ll explore ICE-1’s vast, multi-layered underground complex, uncovering lost research, survivor testimonies, and powerful artifacts that may shift the odds in your favor—or not.
Not everything you face will be human. Inside the station, various factions clash for control—each with their own agendas. A rogue AI spawns grotesque biomechanical hybrids. A hive-mind infects human hosts and reshapes them into puppets. And lurking in the deepest shadows are things that shouldn’t exist. You can use these rivalries to your advantage—baiting factions into fighting each other or using the chaos to slip past unnoticed.
The game will offer over 30 missions, but in that sense, I hope it’s not built around a structure that’s too linear. Anyway, Critical Shift is set to launch in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam, and I can‘t wait for it. Below is an overview, screens, and announcing trailer.
About This Game
A distress call is received from a top-secret research station in Antarctica, and then all communications are completely cut off. The final official report contained only scraps of information:
…experiment #347 has reached critical parameters… …transportation of the sample from Sector D to████████████… …stability indicators are dropping… …WARNING… …containment conditions have been breached… …personnel evacuated from Levels 6 to 9… …OH GOD, █████████ IS REAL… …TIME CAN ████… …IT’S NOT A VACUUM, IT’S WATCHING US…
Your squad’s mission is to reach ICE-1 Station, located deep under thick layers of ice. This is a place where hundreds of scientists, soldiers, and researchers lived and worked. Within its depths are hidden things that can obliterate the boundary between reality and insanity. And if even one of those objects gets out of the station, it will mark the end of the world as we know it.
A profound story from a master creator
A whole new world from the masterful pen of Guiltythree, author of the cult web novel Shadow Slave, awaits you in Critical Shift. His work is renowned for its rich character development, dark atmosphere, and genuinely unexpected plot twists. In our game, the writer reinterprets familiar events, intertwining them with mystery and throwing the heroes into a dizzying vortex full of lethal danger, drama, treachery, and a whole lot more!
Hardcore tactical battle system
Lead a squad created to solve impossible problems. Use dozens of unique abilities and develop new skills. Explore the area, bolster your arsenal and your gear, but don’t forget that your greatest weapon is a sharp mind.
Resources are limited, and every cartridge could be worth its weight in gold. Study the battlefield and your enemies carefully to understand the most effective course of action. Awaiting you in the game is a fair fighting system, so you won’t have to worry about misses with a 99% hit chance. Just think carefully and win!
Factions and enemies
ICE-1 Station is packed full of mysteries. In its depths, you’ll encounter not only anomalies that shatter the rules of reality. The accommodation blocks and laboratories have become a battlefield for various powers. A hive intelligence is turning people into mutant puppets, an insane AI is creating monstrous hybrids of flesh and metal, and the few survivors are desperately trying to keep the situation under control. In the shadows, meanwhile, hide creatures whose origin is entirely inexplicable. Exploit the conflicts between the different factions wisely—within these walls, any move can turn the tide of battle!
Explore the world
The gigantic underground complex stretches for miles beneath the Antarctic ice. Official maps show a number of research facilities, accommodation blocks, and technical areas. However, the true scale of the location and all its secrets are known only to a few. Explore every corner in search of mysterious artifacts, read top-secret documents, and talk to the survivors to discover the whole truth. One of the (im)possible truths.
