Post-apocalyptic car combat usually sells itself on big guns and bigger explosions, but War on Wheels is taking a different angle. This one’s built around the idea that how you move matters just as much as what you’re shooting, with battles shaped by terrain, momentum, speed, vehicle handling and even recoil.
Developed by Galway-based indie studio Psychic Software, War on Wheels is described as a modern, tactical, turn-based car combat game that uses simultaneous planning alongside physics-controlled vehicles. In short: you’re not just picking targets, you’re plotting precise manoeuvres and living with the consequences when the road (or sand, or rubble) does not cooperate.
A wasteland campaign built for long-term tinkering
Set around the year 2100, the game puts you in charge of a privateer company operating in a fractured Badlands warzone, juggling contracts, politics and survival while you keep your crew and machines in one piece.
The key bit for tactics fans is the emphasis on vehicle fundamentals. Orders are issued simultaneously across multiple cars, but victory comes from understanding tyres, acceleration, surface types, cover, weapon kickback and how your armour layout holds up when you get clipped from the side.
Built on the bones of Darkwind: War on Wheels
If that sounds like a studio that has done its homework, it has. Psychic Software is building War on Wheels on the foundation of Darkwind: War on Wheels, its long-running vehicular combat MMO that’s been live for years and is rooted in the same “simultaneous turn-based + physics” philosophy.
According to the announcement, that near-two-decade stretch of community feedback and play sessions is feeding into a more modern rebooted experience, including a full single-player campaign and online deathracing leagues.
Soundtrack featuring DIEM and Jeorge II
On the audio side, War on Wheels is set to include five original soundtracks produced by DIEM, including a headline theme featuring rapper Jeorge II, inspired by its solar-flare, gang-heavy, deathracing world.
Availability
War on Wheels is currently in development for PC via Steam, with other platforms planned later. A demo is expected “later this year”, and wishlisting is live now.
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