TheRetroArcade
Veteran
Posts: 1,975
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Finally, someone invented the Humboldt-action rifle.
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On the face of it, Altera looks like a typical military survival sandbox. It's a game about wandering through a massive, vaguely central European landscape in military camo, building a base, crafting useful items, and taking on missions from dead-eyed NPCs to shoot other dead-eyed NPCs in authentic ranged combat. It's basically DayZ without the zombies, PUBG without the competition, ArmA without the sensation that you're piloting your character like a mech.
In short, Altera couldn't be more down to Earth if it had fallen into the Kola superdeep borehole, which is of course why it features penguin soldiers. What's that? Your country doesn't have penguin soldiers? Well, we know who's going to be conquering who, don't we?
I have been advised between paragraphs that penguin soldiers are not a typical component of your average national military, and that the presence of penguin soldiers in Altera is, in fact, astoundingly weird. What's even weirder is that developer Vulkanic doesn't make a big deal about it.
Vulkanic's most recent Steam post proudly announces that Altera has received more than 2,000 sign-ups to an upcoming playtest. I don't know how that compares to your average playtest. But I do know that then going "By the way, here's 50 seconds of weaponised penguins" isn't so much burying the lede as it is drowning it in a lake.
How does a penguin become a soldier, you ask? Altera answers thusly. You strap a military helmet to your chosen aquatic bird which has a gun sight attached to the apex. You then aim down the gun sight, and the penguin shoots whatever's in its path.
There are some obvious follow-up questions here. Who is aiming down the sight? Where do the bullets come from? Did the penguins all swallow a gun? Are penguins guns? Is any of this real? Am I having a stroke? Unfortunately, I cannot answer any of these, as I've just rewatched the trailer and spotted a clip where a penguin also launches a grenade, thus opening up a whole new avenue of futile queries.
I can, at least, tell you why Altera has penguin soldiers. Altera has been in development since 2022, and was originally an explicitly sci-fi game where humans, animals and robots all worked together to fight against a villain called Metalgrave (strong name). Over time, the developer has shifted toward a more realistic look ...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
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Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
On the face of it, Altera looks like a typical military survival sandbox. It's a game about wandering through a massive, vaguely central European landscape in military camo, building a base, crafting useful items, and taking on missions from dead-eyed NPCs to shoot other dead-eyed NPCs in authentic ranged combat. It's basically DayZ without the zombies, PUBG without the competition, ArmA without the sensation that you're piloting your character like a mech.
In short, Altera couldn't be more down to Earth if it had fallen into the Kola superdeep borehole, which is of course why it features penguin soldiers. What's that? Your country doesn't have penguin soldiers? Well, we know who's going to be conquering who, don't we?
I have been advised between paragraphs that penguin soldiers are not a typical component of your average national military, and that the presence of penguin soldiers in Altera is, in fact, astoundingly weird. What's even weirder is that developer Vulkanic doesn't make a big deal about it.
Vulkanic's most recent Steam post proudly announces that Altera has received more than 2,000 sign-ups to an upcoming playtest. I don't know how that compares to your average playtest. But I do know that then going "By the way, here's 50 seconds of weaponised penguins" isn't so much burying the lede as it is drowning it in a lake.
How does a penguin become a soldier, you ask? Altera answers thusly. You strap a military helmet to your chosen aquatic bird which has a gun sight attached to the apex. You then aim down the gun sight, and the penguin shoots whatever's in its path.
There are some obvious follow-up questions here. Who is aiming down the sight? Where do the bullets come from? Did the penguins all swallow a gun? Are penguins guns? Is any of this real? Am I having a stroke? Unfortunately, I cannot answer any of these, as I've just rewatched the trailer and spotted a clip where a penguin also launches a grenade, thus opening up a whole new avenue of futile queries.
I can, at least, tell you why Altera has penguin soldiers. Altera has been in development since 2022, and was originally an explicitly sci-fi game where humans, animals and robots all worked together to fight against a villain called Metalgrave (strong name). Over time, the developer has shifted toward a more realistic look ...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?