Terminator-Style Post Apocalyptic Wasteland Strategy - Zephon

Zephon Gameplay with Splattercat! Let's Play Zephon and check out a brutal post apocalyptic civilization builder where you'll compete with monsters, machines, and mutants across the wasteland.
Key provided by developers
Download Zephon : store.steampow...
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[@excursor4296]

The funniest complaint I heard about Gladius was “I can’t expand, there are too many hostile neutrals” and honestly I would not have it any other way. I love having too carve out a way through the planet :)

[@spaceman9599]

For me it was 'oh here's an OK game, now let's milk the franchise for DLCs' which seems to be more a franchise choice than a dev one. This seems more broad from the get-go and a nice lessons learned wild non IP version. Gladius 2, without the lore straightjacket. Just like AOW in space was also refreshing. Like it.

[@spaceman9599]

Haing said that: Gladius is a good package overall, worth picking up complete in a sale.

[@kirillhaetsky3049]

Always played with max neutrals, extremely fun start where you just try to survive.

[@nurgleschosen8145]

The biggest issues with gladius is: 1. Lack of voice lines 2. Strange arrangements of enemies, random ass catachan devil's and kroot hounds as well as ***slavers*** on the same planet. Might as well just launch a virus bomb because that world is far worse than a dead world. 3. The options for painting the faction is garbage. Otherwise it's ok.

[@ryonalionthunder]

@@nurgleschosen8145 1&3 are fixed thankfully with mods.

[@deohere7647]

I've been hype for this for a year. Thanks for letting more folks know about it. Hopefully it does well enough the studio can make a crpg or immersive sim or tactical rpg in this setting because it's really well done.

[@MarkWilson-ij9jd]

I bought it on a whim, haven't played it yet, but I'm excited by the little bit of gameplay I've seen.

[@current9300]

The studio already posted about good sales and reception and assured that the "plans to further expand and enrich the universe of ZEPHON have already been set in motion"

[@adamgroszkiewicz814]

I've had this one on my watchlist for at least 6 months. Excited to have some content covering it.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Yeah!

[@Groaznic]

Man this looks incredible. The lore is so hardcore. Reminds me of Civ BE a bit where I was really sad they never ended up making a 2nd expansion like for all the other Civs.

[@deltarno7502]

Oh man, I did love Gladius, so I cannot wait to try this. Given how the unaligned barbarians fought back in Gladius, I shall stuck up my defenses when playing this.

[@excursor4296]

Unaligned barbarians? All I found was more BiO mAsS

[@jacobussmit1453]

@@excursor4296 Found the xeno, sir.

[@piboy7454]

Give the flamer…. The HEAVY FLAMER!

[@Cassandra112]

"emulated mind is basically skynet"... but the lore blurb is right there. no. she's GladOS. She was a person, who was dying of cancer and copied her mind into a computer. it didn't go quite right. he didn't scroll down, but it implies was initially was cut off, and stuck in that offline computer, but them was connected to the internet, and went crazy from the constant digital pings. more crazy. art is pretty metal. hey remember when 40k used to be badass like that? not the soft family friendly art of today?

[@Kyrkby]

Seems like a polished version of Gladius. Been looking forward to the game for quite some time now.

[@mightheal]

It's really just a reskinned version of Gladius.

[@Kyrkby]

@@mightheal Which was essentially a reskinned version of their first game, Pandora. I can't complain, I like it, although I was hoping for a bit more diplomacy in this one.

[@SaltySlanko]

Played the beta, actually great, and an upgrade to Gladius in every regard (this is coming from a huge 40k nerd). Also, people have been complaining that all factions (leaders) have access to all units as the main complaint, while technically true (it's not as easy for every leader to get every type of unit), there is a "mutator" that you can turn on that restricts units based on leader affinities.

[@noon6]

What kind of upgrades does it make?

[@bakyra4683]

Thank you for returning to titles that describe the game perfectly! I hope this gets you more views too :)

[@fantochedollmaker7030]

Looks like a very polished Endless Legend

[@armelior4610]

except every faction is the insectoid necrophage always-at-war one

[@explorminate]

Endless Legend was extremely polished.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

I miss that game.

[@Hunter_6601]

@@armelior4610 there is diplomacy in this one

[@RealPeoplePerson]

"Let's build our capital between Agony Mountain and Blinding Fire Mountain" - statement generated by AI

[@buzzyb13]

Ah, there's nothing like catching a Splat vid mere minutes after it's posted!

[@majdeath123]

Both demos of this they had released were great... I had not realised it's coming out on the 8th. Cool.

[@legomacinnisinc]

Dude, I loved Gladius, if this studio is making another 4x like that sign me up!

[@StrongmanLovesAnimals]

man I love your channel, you find amazing sleepers in my favorite genre

[@perferstrategy]

The company was smart they avoided early access and relied on constant demos which allows them to fix bugs and take feedback and upload it then test it again for some more extreme measures. Demos is a much better way but Early access might be good for companies that can fix issues while making an income. It depends. Nothing less this is a fantastic game. I am definitely into 4X games not just war but all round type. This one is in the bag!

[@piboy7454]

Yeah I kinda agree with that, I was very happy that it was full complete game on launch.

[@phillipmitchell2254]

I've been keeping an eye on this one for a while.

[@meritbeforepraise7625]

I can tell its the same studio as gladius because of the same beautiful artstyle

[@ttsymphonyg]

It's a great twist on 4x games that everyone has the same units but your strategy depends only on the leader you choose. It takes out of the equation that other 4x games have that you have to play the boring units to get your personal playstyle preference going.

[@Totallynotkyubey]

Eh, Shogun 2 worked similarly, when you don't have enough unique units, the factions start to feel very samey. It's not great for long term gameplay.

[@ttsymphonyg]

@@Totallynotkyubey I partially agree. As an enjoyer of 4x and RTS games, I see the value on having unique units and restrictive mechanics. That's why I appreciate the take on this game, having the strategy not relying only on those uniques. Also, every faction has uniques if you min-max enough.

[@Error-mn4el]

so gladius but with its own setting and a bit more stuff, seems nice honestly about not being able to fire sometimes, the city blocks in gladius blocked line of sight, its probably the same here

[@jacksmith-vs4ct]

It think most of the time it was because he went over a river that consumed two of his three move points so he was left with none to fire when he got there

[@Baraz_Red]

I am not a fan of 4x games, but this is intriguing, feels different, high-quality and in-depth enough with some interesting design choices (like how enemies do not just fight to death, etc.).

[@nyrva2876]

You should definitely give age of wonders 4 a shot

[@Baraz_Red]

@@nyrva2876 I checked it out on Steam. Seems like a great suggestion for a 4X with more flare. I don't know about the depth though (game systems or game dynamics).

[@Woeboez]

@@Baraz_Red I'd say it's got a decent amount of depth to it (AOW4). They're constantly patching and actually listening to player feedback, updating old content etc. I highly recommend it.

[@nyrva2876]

As a matter of fact, they just updated it today and reworked the leveling system of lords with a lot of new skills among a huge list of changes (free update). In this game you can basically create any faction from any universe (fantasy, or gun users with artillery, machines or eldtrich cthulu like creatures ...) and customize their playstyle how you want more than any game I know of (and I know a lot of them). You then select a leader type between lords for economic buffs and exp for troops, mage to be able to cast 2 spells per turn in combat and more mana gain per turn on the campaign map among other things, dragon type ruler if you want to roleplay as Smaug for example to be a powerful combat unit with unique talent tree and skills but can't equip most items in the game as a tradeoff but gains gold per artifact you keep, or eldritch ruler to feel like a god that can teleport, mind control units and such. You're not forced to play the way devs intended that race to be played, you can make diplomatic orc monks now with buffs for diplomatics actions and debuffs for declaring wars (I won't go into more details it goes far beyond that) with the latest dlc that came out today, it adds oni race and monkey race with a new culture based off of monks and chinese / japanese creatures / characters such as kirin, samurai, ninjas, hand to hand fighting monks and much more) In that game, you pick tomes of magic as you play to enhance your faction and evolve your people with minor and major transformations like removing their legs to make them look like mermaids and get their benefits, or angels, or demons, or undead or giants or turning your people into dragons and more (those are like the pinnacle transformations for your race and you can only pick one and come with powerful buffs and sometimes debuffs). Once you win your campaign you can decide to ascend your leader to the pantheon so that you'll be able to encounter him as an ally / enemy in another campaign. You also select a powerful buff you'll get right from the start like a +2 range for ranged attacks (huge for a sniper leader type that already has big range) depending of the tomes you picked during your campaign. You'll have a selection proposed to you when you ascend. You also gain progression points to invest in your pantheon to unlock traits, weapons, armors, cosmetics, mounts, new world types (used in world creation) and more. I could talk about it for hours, it's the best 4X game to me.

[@armelior4610]

The artworks in the intro are real impressive

[@dr_nerdrage]

I tried the demo for this during NextFest and I got absolutely hooked. Can't wait for release!

[@thisguywalksintoa1267]

I absolutely loved Gladius, have many hours in it. This feels more like a mod that reskinned Gladius than it does a game made by the people that made Gladius. Again, not really a complaint because I do love me some Gladius, but something fresh and new would have been nice.

[@AvantNovis]

Thank you again for your videos

[@HiroProtaganist]

I can't wait to play this again, it really does have a unique writing and art style and it ooze's flavor. I think this is one of those, "keep the wiki open in another window" game, it's kind of obtuse.

[@clunker4927]

There's a built-in dictionary for every term, unit, tech tree item, and terrain feature, in-game - no need for another tab!

[@HiroProtaganist]

@@clunker4927 Yea, I know I played a bunch of Gladius. I do like the idea of the in-game dictionary not taking you out of the game, but it's a turn-based game anyway and I'd prefer a full-screen version.

[@drakenskag]

man this game looks absolutely amazing

[@jeppejoku8197]

Seems heavily inspired by warhammer gladius, which is one of my all time favorite 40k and turn based games, so gonna keep eye on this one for sure.

[@yuriski1]

It's by the same developer.

[@mightheal]

It's not just inspired they essentially just reskinned it so they don't lose money off the Warhammer license.

[@joshuachapman247]

I can't wait till this releases

[@ombrepourpre7562]

Hey, they do have work on it ! Last time I have see someone on it, it was far from be so pretty 🤔 Thank you Splater 👍

[@Corusame]

I'm looking forward to this one

[@Joe-ti7qd]

Indies are all we have now. Big AAA studios are for kiddos now.

[@GhostofJamesMadison]

Anyone who is foolish enough to subject their children to triple A gaming is guilty of neglect imo. The vast majority of triple A game companies get a sizable chunk of their income from 1 or more government programs(like Ubisoft was funded by the Canadian gov and America's department of defense anti terror media program. Cdpr was funded by the polish gov and some EU programs etc and so on). Then they also get a ton of tax brakes too however this money isn't free, they are required to utilize specialized propaganda via consulting agencies(sweet baby inc was one of these, which was an American DOD funded consulting agency that is part of the banking cartels ongoing recolonizing of the west via demoralization/antinatal psyops,and the continued incitement of nation wide culture wars designed to break up community strengths, *deep breath in* efforts blackrocks motto is "diversity-is-our-strength" spoken like a true conquer, tsun zu: "divide your enemy, then conquer them") anyways it's incredibly moronic to allow governments that plan your silent replacement to play their propaganda to your children, it's down right satirical to actually pay for the privilege.

[@illusion5739]

True some indie games are actually better than AAA company. Their ideas are refreshing and not repeating the same shit for years.

[@marcusjr80]

@@GhostofJamesMadison what in the conspiracy bullshit are you huffing on? You think too much you just circled back to be a dumbass.

[@yersiniapestis5237]

​@@GhostofJamesMadisonsomeone's off his meds

[@ATZag135]

ThankYou SirSpla77!

[@mhjmstultiens]

The map looks pretty though. I also like the addition of unit acknowledgements, a sound feature sorely lacking in Gladius.

[@IcarusRune]

Great game so far. Decided to pass on Gladius because of the massive amount of DLC..even though I’m a huge 40K fan. The unit and tech combinations seem to have some wild possibilities. If you held off on Gladius because of all the DLC. This seems like a good fresh start. A reskin with some news ideas added. For the record there is a mutator you can unlock that forces factions to only use their units and tech trees.

[@vwlssnvwls3262]

Terminator!?! Did someone say 'Terminator'?!?! Let me get a drink and snack.

[@hic_tus]

looking good, wishlisted😁

[@Dracobyte]

A reminder that Metal Slug Tactics launches tomorrow!!

[@charles_teak]

This is that kind of game that need about an hour long playthrough just to explain the basics. Wishlisted.

[@DarkXelNaga]

The three factions remind me of an old WC3 map I was trying to make but never finished. The goal was to reach godhood. By either go the route of technology. going for a singularity with your mind uploaded to the network and controlling all machines. The route of the mind, focused on meditation and building chi to then Ascend to become a disembodied conciseness that basically magic. The the route of flesh. basically think zerg. Each path starts off similar, with enhancing your body, with some bionics, chi enforcement or super soldier serums. And the upgrades just get more and more vast as you go. I never got very far as I couldnt pin down what kind of gameplay I wanted and I was very young.

[@justinmangus567]

played gladius pretty heavily, love it. Big wh40k fan, an warhammer in general played a age of sigmar game forget the name now, was a rts game back when i had a cd rom , cant find it digitally wish it was on steam but anyway great too see this

[@overlord6887]

Played both the demo and Gladius, both hit me like crack cocaine, I'm looking forwards to getting this. I've also heavily modded Gladius, hoping this one's just as easy to mod too.

[@steventaylor8723]

Hey Splat! I just want you to know that KZbin just served me an ad for Splitch before this video. It's a cheating platform for online games. Love your stuff!!! Just thought you should know what KZbin is associating you with. I'd write them an angry letter if I were you.

[@TKScreamer]

What i think gladius and this game tried to achive is to to make 4X games be faster and last lot less, so it is more focused on multiplayer( because normal 4X arent really feasable to play multiplayer for whole duration of standard game). That's why it doesnt really apeal to some 4X fans, its shallow in every aspect other than warfare and mostly dependent on tactics and fighting. I got bounced off of gladius too despite being fan of civ games and wh40k. Its a bit strange niche.

[@exilenl]

That also happened to me. Liked the hours that I did put in, but it didn't take long before it just got boring.

[@tatmifatmi8952]

The reason you couldn't attack from two tiles sometimes is because of the ruins and forests that are between em. Ruins and forests act as vision blockers for your ranged troops when they are between u and the enemy.

[@GreenSkinGentleman]

Looks like Civilization: Beyond Earth to me.

[@Kyrkby]

Funny you should mention that, the studio's first game was Pandora: First Contact which was a homage to the classic Alpha Centauri, just like Beyond Earth.

[@Ididtherightthing]

I just wish that this game also had hybrid affinities and multiple victory conditions because that was the coolest aspect of Beyond Earth.

[@GreenSkinGentleman]

​@@Ididtherightthing I watched another reviewer and he said it apparently does.

[@fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Seems really interesting looking; just a trifle nervous about the number of times that a unit ended up not having line of sight when expected to based on its range: is that a system that just rewards more experience than 'first impressions' really allows; or is there something actually ill-indicated or obtuse at work in how cover plays?

[@TheShourdedLord]

It looks so similar to their Warhammer game Gladius lol

[@ewn0404]

Yes but Gladius is awesome and I like the narrative focus in this. It’s an original IP so they can do way more than with warhammer IP

[@sgs9932]

Both were made by Proxy Studios

[@michaelh878]

​@@ewn0404like have diplomacy

[@CM-iz5ny]

Not just similar, it's quite literally the same thing. Very little innovation between the games.

[@morgansgames]

They even used the same color palette for the faction colors...

[@thisiscompletelyreta]

Do they have a GOG release? I'm really interested, looks good.

[@bloodangel9403]

It reminds me a bit of Sid Meyer's Beyond Earth, but on a more dark setting. Are the different paths in Zephon (cybernetic, humanity and voice) similar in function to BE's affinities of Purity, Supremacy and Harmony?

[@vforwombat9915]

oh, god, not another game w a never ending horde of zombie cyber dinosaurs.

[@Urko2005]

Im only here for the "whats up guys n gals"

[@isitanos]

Events are incredibly well written though.

[@Trifler500]

Ornithopters have flapping wings. :)

[@CommanderBohn]

You got the full game earlier? Jelly here. I already want to play it since I played the demo. I have only three issues with this game. 1. In the end you can research everything and the whole affinity thing only makes you only start with what initial stuff you end up and focus upon...which doesn't mean that if you play as say Fallen Soldier you can't research the cyber and voice stuff. 2. Due to the fact that you end up with the ability to research everything, you get everything. The only differences between factions are the starting techs, as well as the ups and downs of the leaders. They could use some additional unique units for each the three tech types that would make them further stand out more. 3. Shame you can't play as the titular Zephon (the actual not!SkyNet), the Anchorite (the alien remnant), and the Chieftess (the Mad Max faction).

[@pcppbadminton]

Hopefully the AI in Zephon is better at handling the more standardised units in this game. I've noticed that in Gladius it will kill something if it can, otherwise it will attack whatever it can do the most damage to in that turn, which means it almost never focusses fire to take down specific targets. It also never uses unit synergy which is a huge part of what makes Gladius so unique. It's super easy to exploit even without realising it, so I'm not sure if it even counts as exploiting.

[@Mc___music375]

Nice game❤❤

[@LordSaric]

@Splattercatgaming Forest and Ruins seem to block line of sight, whenever you couldn't shoot two tiles away there was a forest or ruin tile in the way

[@marltonmanks9891]

gives me The Forever Winter vibes but in a 4x platform. neat

[@ddtoxic4423]

This game is an insta buy for me

[@plumbthumbs9584]

excellent!

[@cameronleese3041]

Oh Splat, I love ya but you have to show all of the options for races/factions for games.

[@marvas2104]

Very well written reviews:)

[@woodchuck94og]

Back in 2005 i would loved that but its 2024 i want good story and action gameplay

[@charlielimber5441]

do you know any other games of this type but for example in the atmosphere of the era of the Victorian with Saifa, fulpack such as

[@jacobolsen5024]

The reason you sometimes can't target enemies is that the forest tiles block line of sight

[@LordTheCyril]

Since every faction has ALL units if that wasn't mentioned. There is also barely 3 factions worth of units. So a whole lot of faction does not matter, they play relatively similar regardless of the faction.

[@shadeling6717]

I've been watching this game for abit. It is supposed to come out Nov 8th. i don't know if that is full release or into early access.

[@chadowen4379]

Literally! A reskin of Gladius, even the hivemind is the copy and paste from the ultramarines only having one city.. no thanks for me.

[@sasesasoski5725]

you know i think you can stay neutral with the wild life if you don't attack them first. That was the case in Sid Meirs civilization: Beyond Earth

[@GhostofJamesMadison]

4:00 This is literally the plot to the game "Forever Winter" which is an extraction shooter based on high concept post apocalyptic art. Its in early access as we speak

[@TJ-vo3rv]

I mean, these are hardly new concepts to sci-fi. That isn't to say either game is bad for not being original enough or anything like that, there's a reason tropes become tropes. The quality of any author's creativity comes through in how they play with and twist those tropes.

[@aleale6277]

Zephon is older.

[@Ondar007]

Interesting 😁

[@spaceman9599]

Tasty! Maybe Gladius without the DLC farming...

[@spaceman9599]

Wish there was a demo :)

[@ryonalionthunder]

That's such a weird complaint. "Oh noes! This perfectly servicable game keeps getting dlc in case I want even more of it!" What?

[@riptors9777]

So is this just a new skin for Gladius? Cause thats what it looks like.

[@CowCommando]

It's made by the same studio.

[@denniswiggins3816]

It looks like a "Grimdark" future still.....

[@mbielcik]

🖤

[@thisiscompletelyreta]

That opening narration really needs to increase the volume a few notches. Really hard to make out over the music and the music isn't even that loud

[@Zhenya378]

I like Gladius - Relics of War.

[@spaceman9599]

An AI built from an early Anti-Virus routine. It's Norton, isn't it? That stuff gets everywhere...

[@duedman-alleswasknallt5775]

I do have troubles seeing things. Had the same problems with Gladius but this seems way worse

[@NinjaEnShort]

A bunch of that art seems heavily inspired by the 40K Blanchistu style.

[@CowCommando]

The studios previous game was Warhammer: Gladius. This is basically the same game but in their own setting.

[@kylemackinnon5696]

I really enjoy gladius unfortunatly this dosnt seem different/upgraded enough to replace gladius with it for me

[@GalvayraPHX]

It's so close to gladius it might as well be a reskin/dlc...

[@FistsOfAnarchy416]

Hmmm, a Civ-like game held in a modded X-com world. Interesting

[@raidermaxx2324]

wait i dont get it, who fought against the robots? an enigma?

[@mikeyup6648]

Is this a full game or early access game?

[@Scapestoat]

Yet an other Gladius reskin. How many of these games are there even?

[@Crimzon86gaming]

I like the idea of 4x but they are not good for me. I think I tried civ5 and well 13 hours later I finally was able to put it down and immediately uninstalled lmao. The power of just one more turn is too strong.

[@exilenl]

I don't think you have to worry about that with this one. If Civ5 is as deep as an ocean, this game is as shallow as a pond.

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

How different is this game from WH40K: Battlesector?

[@BLaCkKsHeEp]

looks a lot like Warhammer 40k Gladius

[@blightedthicket5797]

If it had parasitic or malignant factions I'd be more interested. Sometimes you just want to be a cancer on the land, infest, and devour.

[@philurbaniak1811]

Looks awesome 👍👍!

[@Hexblithe]

Wewt, video uploaded 1 minute ago, already at 100+ views and 12 likes before I hit the thumbs up :D

[@chickenfinger90]

Looks a lot like Gladius, feels lika a overhaul mod or reskin, engine, units, everything is the same...

[@ArthurIdrisov]

Gladius is their game as well

[@chickenfinger90]

@ArthurIdrisov y I know, it's like minimum effort, other than the art. Already seen all of that

[@Fallenscion]

I've played both Gladius and multiple rounds of Zephon's early access - they are very different games. The inclusion of diplomacy alone makes it play and feel dramatically different, to say nothing of the divergent tech trees.

[@HappyAspid]

What are divergent tech trees?

[@mightheal]

@@Fallenscion I've played both as well they're just reskinning Gladius.

[@parkla4098]

This is not even a Gladius reskin. It is outright an asset re-use. Same terrain, same icons,...

[@EssaBee]

I don't get the whole everyone gets all units thing... and tech tree doesn't seem to explain what goes with what... those were my main issues with last beta too....

[@epimetheaus1214]

So 40K Gladius?

[@Kreifi]

Anyt bets? Will this have over 20 dlcs?

[@mhjmstultiens]

Nah, at least thirty.

[@GhostofJamesMadison]

From what i can tell people who played gladius hlsaid its a total rip of all the data frok that game even down to faction colors. What i think happned was the developers were tired of paying games workshop for a lb IP license and simply stole the entire concept of forever winter's art projects that came out long ago used that for the world building then combined it altogether using AI to patch up any leaks. Very clever and extremely impressive move from business perspective.

[@aleale6277]

Forever winter released a long time ago? Are you serious? Zephon has been in the works for at least 4 years.

[@isitanos]

I liked the combat in Gladius but couldn't stand how conquering an enemy city gives you nothing, it just goes poof. Very disappointing compared to most 4X where capturing an enemy capital is a near-orgasmic experience... think Civ where you finally get to steal all the wonders the enemy beat you to. Unfortunately judging from the demos I played Zephon is the same as Gladius for this.