You can become the star in this upcoming RTS game that’s all about thermonuclear war

One thing it’s hard to remember in modern times is how prevalent the threat of nuclear annihilation was before the ‘90s. It was a genuinely terrifying time in many ways, with the promise of sirens and the instructions to run and hide never far from people’s minds. It’s a threat that, while still out there, has faded somewhat with the passing of time and imposition of various treaties. Upcoming RTS title ICBM Escalation is therefore a bit of a blast from the past, and you are invited to become one of the stars of the game.

ICBM Escalation is all about taking over the world through whatever means necessary. While it does concern itself primarily with thermonuclear war, deploying nuclear submarines and missiles around the globe to take out tactical targets and level cities, this is an RTS game that also allows a more conventional approach to all-out war. You have a full array of options available to you, promising lots of military developments and considerable leeway in how you approach warfare. Will you annex land, defeating enemies in traditional battles, or will you simply turn countries to ash, occupying the now-empty ruins?

Of course, no branch of the military or country is complete without a leader, and that’s exactly where you step in. Developer SoftWarWare is giving fans the chance to star in the game, asking to use your face in the official portraits that will crop up when you play. If you’ve ever fancied yourself the head of a country or the commander of a military branch, now’s your chance – in game form, anyway.

There are plenty of options on offer for anyone interested in becoming a nuclear commander in ICBM Escalation. While the developer wants to keep things traditional, similar to official portraits hung in the White House or the Kremlin, there’s lots of different ways your portrait could be used – and you can have your say on this. The form not only requests a few pics of your face, it also asks what military branch or nation you’d like to appear as, along with some open comment fields for you to ask for anything specific you’d like to see.

If you’d like to submit your own visage for inclusion, you can head over to the Steam announcement to get more details and grab the link to the relevant form. Be quick, however, as the developer notes that spots are limited and may fill up fast.

Should you want to head in a different direction, our guides to the best strategy games and the best war games will keep you strategizing and winning conflicts for a long time to come.

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