Foxhole

Foxhole was developed and published by Clapfoot – a Canadian studio popular mainly for Fortified – a mixture of a tower defense game and a third-person shooter. Before entering the Early Acess stage, for a period of time, the game was available in a free-to-play, pre-alpha version.

Plot

Foxhole is set in a fictitious universe whose atmosphere and level of technological advancement both bear a resemblance to the 1920s. Two factions have fiercely fought one another for over a hundred years in this world, and those are known as the Wardens and the Colonials. These factions are not direct representations of any of the parties involved in the real-life World Wars.

Mechanics

Foxhole for PC is an online war game. The players are cast in the roles of numerous regular soldiers; through tight cooperation with their comrades and using the equipment available wisely, they fight in order to tip the balance in favour of their faction's victory. In similarity to MOBA and RTS games, the player observes their soldier and the battlefield from above. Apart from fighting as such, the players' important tasks are to prepare weapons, ammunition and other equipment, and to deliver them to key locations on the battlefield. The weaponry available is made up of fictitious weapon and vehicle models based loosely on the equipment used during both World Wars. The player makes use of rifles, shotguns, submachine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, etc. Larger weapons are represented here by heavy machine guns operated by two soldiers, artillery cannons, semi-caterpiller vehicles and tanks.

Contrary to many games devoted to a similar subject, in Foxhole, ammunition does not appear magically in the soldiers' pockets and vehicles are not simply spawned under a tree. In order for the team-members to use something more than their fists and nails in combat, the players have to create it first and deliver to a specific spot.

To produce anything, above all, the player needs to be in possession of adequate resources. Piles, which can be found here and there, provide the players with basic resources: scrap is the most common. In a building called the Manufacturing Plant, Scrap can be turned into Basic Materials, which can be used to produce simple pieces of equipment, as well as to construct the plainest buildings. Technologically advanced constructions, such as tanks or turrets require better-quality materials of course. However, a brand-new tank will not go far without fuel obtained from piles of barrels.

Vehicles are built in the Factory and can be used freely once fueled, but small arms and ammunition (created in the Weapon Factory) in the form of crates have to be loaded onto a truck and transported to a spot where the soldiers can take the equipment they need. Such places are represented here by Town Halls (the players fight for them) or Outposts.

Buildings mentioned above, as well as Barracks, use a special kind of resource called S. Supplies – those serve a purpose of respawn tickets. If a building next to which the players can be respawned does not have any more tickets, nobody will be able to return to action here. In such a case, the players get respawned in a different place or somewhere in the wilderness. Fortunately however, the players are capable of creating S. Supplies themselves.

Certain buildings, especially defensive structures, can be constructed in any place. As a result, the players can fortify key positions and even create partly automated lines of defense, which can slow down the enemy's attack even while there are no allies in the vicinity. AI-controlled soldiers are sent to trenches, bunkers and armored turrets if such structures are connected to an allied Town Hall or an Outpost.

Game modes

Foxhole for PC includes three multiplayer modes. Servers is a single battle taking place on a stretch of map. Even up to 120 players can take part in one session of this kind. The Campaign is a mode based on a war taking place on a few separate maps. When one faction takes over all maps, the campaign ends and a new one begins. Conquest is similar to the previous mode, but the maps are linked together with passages here and the player-controlled soldiers can move freely from one battlefield to another. The goal of one's team is again to take over all the maps.

Technical aspects

Foxhole came out for PC thanks to the technology provided by the Unreal Engine 4.