Near Impact

Near Impact is a game about defending Earth from an asteroid attack. After a cascade of impacts turns much of the planet into an inhospitable wasteland, survivors build floating cities above the impact winter. Scientists discover that the asteroids were an attack, and the Orbital Defense Department (O.D.D.) forms to protect Earth and prepare a scouting mission to find who launched them.

O.D.D. has built humanity’s first starship, but a new wave of much larger asteroids arrives before it is ready to launch. You control an exploration and defense drone robot with a team of operators, fighting to protect Earth’s cities until the starship can depart.

Fight the asteroids

You attack asteroids with rapid-fire railguns, target-seeking missiles, short-range high-energy plasma cannons and rocket-powered fists. The drone circles Earth, so its changing position affects your aim. Earth’s gravity bends missiles and railgun rounds into shifting arcs, while asteroids speed up as they approach the planet. Apparent near misses can curve into Earth, and asteroids sent into long orbits can return as later threats.

Defend the cities

You spend currency earned by destroying asteroids to commission defenses from cities. These include ships, submarines, aircraft, tanks and ground installations, equipped with railguns and/or missiles to protect high-population areas as a final line of defense. You can also use that currency to improve the drone’s weapons with greater projectile speed, range and damage, or add sensors that make asteroids easier to hit. Defensive units can be upgraded in the same way.

When an upgrade for the drone is ready, it is sent to an orbiting supply pod, and you must reach the pod to collect it. Upgrades for tower units are deployed directly to the relevant unit.

Your operator team

You choose four drone operators from a selection of candidates. They report important events, such as running out of ammunition or detecting a new asteroid, and exchange banter as they try to one-up each other. Each operator can also provide bonuses to the drone system they are assigned to.

Rising threats

The longer you survive, the harder the attacks become. Each wave brings more asteroids, new angles of attack and new, more resistant asteroid types.

Choose your approach

You can balance the game’s different elements or focus on the style you prefer. You can play as a shooter, as a tower defense game, or combine both. You can get through asteroid waves without changing orbit, or manually control the drone’s thrusters and rendezvous with upgrades and ammunition.