What would it be like to control your army from the cockpit of your tank? That was the basic question we asked ourselves at the start of Mars Commander's development process. 

When I was young, I loved playing strategy games like Supreme Commander, Total Annihilation, and Age of Empires. These were the type of games that allowed you to gather resources, construct units, and combat the enemy in huge battles. They were great, but they also felt a bit disconnected. You were always observing your units from a God-like perspective while commanding them from afar. You could send one, or two, or even twenty of them into their demise without breaking a sweat. 

Mars Commander is different. You aren't just commanding your units, you are your units. You'll usually be in the cockpit of one of them, building, exploring, or charging headlong into an enemy base. However, you can also switch between all other units under your command, even engineers and turrets. It leads to a wholly different experience. 

When an Engineer constructs a building, you aren't just letting it perform its duty. You are the one constructing that building with the Engineer's Construction Beam. When your Scout enters uncharted territories, you are the one steering it across the terrain. Not from your seat up in heaven but from the cockpit of that fragile unit itself. And when an enemy building goes up in flames, you might just be the one who fired the final shot. 

There's something incredibly rewarding about being involved with your army so directly. But honestly, even the first-person perspective itself is just better. Watching your army of eight bombers and five assault tanks charge forward because of the order you just gave is incredibly rewarding. Leading their way into an enemy base with a one-click follow order more so. 

You can check all of this out yourself by downloading the Mars Commander alpha build. Don't forget to tell us what you think because we're always looking for player feedback!