The game
Four-player co-op against bugs and robots on a galaxy-wide war the whole player base fights together. Stratagems called in by memorised key codes, friendly fire always on, and a tone that stays funny after a hundred hours.
The rhythm
A mission is twenty to forty minutes; an operation is three. An evening is a planet. Drop-in with strangers works well; it is best with a squad on voice.
What it costs
| Base price (US store) | $39.99 | €39.99 / £34.99 |
| Extras | Warbonds 1,000 Super Credits (~$9.99) each, earnable in play | |
| Subscription | None | |
| First-year estimate | $49.98 | base + extras we bought |
| Hours we logged | 55 | two accounts, three weeks minimum |
| Cost per hour | $0.91 | first-year estimate ÷ hours |
Prices checked 25 September 2026 on the US store, standard edition, before sales. Regional prices and platform stores differ.
What you pay for
The base purchase includes the war and every free update. Warbonds unlock new weapons and armour and can be bought with currency found in missions, slowly, or with money, quickly. It is the most honest version of a pass we have paid for, and still a pass.
What it asks of you
Tolerance for being killed by your friends, and for an online-only game whose servers occasionally lose a war on their own.
The strengths
- A shared war that feels genuinely communal
- Passes can be earned rather than bought
- Consistently funny
The trade-offs
- Online only; outages happen
- Warbonds nudge, even if they do not shove
Democracy, sold fairly.