Based on a board game from the 80s, Dark Future: Blood Red States is a tactical car combat strategy game set in the near future in an American wasteland ruled by a number of warring factions with armoured cars with big guns. The game consists of multiple seasons, with each season seeing you assume a new role fighting for or against these factions. With each season, you have a choice of missions to undertake, be it Escort missions, where you have to escort a vehicle a certain distance, or to just kill as many opponents as you can.

With each successful mission you earn cash, which you then use to upgrade your vehicles armour and weapons, as well as fuel so that you can carry on with the season. Run out of fuel or get blown up, and your season is over.

While everything is done in real time, the combat system slows time down so that you can plan your moves. Change lane, while dropping that mine and then speeding up, or perhaps braking hard so that you can get aim on the back of that car, there are a number of tactics you can deploy to beat your opponents. The system works extremely well, which helps craft some amazingly satisfying vehicle combat. The detail and even the physics are spot on. Cars exploding, rolling over, flying through the air, crashing into one another - the action is great.

The futuristic, 1980s vibe is awesome - the car designs are fun, and the soundtrack has that eerie, 80s synth, apocalyptic suspense feel to it. The game is presented well and the environments look great.

Though, it is with sadness that I have to say that the game is really let down by its frequent crashing (side note: I am running i5 4690k, 1060 6GB, 8GB RAM, W10). Mostly at the end of a mission, but it has hung a couple of times mid loading and in game. While I haven't investigated the forums deeply for a solution, if there is one, it crashes more than one would hope when buying a new game.

Also, it feels like it needs a replay feature, allowing to watch (and export!) those great moments when you smashed your way through some opponents, or blew up that boss in spectacular fashion.

Overall, a fantastic game which is a lot of fun to play, marred by it's desire to crash at the most inconvenient of times. Still, recommended.