New tactics game Warhounds wants to be the XCOM 3 we don't have, and it's targeting a smart approach to accuracy and RNG

"If no-one's making XCOM 3, we'll make it ourselves." That's the elevator pitch for Warhounds, a new turn-based tactics game from Everplay DMCC. Directly inspired by the Firaxis titan and fellow strategy game favorite Jagged Alliance, it puts you in charge of "an elite mercenary squad with an old-school action vibe," and prides itself on ensuring that there's no "fake RNG" behind the scenes. "It's not about rolling the dice, it's about owning your decisions," it explains, giving some examples of exactly how that differentiates it from its spiritual predecessors.

Hit chance and RNG has long been one of its most-discussed elements in XCOM and its peers. We've all suffered the frustration of running around a corner to flank a Chyrissalid thread only to have your shotgun somehow miss completely from mere feet away. It's agonizing every time, and made worse when you find out that on lower difficulties the game is actually secretly bumping up your chances beyond the stated values. In Warhounds, there are "no random misses at close range, no hidden percentages."

That doesn't mean you're guaranteed to land every bullet, however. Everplay DMCC explains that it calculates each individual shot in a burst individually, with increasing accuracy penalties for those beyond the first. As an example, when you've got a guaranteed line on a target, the chance to hit on a three-round attack are 100%, 90%, and 80% respectively. Where the variance comes in is with damage, as those that hit will deal random values within a known range. For example, the starting rifle deals one to two damage per shot, so landing all three can result in anywhere from three to six points.

Also factoring in are critical hits and grazes. When your target is caught out of cover and is within your weapon's effective range, there's a high chance you'll land a crit, scoring "bonus damage on top of the weapon's base damage." Conversely, if they're behind high cover then there's a chance that even a successful hit will simply be recorded as a graze, which means it deals the least damage possible.

What about the shots you don't land? "If a bullet misses the target, it does not disappear," the developer notes. "It keeps flying along its path and can explode a barrel, hit another enemy, or even hit an ally in the line of fire." Make sure to check your angles before every attack you make, then. "In Warhounds, there are no safe shots. Only decisions, and their consequences."

The studio says it expects average missions to run for between 25 and 40 minutes, though you're free to turn the difficulty down and enjoy a relaxing experience, or crank it up to immerse yourself in "brutal tactical hell." Classes include the classics you'd expect such as assault, specialist, sniper, machine gunner, and grenadier, though you're able to combine them and supplement that with various pieces of equipment to build your ideal squad.

As you'd expect from any good XCOM successor, there's a base you'll return to between missions. Here you'll be building out all the essential tools and logistics, from research stations to medical bays. You'll also be able to handle all the troop management; recruitment, upgrading, buying more equipment. Then gather your intel and decide where to go next - but keep in mind that everything from your available allies to the missions you'll encounter can change based on the choices you make.

Warhounds is set to launch on Steam in 2026. You can request access to the playtest group now if you want to be in with a chance of joining future events.

Everplay DMCC does add the disclaimer that, while it's in the process of finishing the "over 100 hand-made portraits" for its units, there is some use of AI-generated placeholder art for the playtest and demo versions of Warhounds. These will be fully replaced as soon as possible, it writes, and "no other parts of the game including code, 3D models, writing, dialogue, or voice acting use AI in any form."