Uber's real-time strategy game Human Resources lets you do battle as an apocalypse

The developer behind Monday Night Combat and Kickstarter-backed real-time strategy game Planetary Annihilation is returning to the crowd-funding platform for a new venture: an RTS called Human Resources in which players fight as apocalyptic factions, harvest humans and battle for the shattered scraps of planet Earth.

Uber Entertainment unveiled Human Resources via a Kickstarter fundraising drive today, showing two of the world-ending factions: the Machines, giant insect-like killer robots, and the Ancient Ones, an army of monsters that blend Lovecraftian weirdness with Japanese kaiju. Each side uses human beings as their resource material, but they play asymmetrically; Machines fire deadly energy beams, while Ancient Ones use melee attacks and spells.

The developer plans to add more apocalyptic factions — one is currently a stretch goal — to lend the game a "Cabin in the Woods kind of vibe."

Human Resources will feature the "tone, character, and pacing of a Command & Conquer game mixed with the mammoth battles of an Annihilation game," Uber says. They promise to let players control hundreds of units and conquer fully destructible terrain and buildings. Visually, the game boasts a gorgeous, comic-inspired illustrative aesthetic, which can be seen in the cinematic that kicks off Uber's Kickstarter video pitch below. They name-check the artists Moebius, Tintin creator Hergé and Geof Darrow, whose Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot feels highly influential here.

The game is slated for release on Windows PC, according to the Human Resources FAQ, and other platform releases appear tied to stretch goals. Uber Entertainment is seeking at least $1.4 million to fund the game and lists an estimated release date of Feb. 2016.

Uber says it plans to continue supporting its other Kickstarter-backed RTS, Planetary Annihilation. Human Resources will be built by a separate team, it says, and updates will continue for Planetary Annihilation. That real-time strategy game was successfully crowd-funded in 2012, and released officially last month. For more, see how Planetary Annihilation's original Kickstarter pitch compared to its launch trailer.