USC: Counterforce

USC: Counterforce is currently 92% off on Fanatical — down to $1.69 from $19.99.

At 92% off, this is one of the deepest discounts USC: Counterforce reaches on Fanatical — near its typical floor.

That works out to $18.30 off the Fanatical list price of $19.99.

This deal is for the PC version. Click View Deal to open the official Fanatical page — prices and regional availability are confirmed at checkout, not by GamesCreed.

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USC: Counterforce drops you into command of a small commando squad sent to a distant planetary body to figure out what happened to an alien threat nobody fully understands yet. It’s a turn-based tactics game with a deliberately old-school feel, built around the idea that every mission is a puzzle of positioning, resources, and consequences. If you grew up on classic squad tactics games and have been waiting for something that respects that lineage without just cloning it, this one is aimed squarely at you.

How it plays

The backbone of USC: Counterforce is turn-based combat with a squad management layer underneath it. You’re not just moving pawns around a grid, you’re building out soldiers with their own attributes and skills under a class-free system, then equipping them from a genuinely deep pool of weapons, ammo types, and gadgets like mines, turrets, and hacking tools. Environments are destructible, which changes how you approach fights: you can knock down walls to make new sightlines, throw up barricades, or seal off airlocks to control how enemies reach you. The catch is that the AI can use those same tricks against you, so a plan that looks safe on turn one can fall apart fast. There’s a campaign mode with procedurally generated missions and multiple endings, layered with base management and faction reputation, plus standalone single missions and multi-mission operations if you’d rather not commit to a full campaign. A Defend the Base mode adds an outpost-building, wave-survival flavor. Difficulty is adjustable across several layers, so you can tune how punishing the tactical puzzle gets. There’s also local co-op, and Steam’s Remote Play Together lets you bring in a second commander online.

Who it’s for

This is a game for people who like their tactics slow and thoughtful, the kind of player who’s happy to spend ten minutes on a single turn weighing cover, ammo, and the exact angle a grenade needs to clear a doorway. If you’ve put real hours into games like the classic X-COM titles or Jagged Alliance and missed that specific flavor of tension, USC: Counterforce is built for that itch. It’s less for anyone looking for fast, twitchy action or a game they can breeze through without planning. The systems here reward patience and punish carelessness, so if turn-based combat makes you restless, this probably isn’t going to convert you.

Is it worth it?

For tactics fans, this is the kind of game that offers a lot of mileage: a procedurally generated campaign means missions won’t play out identically twice, and the combination of destructible environments, deep gear customization, and a class-free skill system gives you real room to experiment with squad builds. It’s a niche genre made by a small team rather than a blockbuster budget, so go in expecting a focused, systems-heavy experience rather than a cinematic one. That said, this is squarely the kind of game worth adding to a wishlist and grabbing when it’s discounted, since the genre’s fans tend to sink dozens of hours into exactly this kind of methodical, replayable tactics loop.

Quick facts

USC: Counterforce is an indie RPG/strategy title developed by Angry Cat Studios and Creatio 49, published by Firesquid. It released on Steam for PC on July 18, 2024.