Tempered Hull is an action strategy game that blends tank combat, resource management, and narrative progression across a single-player campaign and cooperative modes. Players take command of the Tempered Hull Brigade in a war against the Dominion, a breakaway faction that controls the valley with factories on rails and armored forces. The core loop centers on piloting one of six distinct tanks through linear missions while upgrading equipment from battlefield scrap and switching between twelve voiced commanders who provide unique abilities.
Gameplay
Combat revolves around direct control of tanks in varied environments that include forest forts, snowbound ironworks, red desert canyons, beach landings, and a drowned delta. Each of the six tanks offers different strengths: Lancer serves as a balanced line tank, Harrier provides fast reconnaissance, Bulwark delivers heavy assault armor, Vanguard acts as a strike hunter, Hornet mounts twin flak cannons effective against air targets, and Mammoth carries two heavy guns on a reinforced hull. Scrap collected from wrecks funds permanent upgrades to turret, engine, armor, hull, utility kit, and paint schemes that remain tied to individual tanks.
Weapon selection allows six options per hull, ranging from standard cannons to rockets, with a dash ability available on every vehicle. Commanders join the player in battle and activate one skill each via a single button press. Examples include Grid locking multiple targets for mortar strikes, Ghost deploying smoke for concealment, Bulldog firing four guns simultaneously, Patch repairing the hull with team-wide effects at higher levels, Ember igniting the ground, Raven disrupting enemy targeting, Reaper finishing weakened foes, Havoc releasing a stored-damage shockwave, Goliath raising a shield wall, Venom deploying gas to flush enemies from cover, Bandolier requesting supply drops, and Skylark launching kamikaze drones. Commanders level up through use, unlock via campaign progress and medals, and can be swapped mid-mission.
Support options include marking targets for mortar or airstrikes and summoning a helicopter gunship. Objectives often involve derailing armored trains, sinking gunboats, downing zeppelins, and destroying fortified positions. The story unfolds across six sectors with voiced briefings, radio chatter, and a taunting antagonist, culminating in a multi-phase boss encounter against High Marshal Draeg in the Anvil tank. Boss fights feature signature abilities from five lieutenants that must be countered, and defeated bosses can be rematched for time trials.
Game Modes
The main campaign follows the brigade through the six sectors, incorporating story elements, village defense, and train derailment objectives that influence the ending based on territory freed. Wave Arena serves as a separate survival mode where players face escalating enemy waves between campaign runs. Lieutenants defeated in the campaign can lead arena attempts with their abilities available to the player, and additional tiers plus challenges unlock with progress.
Online co-op supports up to four players, allowing each participant to select a unique tank and commander. The Wave Arena mode also functions in co-op, with friend invites handled through standard platform tools. Full controller support, key rebinding, a Steam Deck preset, ultrawide monitor compatibility, and Steam Cloud saves are built in, along with 25 medals that function as achievements.
Story and Setting
The narrative begins with the Sundering, a split in the original army triggered by a winter order that abandoned a foundry town. Viktor Draeg leads the southern forces into the Dominion, leaving the Tempered Hull Brigade as the last organized resistance. Players experience this conflict through radio dialogue, briefings, and encounters with former comrades now serving as Dominion lieutenants. Each lieutenant fight opens with voiced exchanges that reference shared history, and the final confrontation incorporates elements from prior bosses.
Is It Worth Playing?
Tempered Hull remains in a pre-release state with no user reviews available yet. Its described systems emphasize tactical tank selection, commander skill timing, and scrap-based progression that rewards repeated play through upgrades and arena challenges. The combination of single-player campaign depth and four-player co-op makes it suitable for players who enjoy deliberate armored combat with light resource and team-management layers. Those interested in story-driven action strategy experiences with fully voiced characters and boss rematch options will find the outlined features align with that preference. Availability depends on the eventual release date, after which the full feature set can be evaluated directly.