Last year, we were happy to see Godsworn’s early access successfully bring back some of that long-lost Warcraft 3-like magic to the RTS space. Now, as we approach the final stretch of RTS games releasing in 2025, it’s time for Orc Group’s The Scouring to make its big move after several tantalizing teases and previews.
In this case, the game’s Warcraft influences are much more obvious. The Scouring isn’t positioning itself as anything other than a riff on Blizzard’s legendary RTS, with special attention paid to user-made content from the get-go. Even in its (very) rough and early state at the time of writing, I found myself having more fun with Orc Group’s spirited yet restrained game than with many recent 1.0 releases from bigger teams.
Whether it’s the central ‘game feel’ (an amalgamation of almost every key element in the game) or the tightness of the design top-to-bottom, some games just have ‘the juice’ as soon as they’re playable. On the other hand, far more polished releases often struggle to provide a solid hook. The Scouring may not be a looker at the moment and often runs into silly bugs, but it perfectly nails what it’s supposed to deliver to eager players. That explains why it’s opened its gates to ‘Very Positive’ users reviews on Steam.
While its closest relative is Blizzard’s iconic threequel, The Scouring’s simplicity in its current state makes it land closer to the first two Warcraft games. Humans & Orcs want won’t be joined by a third “asymmetrical” faction until later; the selection of units and buildings isn’t the greatest; the single-player campaign shouldn’t be expected before 2027 if we’re being honest; graphics and UI are halfway cooked. By all accounts, The Scouring looks barebones, but its commitment to getting the basics of an old-school RTS right before taking big swings and focusing on expansion is refreshing. Far too often, early access games ‘get lost in the woods’ and don’t have their priorities fully figured out. That isn’t the case here.
When you first boot up the game, you’re greeted by placeholder-y menu with limited options (you can’t even alter the graphical settings beyond choosing a ‘simple’ mode). It doesn’t matter. The Scouring has already figured out mod/user-made content support (all within the game and through the Steam Workshop), online matches with rankings, and even good old skirmishes with a surprisingly wide selection of maps that instantly feel familiar. If you know the community this game is targeted at, it’s easy to see why people are pleased. The core stuff RTS fanatics want to see in Warcraft and StarCraft successors is in. Meanwhile, far more expensive projects are fumbling in the dark.
The Scouring currently packs two vanilla modes can be played either offline or online: regular, WC3-like matches and a more Footmen-inspired ‘Hero Mode’ that lets players control only a hero as the AI takes care of the base’s expansion and unit production. The goal? To destroy enemy heroes and make sure they don’t resurrect. With the addition of underground mini-dungeons to plunder and conquerable towers which can give players a defensive advantage over certain areas, it’s a layered enough twist on the hero-centric maps and modes that blew up during WC3’s peak popularity days.
Despite the limited roster of units and buildings, there’s a rhythm to the building and battles that just feels right. The Scouring is quick and snappy, like the games it tries to emulate, but QoL additions like intuitive hotkeys, potions that are automatically used, and advanced orders that are easier to issue make the whole experience stand on its own and feel like an actual evolution. Sure, the amount of content and presentation still have a ways to go, but we rarely can praise an RTS this much right as it enters a lengthy early access period.
If you’re scared of human (as in real ones) opponents and want to spend most of your time playing against the AI (you can have teammates too), be warned that I’ve found both Easy and Hard AI foes to be quite ruthless. Early balance issues with some units and spells aside, the difficulty doesn’t feel ‘cheap’ either. There’s just enough friction pushing me to perform better and make better decisions, and since the complexity of the systems and mechanics is low, The Scouring is an easy recommendation for newcomers to the genre. Hell, even if you’re not the biggest fan or regular skirmishes, both the Hero Mode and the user-made content already pouring into the game can make it enticing and meaty as long as you dig the basics.
At this stage, getting too hung up on matters such as visual and audio quality is silly, as almost everything is bound to change over the course of its early access run. I can say, however, the art style is perfectly readable and makes good use of its simplicity, which is exactly what we wanted out of The Scouring as it was pitched to us. The 60 FPS cap is a bit of a head-scratcher though. On the audio side, the music tracks already included also evoke the epic but somewhat cozy atmosphere of Azeroth’s top-down days, making up for barks that mostly amount to grunting and mumbling, at least for now.
Getting a hearty thumbs up from me this early into development is no small feat, but that’s exactly what The Scouring’s staunch dedication to fulfilling its creative vision achieves with ease. Very often, I’ll just recommend non-diehards to sit and wait until things fully come together. In this particular instance, the game’s foundations are so strong and its community-oriented tools are so well-executed that saying the opposite feels like the right call. Orc Group deserves (and needs) all the support and feedback it can get to turn this one into a modern RTS banger.
The Scouring (early access) launched on Steam on August 12, 2025. It’s selling for $22,49 right now (10% off introductory offer). The price is confirmed to change as the game grows.
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