Bite-sized Review:
Repterra

By Chris Picone, 29 April, 2026

Repterra is the RTS I never knew I needed.  It's essentially Command & Conquer Red Alert crossed with Jurassic Park.  I'd never thought about it but dinosaurs are a very natural fit for the genre: There are flying, land, marine, and amphibious dinosaurs.  Dinosaurs that are heavy and armoured, others small and fast, and still more that come with claws, tails, or other natural weaponry.  In Repterra, humans have tamed these powerful animals, bred them, attached guns to them, and ride them into battle. It's just as awesome as it sounds.

Aesthetics

The art style is very reminiscent of C&C.  The UI could use a bit more love but the game itself looks great.  It's oldschool so you can pan around and zoom to check out either the bigger picture or the action, but there's no rotation.  The landscape's maybe a bit plain but at least it's easy to see everything.  And the dinosaurs and buildings look terrific.  There's a decent range of biomes represented across the levels, and the levels are well-designed.  A tropical theme is present, and the archipelago-type levels are especially fun.

Gameplay

Repterra is very similar in gameplay to Red Alert and similar RTS games except that it's focused on base defence with enemies attacking in waves instead of being mission-based.  The wave attacks become progressively frantic as the enemy assaults your base with huge unrelenting swarms from multiple directions.  You are free to explore the level between waves - ahd should, as any creatures you haven't killed join the final wave.  You might also find crates and buildings that can be captured to give you in-game boons.  Base-building is mostly as expected, with surprisingly strong resource management (manpower, food, lumber, minerals, uranium), and of course plenty of research and creature factories. One of the game's coolest features is that you can also train human soldiers which can also ride the dinos, giving it a new attack. For example, a soldier riding an ankylosaurus gives it a mortar-like effect, while an engineer riding the same dino gives it a grenade-like effect.  You can also breed and tame dinos. It's all very awesome.  Unfortunately, there's no story.  There are currently 7 levels and more on the way, and they're designed to be replayed using all three factions. There's a "expensive but quality" faction, a "cheap but swarm" faction, and an "electricity-based" faction in development. The two existing factions have different hero dinosaurs and minor creature differences but unfortunately feel the same at the moment. I'm hoping as more creatures are added they will find their own space.  After each level you earn DNA, which you can use to purchase perks to help boost you in future levels, as well as letting you unlock new levels.

Verdict

While Repterra is lacking some much needed variety and diversity, that will surely come with further development as it progresses through early access.  But even in its current state, there's something just really fun about it. The gameplay's comfortably familiar but the theme is super refreshing and just works unbelievably well.  I'm hooked and can't wait for updates.

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2768380/Repterra/