Milton Keynes, UK
51.9923° N 0.7345° W
Early access
Prototype build
Duncombe Street
Bletchley · Milton Keynes · MK2
Duncombe Street · Osborne Street · Water Eaton Road · Oliver Road · Clifford Avenue · The old Sainsbury's · The Brunel Centre · The army camp
Watch
A quiet walk round the map, street by street.
A music video filmed in the game.
The story so far
What happened?
The story is left lying around the street: leaflets on the doormats, cards in the windows, letters and notes in the houses, and the soldiers' logs at the checkpoints. Take them home and pin them up.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Europe, and Britain became NATO's logistics hub. American and allied troops, vehicles, rifles, helmets and body armour came through its ports, airbases and depots by the shipload.
Britain was already divided, worn down by COVID, heatwaves, cyberattacks and one political crisis after another. Russia saw a chance to cut the link between Europe and the US, and quietly funded criminal gangs and dissident groups, each with its own agenda.
The counties around London were made a protective barrier for the capital, and a Civilian Protection and Continuity Zone for people displaced by the fighting.
Russian forces captured a key port in Rotterdam and launched ballistic missile strikes on the south of the UK, London included. As a result, the Home Counties plan fell apart.
The government relocated to Bletchley Park, and the streets around it were evacuated. Then the government moved on. Criminals and opportunists moved in.
The game
The first map is a corner of Bletchley built from Duncombe Street, Osborne Street, Water Eaton Road, Oliver Road, Clifford Avenue and the old Sainsbury's, beside the West Coast Main Line.
Eighteen-minute raids. Search the houses people left in a hurry, the crates and the scavs you drop. Extract before the timer ends, or lose what you were carrying.
Gang members, chancers and the odd few who never left, each in whatever they could find to wear. They're armed, they take cover, flank in pairs, throw grenades, draw a pistol or a knife up close, and come to investigate when they hear you.
Sprinting, gunfire and moving through long grass all make noise. Walking, crouching and leaning round corners keep you quieter.
US Army plate carriers next to Russian helmets: NATO kit came through Britain by the shipload, and the gangs brought AKs. Two rifles, a pistol and a knife, eight gear slots and four pockets, and the more you carry, the slower you move.
Nobody has cut a hedge since the evacuation. Knee-high grass, ivy, wrecked cars, houses with the furniture still in, a looted pub, and council leaflets still on the doormats.
Raid alone or with up to three friends, through Steam with no port forwarding. Shared loot, friendly fire, and your squad can carry your kit out if you go down.
Chalky, Carl, Crapper and Sofie buy, sell and hand out work from behind their ID cards. Earn their trust for new tasks, better stock, special orders and a tab at the doctor's.
Put your AK or your Hi-Power on the bench: a red dot or a picture-in-picture 4x scope, a suppressor, a railed handguard and a weapon light, a stock or none, and watch its handling change before you buy a part.
From the build
The raid loop
Choose a loadout in your hideout, buy what you need from the traders and set up your rifle at the gunsmith. Anything you take in can be lost.
Alone or with up to three friends, you start at the west or east end of Water Eaton Road, picked at random, in that raid's own weather and hour.
Search crates, houses and dead scavs, and take the papers people left behind. Keep an eye on your carry weight.
The army left its checkpoints when it pulled out. Reach one, find the red smoke and stay in the zone for ten seconds. If you die, you lose everything you were carrying.
Work for the traders
Every trader has work that can't be bought off a shelf: nine tasks each, in three stages, done out on the street. Find something, look in on somewhere, carry something across, settle a score. What they're really about is for you to find out.
Duncombe Street
Someone's been broadcasting on an old emergency frequency. Same message, every evening. I've got a feeling it's coming from one of the houses near the railway.
Find yourself a wind-up radio, tune it in and have a listen. I want to know who's still talking out there.
Objectives
RewardBlacked out
Dev log
The glare you should see looking into a squadmate's weapon light never showed up: a bug in its shader drew it as nothing. Now there's a bright white point at the glass with a soft halo, as bright as the light really is.
Read
A scav reloading used to play a canned move with the magazine stuck in the rifle, and it lifted the rifle so high the magazine went through its jaw. Now it pulls the empty one out, pockets it, takes a full one from its rig, rocks it in and racks the bolt.
Read
Alt+I turns the AK over in your hands to show both sides. When it swung round to show its left side, the left sleeve twisted round on itself at the wrist like a sweet wrapper. Now the forearm turns smoothly with the hand the whole way through.
ReadEarly access / Prototype build
The Home Counties is in early development, with an early access alpha on the way. New builds, maps and weapons are written up in the dev log as they're added.
