Shining Plume 2
Shining Plume 2
Game
Game2019
Dark Future: Blood Red States (Classic)
Developer Auroch Digital
Step into the extraordinary, dystopian world of Dark Future, filled with danger, chaos and adventure. A game of both action and strategy unlike any other, featuring a unique time dilating command mode to help you make tactical decisions on the dangerous highways of this world. From the Steam store page
224 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 1, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
57
Mixed
108 positive · 83 negative
95% range 49–63%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 108 | 83 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 1 | 1 | 26 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
259 of 427 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
57% recommend · 108 yes, 83 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 191 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (317 of 513 positive).
Players praise the game's setting and concept but note it feels unpolished. [1][2][3] Many reviewers report frequent crashes and performance issues. [4][5][6] Some find the gameplay repetitive and lacking depth. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [2]
I really do find it hard to recommend this game. The world, based on a board game, has been superbly adapted for video games: the Mad Max-style, retro-futuristic atmosphere is quite well done, both in the environments and the music. The concept of combining a board game with vehicles is quite interesting and, to be honest, it works quite well: a multi-lane road, missions, managing fuel and your car using money, as …
- [3]
Good premise but terrible execution. Random crashes, random AI glitches, random input drops. The car reset system (which costs money for each use) will put you right back in front of the very same thing you got stuck on and since you can't reverse or turn sharply you will be hopelessly stuck with the only option to restart the whole game or fail the mission. Gear and weapons info is needlessly vague. Just how much …
- [1]
Dark Future: Blood Red States, developed and published by Auroch Digital, is an ambitious hybrid that fuses high-speed vehicular combat with deliberate tactical decision-making, all wrapped in a grim, satirical vision of a collapsing future America. Drawing inspiration from Games Workshop’s Dark Future setting, the game imagines a near-future world where society has fractured under environmental collapse, rampant …
- [4]
Super fun and addictive, easy to get the hang of it (despite being presented with a wall of text in the tutorial, it all makes perfect sense), but it's literal hell in the higher difficulties and the Murder Trucks are just insanely OP. The game 'constantly' crashes as highlighted in other reviews. I've gotten a crash every 2 hours in average. Especially annoying when it crashes right after finishing a mission …
- [7]
Really scratches the car destruction itch, though it's very repetitive. Ramming a car, watching it burst into flames and cause a domino of explosions feels so good, but unfortunately that's about the only thing it brings to the table. There's about 6 mission types, but they mostly play the same. Outside of that, the game is pretty hollow. On-top of that, it's poorly optimized. There's some nice looking environments, …
Summarised from 26 of the 191 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
57% of the 191 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Dark Future: Blood Red States (Classic). The complaint that keeps coming up: frequent crashes and bugs. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 224 · most liked firstThe Super Duper DnD/TTRPG Music Playlist Compendium. Here’s all playlists I collected, from different users across Spotify and Apple Music. All genres covered, from horror to fantasy. Enjoy! **PLAYLISTERBR** - [Follow on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/s3kg0w50k3i9u64qq6z6h8d96) Sci-Fi Atmospheric: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/s3kg0w50k3i9u64qq6z6h8d96/playlist/4mgWF2xaqKcI97uF1TTvya) Dreamy:…
neutral · AI labelView post →I am convinced this thing mines bitcoin on your system. I have never seen a game run my 3080 anywhere near this hard. On top of that, the game crashes and if you ask for help the devs just delete it
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i am going to kick your ♥♥♥
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really do find it hard to recommend this game. The world, based on a board game, has been superbly adapted for video games: the Mad Max-style, retro-futuristic atmosphere is quite well done, both in the environments and the music. The concept of combining a board game with vehicles is quite interesting and, to be honest, it works quite well: a multi-lane road, missions, managing fuel and your car using money, as well as a ‘bullet time’ feature (a bit like in Mass Effect) to manage your…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've been exploring Dark Future, so sharing some more of the cool art from the game. exploringwarhammer.substack.com/p/exploring-... Dark Future: Highway Warrior by Les Edwards. Cover for the main game box. Line drawing from inside the Dark Future rulebook, a machine gun armed gangcult member
neutral · AI labelView post →So the idea is great. You are a brain in a jar...located in this super garage and you control these cool weaponised cars remotely. The problem I had with the game is....i was finishing the mission and as I finished it...the game crashed. Erasing my progress. I checked the reviews and it seems like a common problem. So the idea is cool....you pause the game to input the controls to your vehicles...unpause....you get the idea. After completing the missions you can upgrade the cars and refuel and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Expectation: strategic, high speed combat in cars, attacking cars with rocket launchers, chainguns, even frickin' laser beams! Reality: AI is programmed to try and get behind you, and if you see it coming, both of you come to a full stop. If you *don't* see it coming, you go into reverse and get behind them. Once you're behind them, you're just sitting in your cars shooting at each other, and since they only have a turret weapon to aim at you, but you have your turret and front weapon to aim…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I can't in good conscience recommend this at the regular price. I got it for 3$ and it seemed about right for the amount of content you're getting.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like the game. But if feels like an abandoned beta. So much potential but zero updates.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wonder if anybody play tested it. Which is a sad thing because it could be my one of my favorite games ever. Great setting, nice stories, some random spam/news mails that add flawor to worldbuilding.. Juicy car fights with nice weapons... And unfortunatelly enddless repetition with "toxic rng". Game is divided into 10 seasons - only difference between them is car you are driving and story. Missions inside are exactly the same - and there is 7 types of them. You got objectives like: finish 3…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't really understand where these good review came from. The game is repeating itself again and again. I played like 10 missions and it feels the same. Same music, same cars, same gameplay loop. Maybe I'm missing something but don't really want to play again : (
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good premise but terrible execution. Random crashes, random AI glitches, random input drops. The car reset system (which costs money for each use) will put you right back in front of the very same thing you got stuck on and since you can't reverse or turn sharply you will be hopelessly stuck with the only option to restart the whole game or fail the mission. Gear and weapons info is needlessly vague. Just how much damage is "high"? Is it the same as this other "high" damage gun? How much…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →should rename the game from Dark Future to "Eh, I'd Settle For It Now" Future
negative · AI labelView post →See you on MONDAY! It's the showcase for the Inventory Jam, July's Summer Slow Jam 🌻😎 We're taking over the stage, so bring the game you made or hop in to play what everyone made! Get there early enough and you can stop at Dark Future, too 🤩 pigsquad.com/events-list/...
neutral · AI labelView post →I really love the idea of this game, but it's like it was neither play-tested nor optimised. The first proper mission is needlessly difficult and despite being nothing special in the graphics department, it puts a fair amount of stress on your PC!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish it was turn based like the board game. The speed mechanic falls apart in real time as soon as you slow down or stop. You can pretty much spam thru most of the battles by just stopping your vehicles and shooting the guys ahead of you.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Our pals at Dark Future in NE Portland are hosting a huge tabletop game day for their 2 year celebration at the new location! Tomorrow, October 17th! Sign ups are free and it's a great way to meet some rad ttrpg pals :)
neutral · AI labelView post →You guys! @thetylerwelch.bsky.social ’s new #ttrpg Piledriver is out and it‘s the best got-dang wrasslin’ game ever. I bought it at Dark Future and it came with a motherfucking folding chair model!
neutral · AI labelView post →Tactical racing game set in post apocaliptic world. Take on missions to get some dough and become no#1 renegade in Dark Future. Missions include: escort, eliminating bad guys and gang wars. Gameplay is done in real time and each action have shortcut assigned somewhere on your keyboard however if situation get out of control switch to tactical mode, having enough time to make crucial decisions. Protecting multiple vehicles is not smooth as butter and some missions might get a bit intense…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dark Future: Blood Red States is an adaptation of one of many smaller tabletop games that Games Workshop essentially abandoned during the meteoric ascension of Warhammer 40,000, receiving only one proper expansion compared to the deluge of supplements available for say, Steve Jackson's Car Wars. But that's a story for another time. I found the game surprisingly entertaining in spite of semi-frequent crashes and a few bugs, and occasional balance issues. It's not for everyone, but as a fan both…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really nice, simple, pure fun gameplay loop plagued by constant crashes after missions. Its content is also very limited, you'll see everything in your first run, and it's quite easy to cheese everything by using shotguns. And it's somehow 25$? Crazy. It's been a year without updates too, meaning this crazy crash issue that's been plaguing the game for years is there to stay. Do not buy unless you're getting it at 85-90% off, it can be quite a bit of enemy boom brain goes brrrr fun.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game, but crashes all the time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ough I need to play Cyberpunk 2020: The Classic Roleplaying Game Of The Dark Future with someone// and it needs to be a cool someone not just some random <man> off of a discord server who thinks robot arms are <badass> but trans rights are <too political> or some shit//
neutral · AI labelView post →By a small coincidence, replaying Auroch Digital's DARK FUTURE, based on the '80s GW car combat game. I worked on it back in '18 (it's set in the Dark Future year of 2025), writing a lot of incidental text including the assorted news shots and spam that turn up. Here's a couple.
neutral · AI labelView post →Sorry, but I tried really hard to like this game. The whole thing seems unfinished. For me it had a tendency to crash at the very end of missions. Some of the animations don't seem to run correctly, and I've even seen textures that look misaligned. I can't help but feel that there is actually a really good game buried in here, but it just needed another 6 months of development before release. There are some good elements to the game, it's definitely not terrible. But I can't recommend it in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think your definition of 'invest' is not accurate. And GW licenses its game IPs to TTRPG companies with great success: you could make it available to smaller companies, like they did with video-game licences a few years ago--Dark Future, Necromunda, Blood Bowl RPG? Oi Dat's My Leg RPG?
neutral · AI labelView post →My latest video is about a #GamesWorkshop classic: the dystopian, Mad Max inspired game of vehicular combat, Dark Future! Featuring interviews with creator @gravesnailyard.bsky.social & author @annodracula.bsky.social Give it a watch, or you’ll be Furiosa that you missed it! #WarhammerCommunity
neutral · AI labelView post →I loved this game and was addicted to it for first 10 hours or so. But I just can't recommend it. I hate when games are poorly optimized. Just because gamers bought powerful rigs after the last crypto bubble burst it doesn't mean that you don't need to optimize your product. I saw some people in reviews claim that this title managed to overload some 3080 and I can confirm that 1660 barely handles it on maxed out graphics. 3 crashes during 10 hours of gameplay. And there's nothing special about…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The premise of this game is actually quite nice: Tactical car combat, where focus is on strategy rather than driving. However, the mechanics and the few mission types get old very quickly. It would be a lot more fun, if the shop was not as restrictive, thereby preventing the player from creating OP builds. I also had quite a few crashes. 6/10
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can be fun, but then it crashes to desktop after every third or fourth mission and doesn't record the progress of that mission. At this point they aren't looking to patch or fix anything, so thumbs down.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game just closes itself due to "No Steam connection." Literally unplayable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I can't recommend this game at all. Even at 90% off it felt like a waste of time. Death Roads: Tournament is in all ways a superior game and for a similar price. Maybe DF:BRS walked so DR:T could run, but DR:T is a fuller, richer implementation of this genre overall.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crashes repeatedly at the end of missions. Considering I'm 6 hours in and the missions I'm doing are tough as hell. It's 20-40 minutes lost each time. Neat idea, poor implementation. My rig isn't old and runs everything else smooth as butter. Wish I could refund it for the friend who bought it for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool concept but the gameplay was not well thought out and it's pretty boring even in the first mission.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →3) Or do I situate it with other slightly more tangential titles like Living Steel, Car Wars, and so on? And then of course there's also GW's Dark Future, which was going to be an RPG but ended up as a kind of board, kind of war game.
neutral · AI labelView post →The game is OK. The first time you run it, make sure you go and default the graphic settings. For me all were displayed as being set on low but I'm sure they were maxed out. I could only change them to low after resetting them.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game crashes to desktop on mission completion. Shame, it seemed like a neat little game with a cool concept.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not what I expected, and nothing I enjoyed.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is quite like most Games Workshop Computer games. It's kinda basic, simulating a board game (F.Y.I. The board game was a lot more in depth than this game). Like movie adaptations they don't really capture the original film/game, but this one is at least fun, I'm going to be honest, if it wasn't attached to the Dark Future IP I wouldn't pay for this game, I'd play it for free, but wouldn't pay for it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Super Duper DnD Music playlist compendium. Super Duper DND Playlist Compendium Here’s all playlists I collected, from different users across Spotify and Apple Music. All genres covered, from horror to fantasy. Enjoy! **PLAYLISTERBR** - [Follow on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/s3kg0w50k3i9u64qq6z6h8d96) Sci-Fi Atmospheric: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/s3kg0w50k3i9u64qq6z6h8d96/playlist/4mgWF2xaqKcI97uF1TTvya) Dreamy:…
neutral · AI labelView post →If only I could be adopted into a polycule of cool lesbians (;>.<) This would solve most problems in my life// but the Cyberpunk 2020: The Classic Roleplaying Game Of The Dark Future one is the most pressing//
neutral · AI labelView post →Which is// yknow that's kinda who I assume the average Cyberpunk 2020: The Classic Roleplaying Game Of The Dark Future is
neutral · AI labelView post →Honestly might be the worst game I've played/tried to give a chance in years if not ever, will be brief/run-down but I'll try get the gist of the major issues. However will stress I'm not a Games Workshop fan/know about the origins of this series so my issues could well be 'I just don't get it' and on me, only the final 2 ---negative points for-sure apply in that case. What's good: + Noteworthy points: ~ Offers (super slow/redundant, but easier) turn based and real time gameplay on a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Games not bad for what it is. however with the amount of time that this has been full release there is no reason my game should crash every 3-5 mission in a season
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Since the release of the excellent board game Battlecars in 1983, I've been looking for a PC game of similar mechanics and quality. This is finally the one in terms of gameplay. The fun is there from the very first missions, thanks to the car handling (real time with near pause, sleek mouse commands,) the tactical possibilities, the chaos, the speed, the environment, etc. Unfortunately, the game crashes too often, preferably near the end of missions. And the UI wasn't coded with enough neurons…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In my latest interview I spoke with @tomasrawlings.bsky.social, the studio director for @aurochdigital.bsky.social, developers behind #40k Boltgun, Chainsaw Warrior, and Dark Future. We talked changing video gaming culture, the act of game design, and so much more! #WarhammerCommunity
neutral · AI labelView post →It should say something that only 9.7% of people have completed the tutorial run of the game that unlocks the rest of the runs. Also, this game is somehow very GPU intensive despite it's graphics
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dark Future: Blood Red States, developed and published by Auroch Digital, is an ambitious hybrid that fuses high-speed vehicular combat with deliberate tactical decision-making, all wrapped in a grim, satirical vision of a collapsing future America. Drawing inspiration from Games Workshop’s Dark Future setting, the game imagines a near-future world where society has fractured under environmental collapse, rampant corporate control, and unchecked gang violence, turning highways into lethal…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dark Future did start off as a pure RPG project, but the game was canned as GW moved away from RPGs and the background got grafted onto a Halliwell Mad Max car-combat game using rules created for Slaughter Margin.
neutral · AI labelView post →Had it on my wishlist for a while and regret not getting it sooner. Car go boom.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We’re taking a diversion this week as I take a micro look at the history of the Steve Jackson Games ‘micro game’ classic Car Wars! It’s Death Race or Mad Max Furiosa or Dark Future or Wacky Races and it’s just as deadly as all of them! #CarWars #Boardgames #SteveJackson
neutral · AI labelView post →deserves a nice spotify playlist
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Walls of text Overheating computer with not-so great graphics Could be a great game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had a couple good runs and then the crashes to desktop started, always at the end of a mission when I'd just completed it but when I reopened the game I didn't credit for it. I don't have the patience for that unfortunately.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dark Future is a world and setting which was developed kind of parallel to the Warhammer 40k universe by Games Workshop. It is pretty much just as grim and brutal and also based on a tabletop game. While I personally was a huge fan of games like Road Rash and pretty much all it's successors, I was positively surprised by the turn based combat aspect of this game. The game system isn't too complex without feeling simple and even while this indie title is far from eye-candy the effects actually…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FYI, you don't actually get to drive the car yourself, you just switch lanes, that alone is a deal-breaker for me and something I've not realized beforehand. I may like the overall idea that the devs were going for but not really sure I like the execution of it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You may have been to RPG hobby stores before. Dark Future in Portland is a whole other thing. Unbelievable selection and dripping with coolness. Also, Chuck is maybe the nicest person I met in PDX. www.portlandmercury.com/gaming/portl...
neutral · AI labelView post →OK, brain is mush (statting 3.5 NPCs for hours) but I had the weirdest idea: what if GW next summer in place of the 63rd Edition of a game that's been republished way too many times, puts out a new version of Dark Future? 🤔 With the tracks, cars, bikes, and all the bells and whistles?🤩
neutral · AI labelView post →Game breaking bug in this that the dev obviously isn't going to fix. but doesn't mind taking my money though. Obviously been abandoned. No updates at all in years, no bug fixes, patches, nothing. Steam really should take these games down. - but they won't because every purchase, they still get their cut, however small. How this game is still £20.99 with game breaking bugs is just the highest level of piss take imaginable - Even in a heavy discount you should NOT buy this game. Thankfully…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →CyberPunk 202X updates in real time, whenever we play it is always the Dark Future of Today’s Date, a retrofuture absurd parody of the real 2020s. Call of Cthulhu the Planchette Agency Mysteries is always set 100 years ago. We began in October 1921, and our next game will be set in January 1926.
neutral · AI labelView post →
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