Selaco The Machines of War Expansion Out Now: 19 New Maps, Free Update

Selaco’s biggest update yet, The Machines of War, is live today as a free update for all players. The expansion adds 19 new campaign maps that continue from where Chapter One ended, delivering an estimated six to eight hours of new gameplay.

Boomer-shooter refers to modern FPS games that mimic 1990s design: fast movement, non-regenerating health, and layered level design. Selaco launched in early access (a paid development phase where players test unfinished builds) in 2024 and has held a 93% positive Steam rating.

The update introduces a companion system: during new missions, protagonist Dawn is joined by a computer-controlled ally you can order around or let act independently. Once you finish the campaign, a mutator system unlocks permanent companions alongside gameplay modifiers like “Safety First” (enemies drop armor but hit harder), “Attrition” (max health drains after repeated hits), and “Maranax Projectiles” (near-hitscan enemy attacks). Friendlier options include “Loaded” (all weapons), “Demigod” (invincibility), and “Railgun Start.”

Navigation gets a quality-of-life pass with goal markers that show destinations while still letting you find your own path. Important progression points now mark themselves on the map when you walk near them.

Three new primary weapons arrive: Heavy Machine Gun, Charge Rifle, and Remote Bombs, plus a Heavy-Ordnance tier with a Minigun, Rocket Launcher, and a secret super-weapon. The UC-11 Compact is reworked into an SMG with its own ammo pool. Equipment now caps at two slots (three with the Grenade Bandolier), adding a deployable Vanguard Shield, Mini-Turret, Sentinel Drone, and Shock Stick.

Enemy AI has been rewritten from scratch with a “Thinker System” that gives foes proper fields of view, patrol routes, and the ability to rally allies; the team compares the movement to FEAR.

This substantial early-access update shows why Selaco’s 93% positive Steam rating has held across two years since its 2024 launch: Altered Orbit isn’t just adding maps, they’re rethinking core systems in direct response to player feedback. The mutator suite (six modifiers from Safety First with armor drops and higher damage to Railgun Start) turns a linear campaign into a replayable sandbox where players tune difficulty or chaos to taste. The Thinker System AI rewrite directly addresses the most common Early Access complaint: enemies feeling scripted rather than reactive, with proper fields of view, patrol routes, and ally rallying that the team compares to FEAR’s renowned AI. The save incompatibility is the price of that ambition: Chapter One progress cannot carry over because progression, equipment caps, and enemy logic have all been overhauled. For context, our DOOM: The Dark Ages Slaughter Mode coverage showed a similar pattern where a free content drop expanded replayability without splitting the player base. PCGamesN’s Ken Allsop calls this “the biggest content drop” since launch, with 19 maps adding six to eight hours — a 50% increase over the original campaign length.

Altered Orbit warns that old saves will not carry over due to the scope of changes. Players who finished Chapter One can jump straight to the new content; everyone else can roll back to the Chapter One build via Steam’s properties menu or start fresh. The game is also 33% off until November 27 ($16.74 / £14.06), first reported by PCGamesN. A special campaign update is planned for the first quarter of 2027.

For more on retro-inspired FPS updates, see our coverage of DOOM: The Dark Ages’ free Slaughter Mode.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report