Play as a female freedom fighter in Insurgency: Sandstorm

Insurgency: Sandstorm, the third title from New World Interactive, is the direct sequel to their 2014 hit Insurgency, and is featuring a single-player story this time around. Players assume the role of a young woman, enslaved by radical insurgents, along with her sister and other girls held captive. After a sandstorm causes the village to descend into chaos, our heroine escapes with the other captives but is separated due to the storm. The story takes place years on from these events, with the protagonist having moved on with her life and is fighting the insurgents.

At E3, we spoke to creative director Andrew Spearin, a guy who's been with the Insurgency franchise since the very beginning, about what exactly New World have done to up the ante this time around.

"We have a female protagonist, so that's a rare thing in a shooter especially," Spearin explained. "Not only that but we have a cast of four main characters, in addition to our female protagonist who's enlisted to fight against the radical insurgents, is her best friend, another female fighter. These two young women discover a piece of information that compels them to break away from the main group, go on their own personal quest.

"Accompanying them are two other male colleagues, they're both foreign volunteers, so one of them is a US Army veteran, your typical gruff, know-it-all guy who's been there and done that, and he's come back to finish what he started in the war. The fourth guy is a young, ambitious, naïve French citizen who has zero combat experience, he's there for the adventure, going along for the ride."

Spearin goes on to explain that while the first game focused on infantry combat, Sandstorm will introduce light vehicles and expand the environments more. A lot of the story takes place in the desert, going from village to village, and it opens up a lot of narrative opportunities New World can explore with the four-person squad dynamic. He likens it to a road-trip, with considerably more bloodshed.

Check out the full interview below and let us know what you think in the comments.