Hi there,
Pretty cool game idea, I never played the old classics, mentioned as inspiration, but it certainly feels very old school console like. The theme is quite decent, but I do feel like there is a lack of aesthetic pull. By that I mean I feel like this is a prototype, a very early playtest or even a small game jam entry. But, that's the reason it's important to get the game in front of people. I'm glad I've seen it and been able top play it
I've only played a couple of rounds and other than landing being insanely difficult, I found the gameplay ok. Visually, the game shows a mixture of incompatible asset styles, like low poly trees and houses, PBR textured terrain and is the water stylized or just looks that way? Enemy units are coloured unexpectedly too. Also, the skybox seems a bit too 'default game engine'. Lighting and post processing would really lift the experience a very, very long way too.
The visual effects are pretty good fun and the sound fx are satisfying. More of both would be a welcome boost to the games feel.
The UI and player HUD work, but I'd love to see some more colour and emphasis put on them. Also, some kind of score tracker in game would be an immediate upgrade to the overall feeling in game.
I'd really like to see this game do well, I like it and I think that because you're an IGC fan, you want to do the best you can. But I do feel like it's quite a bit too early to put anywhere near Steam. My advice is to keep going on itch like this, being made in UE might be an issue fairly soon, but Steam does have a Playtest thing (instead of Demo).
This is only my opinion, so please check what others say too. But it comes from feedback I've been given, seen given to others and seen taken seriously by people who are now making very successful games (paid and free)