Marauders is a first-person tactical shooter, by developer Small Impact Games and publisher Team17, that offers players something with its own unique appeal. This title is a science fiction / alternative reality in which the Great War never ended. Earth’s industrialization brought humanity to space, but it is far from a safe place. Struggling to survive, players resort to flying around in steam-punk aesthetic ships. Raiding and contracting are the means of surviving this new reality.
If I could think of one word to describe this game, I would call it nautical. The ships and stations make me think of submarines and underwater facilities. In a way, Space and the Deep Ocean can share a lot of similarities. You will notice that your interactions with the environment are a lot of lever-pulling. This is the alternative 90s, so there is a bit of computer access as well. You have a limited amount of air when you are conducting your missions.
The game has a written and video tutorial that helps you immerse yourself in the world. The video has time stamps that help you get in and out with the knowledge you need. I’m more of a visual learner, so this was a welcome experience. You can even customize your character to an extent. I personally gave my guy the French voice. The game also includes a match finder to get you into the game. Even in the early testing, I did not need to wait more than a minute before waking up on my vessel, ready for plunder.
The developers describe the combat as tense, and that is how I felt in my first raid. I entered a military installation, and I was unnerved by walking into the aftermath of a firefight. I could hear distance bullets, so I treaded carefully and hugging corners. I checked the bodies that littered the floors, picked up ammo and a captain’s keycard. I tried to get my bearings, but the place looked like a huge labyrinth. I eventually got attacked but managed to come out on top. As a level 0, I did not have the capacity in my bags to collect a lot of loot.
Combat works a lot like any other shooter. There is not much left to surprise you, besides the enemy players. Flying your ship is fun. You can upgrade your ship and navigate to different points in the scenario. You will be fighting other enemies in space as well as automated turrets. I think my greatest difficulty was finding my way back to the airlock after I decided that the situation was getting too dicey for me. I did this as a solo run, but I think this would be way more fun with a crew. Even the specifications of the ship lean that way, too. One player can pilot while the other mans the turret.
Outside of the raids, we can access markets and quests for the various factions. The merchants swap out after a certain amount of time passes and it refreshes the available items for purchase. You start off with a generous amount of money and equipment. I would highly suggest equipping a bag before diving headfirst into your first raid. You will not have a large capacity for loot in the beginning, but you will be able to grab a lot more as you are able to afford better and bigger bags.
I had a good time. Depending on how you join you may be experiencing an action sequence or (in my case) horror movie. At first, I thought the cover looked a little strange to me, but I quickly realized this is a decent looking game that handles easily. You may find that you don’t even need to watch the full tutorial.
Marauders is available for PC for $29.99 via Steam Early Access.
Related: Reviews by John Pruitt
I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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