I love the idea of building a huge mechanical mobile base and using it to stomp my way around a post-apocalyptic landscape on giant metal legs. Throw in a PvPvE system where I can battle other players’ bases and raid ruined cities for resources, and set the whole thing in an “industrial alternate history of 1910” ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire… yeah, Sand: Raiders of Sophie is ticking a lot of boxes for me.
The open world FPS from Ukrainian developer Hologryph has been on my radar for a while (it was just called Sand until late last year), but I’ve stupidly managed to miss all of the playtests it’s had during development. It won’t be much longer until I finally do get to try it out, though: Sand: Raiders of Sophie is stampeding its way onto Steam for a release in March. There’s a new trailer to gawp at, too.
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I’ve never been much of an extraction shooter guy, but games like Tarkov and Arc Raiders don’t have giant steampunk bases I can build and pilot, do they? In Sand they’re called Tramplers, by the way, and they look and sound awesome.
“Tramplers, your most loyal companion, act as a mode of transport, a main base, primary storage, protection from the elements and most formidable weapon for its captain and their crew,” say the devs. “You can build your trampler from the ground up, customizing the size, layout and placements of its engine, compartments, storage and mortal weapons.”
According to Sand’s official site, you can even fold up the legs of your Trampler, turning it into a metal ship that can cross the water, though I don’t see evidence of that in the trailer above. Sophie mostly looks like a desert world.
As you stomp around you’ll battle with other players, competing for resources in the wastelands of a fallen planet. “The cities left in ruin upon Sophie hold untold riches, but danger lurks around every corner. Sail the world, scour the abandoned streets, monuments and wrecks, recover valuable loot, weapons and resources and fight off rival pirates before extracting with your spoils.”
I’ve heard enough and I’m ready to do a bit of trampling. You can find Sands: Raiders of Sophie on Steam.
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