Marauders Preview

Developed by Small Impact Games and published by Team17, Marauders is billed as “a tactical first-person looter shooter set in a sci-fi universe.” While accurate, this description only begins to scratch the surface of this gritty, no-nonsense, brutally punishing space action experience. 

Starting out with a basic set of gear and a ship known as “The Rustbucket”, you are cast as a space mercenary, also known as a Marauder. Working alone or with up to three other players, your task is to embark on daring raids across a multitude of space stations and derelict frigates. Collecting your spoils, staying alive, and getting out in one piece is the name of the game. Return to your base, turn your haul into profit or upgrade your current kit for an advantage on your next venture. The choice is yours, but choose carefully as anything you do not bank is lost in the event of your death.

After choosing your loadout, you launch into space aboard your ship. From here, you may choose to enter a raid aboard one of a few locations in the area or prowl the space between these locations looking for opportunities to attack other players. Ship-to-ship combat, one of Marauder’s stand-out features, is hard-hitting and intense. While incapacitating your enemy’s ship is the ultimate goal, losing a battle does not necessarily mean that you have completely lost the war. Escape pods come standard on every ship and can be used to both eject you from your ship and also board an enemy’s ship. Once aboard, you can challenge the ship’s captain (and possibly the entire crew) to a close quarters battle for their loot and ultimately their ship. Taking a player ship by force is one of the highlights of Marauders, and doing so provides one of the most accomplished feelings in recent PVP history.

Piloting your vessel to the docking port of your selected location and cycling your airlock allows you and your crew to enter a “raid.” Once inside, you are met with the occupants of that specific location. Some are armed with melee weapons, others with pistols, rifles and shotguns. While some enemies are AI controlled, others are live players looking to loot the area as well. Combat is realistic, up-close and unforgiving. While better gear will give you an edge in a fight, it will not guarantee a win. Using tactical advantages, such as pinch-points or positioning, can play just as much of a role in a fight as your gear. Utilizing every trick you can to survive is a must.

Keeping your head on a swivel is key, and maintaining your directional bearing within the raid is just as important. With only 25 minutes of oxygen from the time you initially spawn into your spaceship, moving with a purpose and paying attention to your location can mean the difference between life and death. Remembering which airlock you arrived in is imperative if you wish to leave with the same ship you showed up in. While disembarking from a raid via an escape pod is an option, you will lose your current ship if you leave it behind. Although this is not a big deal in the early game, losing a custom, upgraded ship in the later stages of play can be even more devastating than losing an entire haul of top tier loot. 

A gritty atmospheric graphic style (similar to early StarCraft cutscenes) perfectly compliments the grungy feeling that comes with scrounging through dirty, abandoned space stations. Environmental effects like glare, fog, and sweat inside your mask all add to the dark, diesel-punk aesthetic which embodies the world of Marauders. Level designs are complex yet functional, and while many levels can feel like a maze, there are appropriately placed signs which can be used to guide you around. The distressed, abandoned, cold feeling that the world conjures can almost be felt and is as beautiful as a drab, war-torn microcosm can be.

With a unique alternative 1990s setting and a fresh spin on the ‘raid-loot-escape-craft-upgrade-raid’ game loop, Marauders is setting itself up to be one of 2023’s most entertaining and replayable titles on the market. Grab your crew, mount up, and become one of the most fearsome space mercenaries in the universe. Marauders is currently available in Early Access on the Steam Store.