SAND Raiders of Sophie Preview

There’s something about trawling through a desolate wasteland on the back of a giant robot walker that just feels right, at least to me. It brings to mind a certain steampunk aesthetic that I am a real sucker for, so when I had the chance to try out developers Hologryph and TowerHaus’s latest project, SAND: Raiders of Sophie, I couldn’t miss the option to wander the deserts on my giant mechanical horse. 

SAND: Raiders of Sophie has you take the role of a scavenger who, alone or with friends, can craft their own Trampler (the steampunk walkers) to search for loot in a vast desert. You’ll be on the lookout for ships left buried by the sand, massive, abandoned cities, and more. It’s not a safe journey, though, as strange creatures inhabit the dunes, and I’m not just talking about other players. 

The actual gameplay is about piloting your Trampler, hopping out to grab as much loot as you can, while battling other scavenging groups. This gameplay loop is pretty fun, with moving the Trampler around being easy to understand. You can make your own to fit your playstyle, maybe make it smaller and faster or a real walking fortress. The issue is that a lot of the fun can only really be had with other people. You can play the game alone, but you’ll quickly be overwhelmed and blown up. You also have a pretty limited means of carrying things, so you’ll be making a lot of trips back and forth, which can get a bit tedious at times. 

The gunplay on foot is also pretty bare-bones; it’s not bad by any means, but there’s nothing that really screams “do this.” The best comparison I can really make is to Jump Space, although that game had a series of maps instead of one big area with lots to explore. Honestly, I don’t know the best way to make the single-player option more appealing, and there’s an argument that simply involving it is more than many would expect. However, if you’re looking to pick up SAND: Raiders of Sophie, make sure you have a couple of mates to go on expeditions with, even if it’s just to have a few more pairs of hands to carry crates. 

There are a decent number of weapons to play around with, though many are basic reskins of other guns you’ll find as you wander. One thing I found a bit weak was how you repair the Trampler when it gets damaged. Ideally, I want to have gauges, steam, and more to work around while rushing to fix any lingering issues, and for each damaged section to massively impact how the machine actually works. There is a bit of that for sure, but mostly you just use a multi-tool on certain patches and pipes. It’s fine, but it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.  

Visually, the game isn’t ugly by any means, and the Tramplers are certainly impressive to look at, and to hear as well, as blasting the horn is a lot of fun. The only real issue I have is that you don’t create your own character; instead, you choose from a set of pre-created options. Aside from that, I do think we need to see more biomes we can explore, especially if each comes with its own challenges. 

For the most part, SAND: Raiders of Sophie offers gameplay that we’ve seen before in other titles. However, the options afforded to the player through adapting the Tramplers and the potential for more locations and enemies could be a major point in the game's favour, but at the same time, it would be very easy to drop the ball and leave players with limited new content.