Marauders preview - I've killed for less
Marauders is a tactical shooter set in a futuristic dystopia where players singly or cooperatively rob abandoned stations and board other pirates' spaceships. In anticipation of the release of the project in early access, we have prepared a small preview in which we briefly talked about the features of the new Friv2Online project.
What could be cooler for a fan of sci-fi universes than to be in the shoes of an experienced space pirate who cuts through empty space on his own schooner in search of booty? Of course, the opportunity to get up from behind the helm of the ship, take up firearms and personally break into an abandoned station or a ship drifting among the ruins .
Marauders is a bold hybrid that combines first-person raid mechanics that permanently lose all gear if you fail, with arcade space combat simulation. It's as if the core of Escape From Tarkov was crossed with some kind of Star Conflict , and the visuals and gloomy atmosphere would be borrowed from Star Citizen or even from GTFO .
The events of Marauders unfold in an alternative year of 1992, when devastating wars and total industrialization completely destroyed the ecosystem of our planet, forcing the remnants of humanity to move into space and wage an ongoing struggle for survival there .
In this universe, we are ordinary marauders, wandering on our rusted steampunk craft among the wrecks of capital ships, abandoned spaceports and asteroid bases in the hope of finding at least something of value. Pieces of scrap metal or expired dry rations, ammunition or the remains of ore not removed from the mine - everything can be sold if you know the right person.
Of course, information about places with potentially valuable resources is publicly available, which means that you will not be the only marauder who coveted the treasures preserved in the inside of the old flagship - you will have to fight to the death. And, if you are lucky, you will not only get valuable spare parts on the black market, but also remove body armor and a shoulder bag with good things that are still wearable from the carcass of the victim.
On average, the raid lasts about twenty minutes - until the oxygen in the cylinders runs out. Players on their own boats enter an area dotted with potentially profitable areas of interest, land at some station, rob and kill each other and wandering inside the NPC, and then return to the dock using the captain's key, and make their way to the nearest boost gate.
Everything taken out during the raid ends up in the stash. Death, on the other hand, promises the player a complete loss of the property taken in the raid, but not the avatar, and not the ship. In principle, there is no avatar as such, but there is customization , for which you need to pay with special coins that are issued as a reward for a successful raid.
The Marauders are based on the principles familiar to the "Tarkovites" with a search system and the study of found items, several compartments for weapons, headgear and outerwear, a place for bags with additional slots. However, there is no complex damage system or deep weapon customization in Marauders, and the combat mechanics are simplified to the level of modern shooters.
Meanwhile, the game is distinguished by a well-posed visual range, a good impact from shooting and an unusually tasty setting. There's something miraculous about it: walking warily through the dark corridors of a creaky space station with a Mauser M712 in your pocket and some kind of MP40 in your hands. There are not enough monsters prowling through the ventilation shafts, by golly.
The obvious shortcomings of the game at the moment include the complete lack of voice and text communication with teammates. In a cooperative raid, the systems of the ship have to be controlled together, and there is no way to coordinate actions, and it is impossible to agree on some nuances in the lobby if you are trying to break into the match with random fellow travelers.
The system of quick voice commands, similar to which we could see in GTFO, does not fully reflect the situation, and it does not allow you to put Marauders marks. Thanks to this, for example, it has become even easier to shoot an ally, who, according to the laws of the genre, is not identified by the system in any way for greater hardcore.
Here are a few more key points about the new Team17 project, which we hope will help you decide on the purchase of the game:
You can participate in raids alone or in teams of two, three or four marauders. The developers have provided a convenient lobby in which to gather with comrades or random pirates, but it still lacks a filter system;
Players can roam inside their own ships. To control the frigates, they need to find the periscope in the cockpit, to control the turrets - the appropriate platforms. When a marauder is alone in a raid, he controls the entire ship at once, but in a team, crew members divide duties into gunners, gunners, and the captain of the ship;
The ship that received the maximum damage is not destroyed, but goes out of order. To restore its performance, it is necessary to look for fire extinguishers on board and fill the engine with foam until it cools completely;
After docking the ship in the corresponding yellow zone, the marauder overcomes the hermetic gate. Each lock is assigned a specific number tied to the captain's card - without it, it is not possible to open the gate for evacuation (only the captain has this card in the team. If he is killed and the rest of the crew tries to escape, you need to pick it up);
There are so-called evacuation modules - these are doors marked in red, with the help of which you can penetrate into other areas of the raid or onto enemy ships. If the enemy ship is disabled, it is enough to get close to it and use the red lock to board it;
Every 15 minutes, merchants change in the game, offering random goods and buying stolen goods. Each of them represents a specific faction with a reputation level, which increases the discount in the store as it grows ;
Weapons in the game can be improved with additional modules, such as silencers or stocks. In the corresponding section of the workshop, the player can get acquainted in detail with the characteristics of each gun and its appearance;
Upon reaching the maximum level of 40, the marauder gets the opportunity to reset progress in exchange for a reputation token, which can later be exchanged for fireproof upgrades;
There are six types of frigates in Marauders - from the initial "rusty trough" to the flagship of the Central Empire, equipped with two tower sections;
Marauders
In early access, the game will offer seven zones for raids - from a mine equipped in an asteroid and an empty space port, to an abandoned prison and a military outpost, which is still protected by automatic turrets. Depending on the location, you will encounter different AI opponents and values. All maps are interesting, quite large and intricate.
In summary, Marauders can make for a great alternative to Escape From Tarkov, with far less attention to the subtleties of the simulation, but full of adventure, danger and rewards.
I really liked the look of the project and was pleased with its optimization . The threshold for entering the game is many times lower than in the above-described masterpiece of Battlestate, but you may get no less pleasure from the process.
Small Impact Games still has a lot of work to do: there are enough bugs in the game, the AI is godlessly stupid, and some mechanics need to be rethought and improved, but a start has been made, and very worthy. Fans of this business - we recommend to familiarize yourself!
Status
- Intelicode ®Version 17.5.0.5
- Release Date 04-06-2022
- Provided Database v110.2
Changelog
For information about changes in recent versions view our changelog.