Extraction shooters have quite quietly become surprisingly popular over the past few years, with titles like Escape from Tarkov and Hunt Showdown finding a lot of success despite not receiving a huge amount of buzz compared to other multiplayer competitors. There's Bungie's Marathon reboot too, but considering it's a bit MIA, fans of the genre are likely on the prowl for something that's coming a little bit sooner. While Sand, an open-world PvPvE extraction shooter that sees you piloting steampunk buildings with legs, doesn't have a release date just yet, it can at least offer you a taste of what it's cooking up with its current playtest.
While I'm not big into Sand seems pretty intriguing. Its setting is pretty classic: you're launched into a post-apocalyptic open-world that appears to be mostly desert, where players battle against each other in an effort to retrieve valuable resources – the usual survival fare.
The shooting mirrors Hunt: Showdown's or Tarkov's, albeit with a steampunk twist, but the thing that really sells me on Sand are the tramplers, "gigantic walking bases that will shield you from the elements, defend you and your loot against other players, and destroy anything that obstructs your pursuit of becoming the most notorious pirate upon the dunes".
Essentially, think of something like Howl's Moving Castle, minus the handsome but kind of jerky wizard man, zero magic, and a lot more metallic and rusty. It's a fun concept, especially because you get to build your own trampler from the ground up, and I definitely think Hunt: Showdown and fans of the post-apocalypse genre will find something to love here.
If this does all sound appealing to you, then you can head to the game's official Steam page. Once you're there, you'll see a button that says you can request access to Sand's playtest – all you need to do is click on it, and you'll be immediately signed-up for it, allowing you to jump straight in. It's not clear for how long the playtest is running for, so you better hop on quickly if you want to get a good feel for it.
Once you've given it a go, or if you just fancy something with a different flavor, we've got a lovely list of the best multiplayer games, too.
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