Escape from Tarkov has so far dominated the fledgling extraction battle royale genre, but will soon have a fight on its hands courtesy of Marauders, the new space-based survival shooter which now has a new trailer confirming beta and pre-order details.
Set in an alternative 1990s, Marauders imagines a universe where the First World War never truly ended, and bands of mercenaries – the eponymous marauders – battle one another out in space to secure equipment, supplies, and precious loot. In teams of three, you need to survive dogfights and anti-air batteries to infiltrate rivals’ spaceships, grab everything you can, then head back out into an asteroid belt to exit the match via one of several extraction points. If you die on the way, then too bad – you lose everything.
We’re still waiting on an official release date, but as per the new trailer, Marauders’ closed beta will begin July 20, and run to July 25. If you want to access it, you will need to pre-order the game, which you can do via Steam. This will also grant you 10% off the retail price, and access to an exclusive player skin.
The latest trailer neatly demonstrates Marauders’ slow-paced but high-stakes style of play. Guns are croaky, tin-pot things that look like they could blow up and hurt you as much as the person you’re shooting; spaceships are powered by steam and iron levers, technology from a world that never quite got past the Maxim gun and the Mark 1 tank.
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Death comes quick but kills are hard-earned – as much as Tarkov, Marauders looks inspired by CoD’s search and destroy mode, and the brutal Insurgency: Sandstorm. It’s being developed by Small Impact Games, a team of four based in the UK, and published by Team 17, responsible for the legendary Worms series. You can find more Marauders details in our exclusive preview.