Steam Next Fest has sort of become a bit of a holiday for Steam users and fans of indie games, and it especially feels like a modern holiday with how it seems like it starts earlier and earlier each time. Again, publishers and developers are doing whatever they can to make their demos stand out, and in certain cases that means putting them out ahead of Next Fest. Case in point, tinyBuild and developer Hologryph’s upcoming open-world dieselpunk multiplayer FPS Sand, whose demo will now be released tomorrow on October 11, three days ahead of the event. Although as seen in the seven-minute gameplay video below that accompanies the announcement, it’s hard not to want everyone to check out your game ASAP when it also features giant mech action.
A Dieselpunk Arrakis of Sorts
Sand is set on the planet Sophie, in an alternate history where the Austro-Hungarian Empire ended up being the leader in the space race, able to travel across galaxies. Unfortunately, an ecological disaster has ended up reducing the oceans on Sophie to little more than massive deserts, hence the title. Now only groups of treasure hunters traverse the planet anymore, picking at its remains to try and scavenge whatever goodies they can. Luck for them, they happen to have giant walking mechs known as Tramplers to act as their bases help them get across the harsh terrain, not to mention help them deal with other rival treasure hunters.
…It’s hard not to want everyone to check out your game ASAP when it also features giant mech action.
As seen in the gameplay clip, players in Sand can freely move around the Tramplers and operate it in various ways, be it moving it via the cockpit or manning the cannons. It also shows that combat with enemies on other Tramplers isn’t limited to mech combat alone, as players can always just fire at enemies on deck with sniper rifles or pistols if close enough, even being able to board the enemy’s Trampler, pirate-style. Of course, there are also moments when you’ll have to venture outside of the Trampler, be it to loot abandoned villages or operate a radio tower in order to signal for extraction. And as seen with one scrappy bandit, there are always lone wolves that can attack you on foot, even without a mech.
Sand’s PVP demo will be available tomorrowover on Steamfor all to check out (even if the video does state that it’s available now), and as it looks like the type of game that tends to draw huge amounts of players during Next Fest events, hopefully it should prove to be entertaining. It isn’t known when the full game will be released for PC yet, but stay tuned for more details as this journey across Sophie develops over time.
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