SAND: Raiders of Sophie

There is no point in playing this game as a new player. Every raid ends in being killed by a group with a much more leveled crawler.

1. Spawned in the air, died. 2. Attempted to respawn, just couldn't. 3. At least 3 hackers flew by right off the bat. Conclusion: Unplayable

a chinese hacker snuck on to my ship like big boss and took my plant and all my baubles

I wanted to like this game so bad, gave it so many tries but this game just leaves me frustrated EVERY MATCH. If its not the bugs and glitches (can't even climb a ladder or walk up some dang stairs) especially on the ship, it's the tryhard player base. I thought voyage would be a more casual experience all people want to do is just ruin your run/day. You try to communicate with friendly flares and all people do is stab you in the back. the player base is extremely toxic. Not only that but the game has no matchmaking fill whatsoever! You either play with friends or no one. And none of my friends want to drop money on a game they MIGHT like. This forces player like me to run solo mode against sweats. Solo mode makes this game 3x harder and it sucks. I try using the discord server as a platform to play with others but it takes so long to organize. I end up taking 30+ minutes just trying to form a team, when there are other games out there that have a fill option via matchmaking! I wanted to like this game but all I have now is resentment. GIVE US PROPER MATCHMAKING Also don't get me started on the constant server crashes, were I lose hours worth of loot in the blink of an eye. Also have been hearing a lot about cheaters in this game...smh

Have put almost 60 hours into the game at this point. Gonna start out with the positives. Beautiful game to look at. I love the aesthetic choices and the graphics. Very pleasing game in that sense, does make me want to know more of the world's lore. Decent sound track. Love designing my own vessels and trying them out with my friends. If it weren't for what I am about to discuss this would be an easy recommend. Where I draw the line is the culture of the other players. That isn't exactly something the devs can regulate and I do not necessarily want them to if they could, for a multitude of reasons. That being said, with rare exceptions most other players I have ran into in this game, other than those I play with, have been very unsportsmanlike. There seems to be very little incentive to have friendly interactions with other players. I know its a looter and extraction shooter but wow. I have literally only ever encountered another player would didn't shoot first, ask questions later, once, on a solo dive. Not saying that all I want is those interactions. I enjoy PvP too. But we're running lookouts constantly and still get snuck up on. Most people in matches are consistently over level for the area, compared to us. And they add insult to injury, literally. This is certainly not a game for those without thick skin. This is coming from a guy with more successful than unsuccessful expeditions. I do not enjoy player interactions on this game. And the learning curve on the game is steep. I have sunk a decent amount of time into the game and have been watching and reading guides and I gotta say that my friends and I do not win most of our engagements. In order to succeed, we have to avoid all players generally, which irks my more PvP minded friends. Again, the balance can use some improvement. If we're still running a small chassis, with only a standard reactor, no engines or armor, and we're consistently getting jumped by people with at least three of those present or upgraded, in a voyage, not a storm dive, I gotta say there are significant balancing issues. Some minor gripes that wouldn't have taken away the recommend, were the prior two points not present, there are still bugs with the game as of writing this. Looking at you: stairs, reactor switches, and loot crates. For a game that has been out this long, feels like those should have been ironed over by now. If you are not easily offended, frustrated, or angered. And you're willing to lose a lot, starting out at least. The game is punishing but as you climb the learning curve it gets better...mostly. The world, lore, design, sound, and core mechanics are a lot of fun! And if you enjoyed Sea of Thieves you'll probably be right at home in this game. I'll probably keep putting hours into the game because it is fun most of time with my friends. But, I gotta say, considering my points above. It does feel a little like a masochistic endeavor, especially every time we get jumped by people dumping energy rods continuously from past the horizon, mid-extract, with minimal opportunity to spot them, or brace ourselves. Then insulting us like we weren't just jumped at literally the worst possible time. For those of us with a job and responsibilities, that is not exactly what I could call a relaxing and fun experience to end the day on. Edit note: It is basically at the point where, if I want to dive with the expectation of successfully extracting with my loot, without fighting people, I have to do solo dives in the morning. This is because ANY risk of PvP encounters equates to the expectation I cannot successfully extract with all my stuff. I have survived multiple engagements and extracted with whatever I could carry. However, that is not ideal in any sense of the word. Combined with the unsportsmanlike nature of our opponents I feel more bitter at losing than content with the idea that I was just outplayed.

Great concept for a cool game, sadly it only became another extraction game... Toxic coplayers, hacker/cheater, no possibility for pve in sight and as a T1 player getting thrown in lobbys with T4 or something is not as fun as you might think. The concept itself is great, you own walker in a dessert, looting and fighting npc´s in different areas. Mechanics are also fine, the tech-tree is well structured. But that damn pvp with some sweaty unemployed dudes. I hate it so much man. And that you loose your entire inventory is also so damn annoying. Graphics are nice, no bugs so far.

I've never ever seen such a poorly made multiplayer game that has had as many issues as this one has. Constant crashing, cheaters, and false in-game bans because of their own in-game bugs. You can sit on the main menu getting ready to load into a match and their anti-cheat would flag you for suspicious activity. Honestly taking weeks to sort out simple game bugs that make it unplayable for people shows they weren't even close to being ready for launch.