RiftMode
The dunes have always shifted under me with every step. My fortress is a moving thing, this structure of metal and grit. When I built it, it was with the memories of storms, of all those sun-drenched mornings when the air was savory, and of nights so inky and star-strewn that they made me feel I was being drawn to something. Every beam I raised up into place and every new plate of metal I pounded into shape seemed to carry me on, to transport me on. The desert is a restless place, and I have always felt it to demand something of me. In motion I find a way to offer up my prayers. The fortress that I have made moves as I do. Its wheels sink into the sandy ground, and it climbs once more. Its frame creaks and groans as a living creature would when it finally stirred after a long, long sleep. I feel its bulk behind me and know that I am never really alone, not even when I am at my most solitary. It is a strange feeling, but the dunes of this vast and trackless place talk to me. They teach me to read this land just as others can read from maps. No, this is a companion that I have made here, a Wanderer’s citadel of steel that follows behind me, sure and steadfast as it is. And it is a thing of wonder that the world seems to bend to this particular course wherever I might be to travel. Though it may never be completed, the fortress remains my constant companion as I travel the endless miles of sandy dunes and desert landscapes.
Alternatively, I return to the main body of the fortress and reinforce its outer walls, or travel on ahead, readjusting the huge wheels as I cross from soft sand to rock, or even to treacherous landscape Features which defy description. I am engaged in an ongoing conversation with the sand of the dunes. I listen to what it tells me to build as my creation, the fortress, informs my next action. I listen to the land; the fortress responds with a series of tremors which I feel as I move around its exterior. I respond by further building; the land and the fortress whisper back. The great structure casts a long shadow across the valley beneath. For a moment or two, I am filled with pride at the great structure my wanderings have created. It is a peculiar and wondrous thing: a Wandering Citadel, made by my hands but prompted by a power greater even than myself. It breathes beneath the shifting sands. Its frames creak and groan and dip and rise like a great, sprawling animal. It is strong, yet not invincible. And I shall continue to travel on through this endless, shifting landscape, forging a trail where none has forged before. The great Fortress will travel with me. I am but one wanderer. The Fortress is my constant companion. We must move on together, as a pair of wandering travelers bound by our shared purpose in life.
Features include:
- Forge your fortress, dominate the desert – Design a modular trampler where your creativity and will to succeed are your only limit. Build an impenetrable fortress that can weather the deadliest of assaults, a walking war machine stacked with mounted turrets and firepower, something small and stealthy to get you out of trouble as quickly as you get into it, or a chaotic jumble of modules to confuse and disorient your enemies. No matter your playstyle, you can design a trampler to support it.
- Squad up or go solo – Get your crew together, or go solo as you embark on expeditions. Deploy into the world, chart your course, and scavenge cities, ruins, shipwrecks, and other remnants of a fallen world for loot. Survive encounters with the mysterious supernatural Upiors, fight or talk your way out of confrontations with other players, locate your extract point, and escape to the safety of the orbital station with your loot, life, and Trampler intact.
- PvPvE action – Smoke on the horizon, the groans of the undead echoing through the cities, and the distant rumble of sand all signal danger. Every city looted, shipwreck scoured, or ill-timed encounter with other scavengers might just be your last, so keep your wits about you. There are no friends on Sophie; the only ones you can trust are you and yours.
- Choose how you brave the dunes – Design your Tramplers from scratch in the Trampler Editor before deploying into the world. Test your builds and scavenge lower-tier items at your own pace in Voyage Mode, or raise the stakes in Storm Dive for higher-tier loot and greater rewards, where sandstorms slowly engulf the region, the risk of confrontations with other scavengers, and the loss of your hard-earned loot increase.
Which unseen forces guide the fortress across the ever‑changing wasteland? How does the shifting desert shape the fortress’s relentless journey? Who breathes life into the fortress as it carves paths through the dust? Find out with SAND: Raiders of Sophie, out now for PC via Steam and coming soon to PS5 on the PlayStation Store and Xbox Series X|S on the Microsoft Store.
Enjoy the trailers — until the Rift opens again, know that you’re appreciated.
