ARC Raiders And Mass Effect Collide In ‘Fantastic’ Shooter That’s Yours To Try For Free

Steam Next Fest is still underway, with Star Wrath proving to be one of the event’s standout games.

Developed by Targem Games and published by Gaijin Network, Star Wrath is a multiplayer extraction-action game that essentially blends the general gameplay loop of ARC Raiders with the setting of Mass Effect.

“The Earth has been destroyed. Only the debris floating in space reminds us of its former glory,” begins the game’s synopsis.

“Humanity has lost its home. There are no more flags, no more laws. Only the Echo is left after civilisation.

“And space doesn’t hold salvation; it only demands a price. The lone Wanderers will have to pay it.”

Across both PvP and PvE sessions, players will create their own ship, fight against other space raiders for resources, and extract loot in this intriguing new experience.

It goes without saying that your ship design will massively influence your performance in battle, so players are going to want to think about things like hull durability and modular destruction.

Those who travel to the outskirts of Star Wrath’s solar system will unearth rarer materials, which, in turn, can be transformed into better upgrades.

Space is a vast, open frontier, but you will be able to hide from opponents in space nebulae if you wish to ambush enemies with unsuspecting attacks.

Steam Next Fest’s free demos offer a bit of something for everyone:

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Star Wrath is played entirely aboard your ship, so there’s no on-the-ground combat for now. That being said, your human character can sway the tide of battle.

Each pilot will boast their own unique skills, and if you defeat a fellow pilot, you can actually harvest their DNA to acquire additional abilities.

Gaijin Network

Star Wrath’s Popularity Has Generated A Mixed Resposne But Many Gamers See Potential

It hasn’t been perfectly smooth sailing for Star Wrath despite it being one of Steam Next Fest’s highest trending demos.

It currently sits at a ‘Mixed’ rating of 68% with Star Wrath clearly proving to be a love or hate game.

“Cool concept. A space game without the emptiness of space, it puts you right in the action every time,” read one positive review.

“Great game for its fun mechanic, and FINALLY we can have decent dogfights. However, the map is hollow,” read another with one small caveat.

Another similar view stated, “After maxing out the demo’s content in about three hours, I’m confident this will shape up to be a fantastic experience in the long run—though the current demo is admittedly quite barebones.”

It seems the demo’s scope is one of the areas that has drawn criticism. There’s also a fair bit of trepidation regarding the full release, as Gaijin Network has quite the reputation for monetising games.

That could mean that Star Wrath ends up full of pay-to-win microtransactions, but that’s speculative at this stage.

Star Wrath is currently only scheduled to land on PC via Steam, and it’s due to launch in full sometime in 2026. A precise release date is yet to be announced.

With Next Fest set to end on 22 June, you may only have a few more days to check this one out.

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