Last Oasis is an MMO where everyone rides around in walking ships

Last Oasis is an upcoming Early Access survival MMO where players will have to compete over fleeting resources in Earth’s last hospitable strip of land. And they'll do that by constructing Walkers, wooden landships propelled by sails and mechanical legs. Take a look at them in action above. They look incredible and I’ve never been so up for hours of chopping down trees and refining resources.

So! Why is everyone fighting with each other with weird wooden machines? It turns out that Earth’s been in a spot of bother again—it’s only gone and stopped spinning. Typical. The Moon’s gone, too. Deserter. That’s left humanity struggling on this one strip of the planet, while the rest of the world is stuck in a perpetual freezing winter and an endless scorching summer. And they build these Walkers because… they’re cool?

They're used to explore the world, gather resources, build mobile bases and, of course, ram each other and smash enemies into piles of splinters. The clashes from the trailer look stunning, though it remains to be seen if an organic fight will look quite as impressive.

The larger Walkers need a crew, so survivors will need to band together in clans and form alliances to create armadas and engage in clan warfare. Expect a player-run economy, and players will be able to become traders to take advantage of it, who can then in turn be preyed on by pirates.

It’s a sandbox affair, so expect to chart your own course instead of following questlines. Everything will be driven by the players, says developer Donkey Crew. It sounds promising! And the Walkers look a lot more complex than the stuff survival MMOs usually task people with crafting. Maybe I’ve got enough patience left in me to learn a few more crafting recipes.

Last Oasis is launching in Early Access this spring. There's already a Steam page, and you can sign up for the closed beta here.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.