The Mandate trailer gives poetic poignancy to ship boarding combat

Space RPG The Mandate had already deployed a full flotilla of trailers to escort its Kickstarter to completion. Now that the significant stack of funding has been safely transported home, we get to see something a bit different: a pre-production look at how the game's ship boarding combat will work, complete with troop placements, tactical decision making, and Rudyard Kipling.

That video's description doubles as a nice explanation of The Mandate's aim:

"A ship without a crew feels hollow and meaningless, so we've taken space travel to the next level. The dangers of space should not only test your metal, but your flesh.

"We wanted to make a game where you're not a solid, singular object in a sky-box; you are a captain in an evolving, dynamic ship that hundreds of people call home. They adapt to you, and grow with you as you fight alongside them, and if you suffer losses, you'll feel the loss that comes with that."

Not surprising that the team eventually cruised past their goal of $500,000 to finish at $701,010. The extra money raised secures more bonuses for backers, as well as away missions and starbase boarding operations for the final game.

The Mandate is due out December, 2014.

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.