M2H has made the peculiar decision to shift away from the world recognised WASD to use RDFG. While the layout of the buttons is the same it feels wrong when playing and is why I quickly, after realising how to move with the keyboard, switched to play with a controller. It is the small issues like this that result in the game feeling less intuitive than it should. Marooners is a party game and at the end of the day it should be a pick up and play title; instead it feels like a pick up, get confused or annoyed and exit title.
Visually, Marooners is bang on the money; offering a colourful, vibrant, 3D art style that is both pleasing on the eye and well-fitting for the bubbly family party theme. The variety of characters, who all come in a variety of colours extend this fun and cartoony theme that flows throughout the title.
The game is in Early Access on Steam so while a lack of content, with a limited range of mini-games, is an issue now; in time this issue should become less of a problem. More content is already promised by the developers, as well as a new game mode. Combined this will add some much needed substance to the game which becomes a tad samey after multiple rounds. As with most Early Access titles bugs are a minor issue but the developers are already working on reported bugs. M2H have been quick to confirm a few launch bugs have already been crushed and an update almost half the size of the game has been released.
While M2H is better known for its World War One first person shooter Verdun, Marooners is a foray into the casual party game genre. Currently it is too early to say if M2H have made a crazy decision or just a crazy title. Past the initial frustrations, the gameplay is enjoyably chaotic and the almost cute cartoony style makes Marooners a pleasure to at least view. The potential is there for Marooners to flourish into a great family party title, it just needs more content and an injection of intuitiveness for the gameplay to be taken to the next level. However, for the price tag of $14.99/£10.99 it is tough to recommend the title with the current amount of content.
