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Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 1,192.7 hrs on record (378.4 hrs at review time)
Posted: Mar 19, 2020 @ 12:50pm
Updated: May 2, 2023 @ 9:08pm

Updated for Odyssey:

The on-foot missions. Well, you'll either love or hate them.

I'm the latter.

I don't like going from space hero tanking shots, killing pirates, becoming a hero of the systems I go to... to slinking around in the shadows, trying not to get spotted, doing illegal activities and being a spineless loser that can't take more than a couple shots even with level-3 armor and a shield if I HAPPEN to get spotted. What happened to just going in guns-a-blazing? Oh no... very, very few missions allow you to do that. And if you land at a random settlement you can't just attack it even if there ARE bad guys. The good guys will attack you for killing someone with a bounty...........

It was a bad idea to introduce ground-combat that requires you to be a spineless coward in a game that has otherwise required you to be "the hero" for years before this. I can see why people slam the game after Odyssey. They took a simple concept of on-foot combat and made it so convoluted and made you so utterly weak and defenseless that you can't even assault one person... one person... without getting ganked by an entire settlement of GOOD PEOPLE even though the one you shot was a mission target and had a bounty. Screw that. I almost quit over the frustration of dealing with Odyssey.. peeking through windows, trying to scan people so I can STEAL THEIR IDENTITY? Who thought this was a good idea? Then if you DO get caught, shot or killed (left unconscious) by the people in a settlement, you end up in JAIL? LoL. What a failed concept. They should have just given us legs and called it a day. It would have been far less cringe-inducing than sneaking around settlements like a coward.

Oh and if you get attacked, can you attack back? No, that will get you fines and a bounty, lol. What a chump concept.

Having said that, the xenobiology stuff is interesting and gives you something else to do as you surface-mine resources and can net you a LOT of credits. As well as the ability to be able to walk around in your carrier and sit in the command-deck and watch your FC do hyperwarp jumps, etc. All good stuff. But, the missions? Total frustration.
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First, this game is a grind.

Having gotten that out of the way, the rest of the game is great.

You can land on planets, explore, mine, help spaceships being attacked by aliens (yes, there are aliens), there are events every few months from the devs like Thargoid invasions, etc. They are touting a new fleet carrier update to come out soon and are working on a "legs" update that will allow bipedal ambulatory movement (walking for the layman) instead of just flying or driving.

Basically this is an open world. Don't expect hand-holding after the short tutorial or a guided "go here" type of adventure. It's up to you what you will become in this game. Pirate? Savior of a planet? A beacon of hope for a star system in famine? A ravager of lawless systems? Maybe a trader or one of many types of miners? It's up to you.

Pros:
- Great graphics
- No obvious transitions between space-system-planet-landing. The only repetitive animation you face is the hyperdrive effect when you jump between systems.
- Multiple game modes allow you to enjoy the game as you want to. So.. play solo if you like or create a private server that only your steam friends can join or just play open and interact with the thousands of other players. PVP your thing? There is plenty of it. PVP NOT your thing? You can easily avoid most players and PVP even if attacked or you can play a game mode that makes other players nonexistent.
- Engineering is great.. you can take a ship that's ok or even bad and make it into something you love. It adds another layer of customization to the game that really helps specialize a ship into what you want it to do. Be prepared though. Nothing comes easy.
- Many different missions from various starports with different options for mission rewards from credits to rare items needed for engineering to just plain reputation with the controlling faction or superpower.
- Many different ships are available. Each one has a specific feel, sound and cockpit as well as handling and stats. None of them feel redundant or just "reskinned"
- The space dogfights are a lot of fun. It brings the whole experience together and lets you see just how helpful that last "upgrade" was.

Cons:
- The grind. It's there, it's rough. But, they make it worth it. Engineering isn't always easy to do, but the results are fantastic. Want that federal corvette? It's going to cost you some time as you gain ranks and build your reputation with several start systems. But, is it worth it? Absolutely. The light at the end of the tunnel is a bright one. Granted, opinions vary on what your time is worth. But, for me it was definitely worth it. I can't think of a time when I got done getting ready for a trip to find something I needed, or was delivering goods and felt it wasn't worth the time. I had fun while I was doing it.
- Astrophysics is a bad words in this game. Don't expect to be able to turn in any direction as you go as fast as you want. There has to be a bit of "arcade" gameplay in order to keep things interesting. So, pulling G's in space is kind of a thing, so is limiting your turn speed based on the size of your ship. We all know that wouldn't ACTUALLY be a factor in space, but in the game.. well.. there has to be a way to differentiate between different ships and make big ships feel "heavier" than small ships. This his how it is done. Also, speeding up as you approach planets and having your speed limited while near one is a thing.. they call it planetary grav-wells. Which WOULD actually happen, but not nearly as dramatically as they have it in the game. So, if you're a fan of physics... just remember, it's a game.

All-in-all you can approach this game how you like and can play it in a way that you like. MMO, single player or even Coop/PVP with friends.
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