Elite Dangerous - Review

It's never a good idea to have a few drinks and go looking at what's on offer in the PlayStation Store. Doing this (at least for me) results in a large dent to my bank balance; this happened quite recently to me. While I purchased many games one, in particular, stood, a space simulator called Elite Dangerous, it looked impressive, intense and I thought this was exactly what I needed.

I like a bit of seafood, it's good for you and tastes great in bread crumbs or batter (not so good for you) One thing I have always struggled with is mussels, they don't look great, you are not supposed to chew them but swallow in one go, while I like shots that way I want to chew my food a bit first. The texture of mussels is a bit like snot. That all being said I really do want to like them but they just aren't for me. Playing Elite Dangerous I found myself asking was this really for me?    

Story

 ......loading story......loading.....loading....loading failed, file not found. Elite Dangerous opted to not to have a story and while this is not a huge surprise with there being such a big focus on multiplayer it does seem a massive flaw. I want to have a story especially when the game offers hundreds upon hundreds of hours of gameplay. There is lore you can find on law and slivers of information appear but are in no way conducive to a story.

Overall pretty disappointed there was no attempt to have a story especially when looking online there is a lot of lore around the Elite Dangerous Universe.

Visuals

Darkness, so much darkness and then pretty coloured planets and pew pew laser beams.  The visuals are good but as with any space simulator, there is going to be a lot of blackness and stars. On the plus side, it makes you appreciate the colour planets you come across, other ships and space stations. The set out of the various cockpits do give a feeling of flying a real ship and it is not static either with information constantly coming in from others nearby and reads out from weapons, shields, speed and many others.

Overall the visuals are good, all the space exploring means when there is combat or space stations they seem more exciting.

Music

The music for Elite Dangerous was exactly what I would expect from a space exploration game. What I mean by this is that the music is fleeting but when it does come forth it gives the feeling of exploring a new frontier and reminds of some sci-fi shows set in space. It works really well and as we all know in space no one can hear you play music. Swedish composer Erasmus Talbot (awesome name) create the soundtrack for the game, while he has worked on other projects I could see no mention of other video game soundtracks.

The soundtrack is around two hours long. While the soundtrack was good there was nothing that especially stood out to me personally, but, that's not to say to it was bad either. Overall, the soundtrack was well suited to the game.

Gameplay

So...much...game...play. It earnest it is hard to cover everything in this review but will do my best. Essentially there are three superpowers in the galaxy, completing missions for them will put you in better standing with them, this will give you access to more areas and more ships (until you manage to get to Jameson Memorial which gives you access to everything if you have the credits). Ideally, you want to get up to 100% with all of them, this will be constant work as the percentage drops over time, the old 'what have you done for me lately' routine. Outside of this, there are different trades/jobs you can do which are; explorer, miner, pilot, and trader. All of them you start at 'pitiful' or an equally shaming rank name, focusing on improving these will bring you higher accolades, the top spot being elite. Essentially, if you get Elite in all of the trades/jobs, max out your relationships with the superpowers, and land on every planet you could say you completed the game. While the first two are not impossible the last one is a big ask. This kind of game does not have a classic beginning or an end and is designed to be open-ended.

Show me d'way! There are a few tutorials and you best make damn sure you go through all of them, they are very helpful. The game does not believe in holding your hand and while there are things you can work out yourself there is a huge community on hand to help. One part of the community I was extremely happy existed was a group called 'Fuel Rats'. I ran out of fuel partway through a job, my ship was dead in the water, but their whole purpose is to come to your location and top you up free of charge. They then gave me tips to avoid the issue in the future. It was really awesome.

Missions come in a few different forms, deliver from A to B, destroy something, source something, and deliver it. The missions are not that exciting but what is exciting is exploring the different systems. The more missions you do the better rank you get and the more credits you can earn. One of the best ways to earn money is by mining, it is a crazy detailed process, especially if you want to get the most out of it.

Overall there are many elements to the game, it makes impressively large but also daunting unless you are prepared to play multiple hours a day and even then there is always more to do. While it is good unless you are very dedicated you will not get to yield all the game has to offer without a lot of time and patience.

Final Thoughts

So, after fortyish hours how did I feel. Well, there are great elements to the game but as a whole, it just was not for me. The lack of story wasn't great, the visuals are okay but it's easy to get sore eyes staring at blackness for hours on end. The music works well with the game but never stood out for me. The gameplay is huge and is many respects is the best and worst part of the game. There is a lot of gameplay but is not for the faint of heart, if you not prepared to sink many many hours into the game you will find yourself ejecting quickly. This one gets a 3 out of 5