Edwin Crump
It isn’t often that a game series ditches its rouge-like elements and embraces more traditional gaming design. But that’s exactly what Everspace 2 has done.
Recently launched in its 1.0 state out of a period of early access, this space shooter has made me happy by taking the series’ excellent core combat mechanics and putting them in a narrative wrapping that works with the way that I prefer to enjoy games.
Everspace 2 starts with you being outcast from your mining gang, captured and then freed, forced to make it in the galaxy after thinking you were so close to retirement. It’s technically a continuation of the story from the original Everspace, but you don’t need to know a whole lot before starting this sequel.
The story is told through a combination of voice of radio while you undertake missions and dedicated comic book style cutscenes, which is a clever use of resources and breaks up the game’s otherwise standard spacefaring visual presentation. While the story itself didn’t really engage me, it did provide a nice context and motivation for each of the missions, something that is a welcome change from the rinse and repeat loops of rogue-likes.
Everspace 2 is instead a mission-structured game, focussing on certain objectives that ultimately amount to an excuse to engage in ship-to-ship 6DOF space combat. I played most of my time with Everspace 2 with a basic flightstick, and this felt the most natural way to work out how to manoeuvre my ship through each dogfight.
Dog fighting is fast, intense, and requires a good level of tactical thinking about what weapons are available to you and where your enemies are located in 3D space. I found myself in constant movement, chasing foes and trying to avoid their perilously accurate attacks. It’s not a simulation by any means, and the arcade action felt responsive and fluid without being weighed down by technical necessities. It lets you focus your approach to a fight, what strategy to use and which enemies to take out in what order.
Success isn’t built purely on combat skills though.
Much of your success will be measured by your loadout. See, enemies (and you) have both kinetic armour and energy-based shields, and you’ll need to set up your ship’s systems to be able to deal both types of damage. This is where some of the designs of the game rub up against it being a relatively long yet limited experience. There are entire, huge systems of loot, crafting, ship customisations (cosmetic and otherwise) and builds.
There’s plenty to manage, but I felt like these systems were far too complicated for a linear experience. I didn’t feel like this complexity served the ultimate experience, and more meaningful yet fewer upgrades would have made more sense. A Diablo or Destiny-like loot system makes sense for an endless game, but is necessary for a more defined experience?
Personally, I think not.
There’s a lot of busywork in constantly sorting through your inventory and upgrading weapons, which, yes, give you lots of options to play with but at a certain level takes away time from what the game’s best at – blasting enemies in outer space.
And you will need to engage with these systems, as your level and various ship power levels are extremely important for success. Go up against a foe a few levels above you and you’ll likely be destroyed in short order. This also incentives you to engage with the side missions.
The game looks excellent, with highly detailed ships, realistic asteroids and other interplanetary bodies, and when the action heats up the laser displays can be genuinely dazzling. I was also impressed with the performance of the game on my PC, and was able to run at full 4K/60 on an RTX 3070, and there were plenty of PC graphics options to tailor your settings to your desired PC specs. On an OLED monitor Everspace 2 looks fantastic, and the contrast between the ships and their armaments and the deep black of space was incredible.
Ultimately, Everspace 2 is a big improvement on its predecessor, and the developments seem committed to the game.
I love the emphasis on handcrafted environments in addition to the procedurally-generated ones. The only disappointing element is that due to some technical constraints, the planned native Linux version won’t be coming. Nevertheless, the game is playable through Proton for those going down that path.
While the looter shooter mechanics didn’t grab me, there’s plenty of game here for those who are craving some spaceship combat action outside of persistent, simulated worlds.
Released: April 2023
Rating: M15+
Platforms reviewed: PC
Genre: Action
Developer: Rockfish Games
Publisher: Rockfish