After five years in development and two years in Early Access, the space shooter EVERSPACE 2 has finally launched, giving players a massive story-driven campaign across six star systems and over 120 locations to explore and fly freely. It is a beautiful space adventure with some shortcomings that still ends up being a satisfying experience. This is our Everspace 2 PC Review.
The boundless expanses of the universe have always attracted romantics, whether it be films or books, mysterious, unexplored worlds, and the amazing beauty of the cosmos in fantasy, promising many exciting adventures and various discoveries.
And the era of video games made it possible to observe someone else’s life from the outside and become a space traveler yourself. But it just so happened that there are few games dedicated to space. There are very, very few of them, especially when it comes to recent years: EVE Online, No Man’s Sky, and the one that will never be released, Star Citizen and there is also Starfield, but there is too little information to put it in the same ranks with anything – and that’s all the games that immediately come to mind when asked to name more or less modern space sims. If you stretch your memory, you can remember the Chorus of 2021. If you try, you will remember Everspace from the ROCKFISH Games studio – a space roguelike that gamers generally warmly welcome.
Even though the first game turned out to be good, it had several serious problems at the basic level. Ultimately, the developers decided not to reinvent the wheel, but to make a new game in the same setting, significantly changing key concepts. This is how Everspace 2 appeared, released on Steam in January 2021 in the early access format. And over the past two and a half years, the game has received very positive feedback from the audience. The developers have not abandoned support for the game, continuing to develop it until its release.
ES2 is a freelance pilot simulator focusing on not having any game mechanics overwhelmed by hardcore. The game is preventive for five minutes, and there are no harsh tricks and troubles here. He flew into the asteroid ring, shot the iron birthplace, and took the iron. Enemies flew in, shot enemies, and took trophies.
If you’re looking for a serious, serious sim-sim, Everspace 2 isn’t the one. But there are many, many, many different places that can and should be discovered, arcade shootouts to participate in, and wagonloads of ship upgrades to obtain that lead to dozens of hours of gameplay.
Plot
The plot of Everspace 2 continues the events of the original game. This time the main character of social clones is named Adam. prevent earning extra money and break out of the Zone, a neutral demilitarized territory created after the war of mankind with the alien race Okkar. The zone is rich in resources but also riddled with traces of past battles and hosts bandit factions that raid mining ships and spree travelers.
During a routine mission to escort the miners, a skirmish with pirates ensues, and Adam is captured. There, he meets the lieutenant of the Colonial Fleet and meets with him: first to escape and then to complete a large-scale mission, participation in which the hero inevitably leaves the Zone.
The game brings pleasure with the script and detailed lore, the plot does not capture what it captures, but it is interesting to follow it. Gradually, new allies join the partners, and the nature of the phenomena is revealed over time. It is noticeable that the authors saved on cut-scenes, preferring hand-drawn intros with poor animation, which are the only full-fledged videos here, too, but in small quantities, but this is an aspect of Es2 where budget is felt. Otherwise, the project looks no older than AAA titles.
Change for the better or not?
As the developers wrote, they analyzed more than 30,000 comments and feedback from players and concluded that not everyone liked the roguelike format. Particularly indignant were those who expected from Everspace the spiritual heir to the cult Freelancer (according to many connoisseurs of the genre, this game is the best in the history of the industry). As a result, the decision was made to change the main concept and make the game focus on storytelling with role-playing elements in the style of Diablo.
As a result, in Everspace 2, gamers received a looting system, RPG elements, which are expressed in pumping the hero and ship systems, and instant repair of the ship when leveling up.
And there will be no boring gameplay: on any ordinary task of finding medicine for a wounded colleague, you will surely find yourself involved in secrets and conspiracies of a galactic scale, which and the fate of the entire galaxy will depend only on you, yes, it’s all possible to predict what will happen, but what to do.
Beauty and scale
But what I really liked was how the space landscapes were especially successful for the developers. Every star system has at least one beautiful object against which battles will unfold, whether it be a giant planet with rings encircling it or an ancient battlefield with the skeletons of long-destroyed cruisers and stations. Sometimes they can fly just above the surface of planets, look inside an asteroid or a huge transport ship, and the scale of all this is amazing.
In the open world, you can freely move between locations; hyperspace travel gives you the ability to jump across star systems, and while flying to your destination, you will continually discover new areas of interest – mainly after you catch an unknown signal that could hide anything from an abandoned ship with valuable items or ambush marauders.
Speaking of size, Everspace 2 has a significantly larger play area than its predecessor. There is a lot of space to explore, and there are also huge stations and planetary surfaces to discover. Even simple asteroid fields tell a story. Some are littered with wrecked ships and the wreckage of outposts, while others have barely functioning automated systems. There is also a sense of life when approaching the large jump gate port and seeing ships scanning cargo or various drones repairing a starship. And all this creates a depth of immersion in the boundless universe. You move between zones, including jump drives, and guide your ship to waypoints representing different sectors of the galaxy. During the flight, the scanner can detect various signal sources- an abandoned station, an asteroid with resources, or even an ambush disguised as a distress signal. During this, you can unlock side quest areas and even random areas where you can take part in a space battle and help level the playing field for one of the many factions in the universe.
After several hours of traveling back and forth across the galaxy, the opportunity to visit the planets will also open up. Although they are mostly deserted, there are often areas to explore. There you will come across various puzzles that will allow you to get additional equipment for your ships.
Gameplay and guns
Gameplay in Everspace 2 is more narrative-driven than its predecessor. Gone are the days of final deaths and random events. Instead, the developers have chosen to control what is happening completely.
At first, you will control a small ship. In the future, there will be more of them. Unlike Elite Dangerous, this game uses a more arcade control style, and you will quickly learn to roll and dodge enemy fire like a real ace. The game has a very intuitive control system, which is a pleasure. After that, looking at the keyboards of other genre representatives, it becomes funny. Battles in space turned out to be quite dynamic, smooth, and fast. You will use energy and kinetic weapons like rockets, which depending on your equipment, have different properties. There is also a counter that accumulates over time and allows you to use the “ultimate attack.” For example, firing lightning bolts from the front of the ship looks cool and deals a lot of damage.
Since Everspace 2 leans more toward RPGs, it also affects the opponents. Now the level of the enemy is displayed, which will immediately make it clear how difficult the battle will be and whether you even climbed into this sector too early. If you are playing on the story difficulty level or low, there will be no problems, but starting from the average, the fight with a stronger opponent can be a serious challenge.
Meanwhile, almost every mission in the game leads to gunfights. In this regard, the project is a reference example of an arcade space simulator: with an extremely responsive and convenient control model, an impressive set of weapons, and auxiliary modules.
Jumping on the rampage is not recommended here, and even on standard difficulty, a skirmish with superior enemy forces will quickly become a failure. You need to act carefully: use the environment, set up ambushes, and switch weapons depending on the identified vulnerabilities of the enemy. Some opponents are immune to certain attacks, such as energy or acid. Others are best destroyed with long-range weapons, while others should be approached at close range – an individual approach is welcome.
Pretty soon after the start of the campaign, you will get the opportunity to change the base ship to another one. There are options for every taste: from nimble and maneuverable scouts and attack aircraft to heavily armored and clumsy bombers and gunners. Each of the ships has three degrees of protection: a shield that absorbs kinetic damage, armor that protects against energy damage, and a hull, a “health bar” that begins to deplete after the destruction of shields and armor.
Accordingly, the weapon deals kinetic and energy damage and, depending on the additional properties, can gradually destroy the armor and hull of the ship, as if with acid, or disable its energy systems with the help of an EMP pulse. Each gun has an effective range setting, so both “shotguns” and “sniper rifles” are available here. There are guns here that are weak and fast-firing, powerful and slow – in general, suitable for various play styles. You can attach two or three guns to the ship and freely switch between them during the battle.
And that’s not all: the starship is equipped with an energy core, skin, sensor, and other elements directly affecting its characteristics, such as speed and acceleration, enemy detection range, durability, etc. Consumables are installed in separate cells, upon activation of which, for example, you can increase the ship’s protection for a short time or restore the hull.
Devices are also available to the pilot – like active RPG skills. When activated, you can release a powerful electromagnetic pulse, teleport a short distance, reflect incoming damage back at an opponent, and so on. But there are also traits – passive bonuses, like recharging the shield after killing an enemy or reducing the cost of repairs: the pilot receives them when he reaches certain levels of pumping, and they are given to him by allies that join the team, and traits can be improved by investing resources in them.
As you understand, the scope for creating builds here is as wide as possible. Whether you want a nimble and fast boat, a balanced variant, or a flying fortress, EVERSPACE 2 will give you the opportunity to do it. Of course, you will have to tinker, choosing and pumping weapons, extracting resources, and scouring the trading floors in search of the best prices, but it’s worth it. The economy in the game, by the way, is also worthy of praise: the model is not too complicated, but at least takes into account the demand for different groups of goods in different star systems, based on which you can speculate, buy cheaper here and sell more expensive there.
And yet, during most of the game, we will shoot enemies and solve puzzles. They are also here. The process of destroying enemies depends entirely on the level difference between you and them and the game’s difficulty. This can range from a frenzied firefight of thirty ships to systematic 1v1 duels where every missile or ion blast can be lethal. Do not feel the strength to win? Run additional missions to download and buy, find, or craft cooler equipment. Even the most experienced ace will trip over the first group of bandits if there are more than five levels between you.
But puzzles can be solved at any level. Look for signals, ancient artifacts, energy batteries, and relays to disable protective fields. Usually, the process of all riddles looks like this:
- fly back and forth and look around;
- find element A and drag it to element B;
- shoot at the right place at the right time
As a result – opening a specially guarded container with valuable loot. Repeat all possible variations a hundred times. Well, yes, shoot back from annoying enemies along the way.
Graphics, sound, and more
Visually, Everspace 2 is great. Explosions look spectacular, and the color scheme and the work of light create a bright and bewitching cosmic ocean through which your ship moves. The team is well aware that they coped with this task perfectly well – a photo mode is immediately built into the game, allowing the player to create gorgeous screenshots.
The musical accompaniment is atmospheric and made in the style of the 70s and 80s – pleasant synth melodies add immersion to what is happening. The tone of the melodies changes from calm during the journey to dynamic in battles. In general, fly and enjoy.
The authors of Everspace 2 managed to make a full story that occupies a dozen or so hours with heaped-up colorful shooters in space—lots of grind, puzzles, and endless sights. The developers have told the truth. In general, you can spend more than 90 hours in the game, entertaining yourself with various missions. Only here, the plot and characters are not the strongest sides of the game. The musical component is also lame. Ultimately, however, we have a very good space arcade game that is more casual than hardcore and more about the player’s personal adventures than a global epic story. At the same time, it is very fun, easy to learn, and informative.
