Everspace 2 – -apkrig

The creators of Everspace need to pay tribute for not staying on their feet. They are not just planning a slightly modified copier of the successful first part, which is an approach that many other game series must necessarily stare at in silent amazement. On the contrary, it can be said conscientiously that the promises to change the style that fell on Kickstarter were not odd, there was no lack of creative courage and Everspace 2 went elsewhere. For that fact alone, thumbs up.

But … the risk, despite popular saying or mistake, is not always a profit, and after playing early access, we are afraid that we will see for ourselves. The game has started, none of that. But if in the right direction, it’s in the stars.

Goodbye, clones

The gameplay base remained unchanged. Once again, we get a 100% arcade space carving, which has not heard of the law of conservation of kinetic energy second-hand, but in exchange for crippled physics, it again offers fast, reactive, dynamic action. In other words: You can’t do a gravitational slingshot here, even if you sit on the chimney of astrophysics textbooks while playing, but almost ballet dolls in the showers of laser missiles and rockets simply have something in them.

Of course, this is not a bad thing. It’s supposed to be an arcade, it’s an arcade. The ships have at least a hint of inertia here, but there can still be no (thank God) any effort to be realistic. If you played number one and it was pleasant under your hands, it can be said with almost certainty that it will not be different for number two.

But then you start noticing the differences. Everspace 2 is primarily a game of another genre. The Roguelike aspect is there, replaced by a story-driven action RPG in a semi-open world. There are far more different equipment upgrades than before, there is crafting, active and passive skills for the ship and perks for the character. And the resulting statistics then have a significant impact on the fight itself.

Which means, among other things, that we will obviously encounter the classic side effect of RPG systems here, when you encounter an enemy a few levels above you and you could just as well throw grapes over him, because you won’t do anything to him at all.

It is not entirely pleasant, but on the other hand, given the planting, one can at least imagine, for example, more modern enemy shields or better hull armor. In other words, similar situations are much easier to justify than when in other games you rub a 30-pound ax into a bare body and you have to hit it fifty times because it has a higher level.

The development effort for more diverse content is also noticeable. You don’t just have to fight, sometimes you also have to solve primitive puzzles like “take the battery from here and plug it in there” or fly through the corridors of space wrecks, where you are threatened by various laser traps and crazy hammers.

And the most significant novelty? Descent! You will also have a new look at the surface of space bodies and various caves, mining complexes and underground tunnels. At first we were happy about it, but relatively soon, with the crack of nostalgic glasses, we remembered why we couldn’t finish any of the original Descents.

Weightless twists are one thing in outer space, but in a tangle of corridors, where you have no idea for about three seconds, where you are, what your name is, what you’re doing there, and which direction you’re actually flying in, it’s quite a purgatory. However, if you are among those who do not necessarily need to know where they are up and where they are down, descent branches will probably please you a little more.

Slightly plastic flavor

Of course, it is tricky to evaluate anything when the game is still in the preliminary approach. However, this is not a free demo, on the contrary, it will cost a pretty greasy 38 euros, so we won’t forgive ourselves for a few trials. After the previous experience with Everspace 2, we do not hesitate to say that the game will be bigger, richer, more narrative. But we’re not at all sure if it will be even more fun.

Along with the roguelike element, the certain spontaneity, unpredictability and catchy addiction is gone, when one had a problem turning off the game, as he was curious about the interesting combination of weapons, ships and technological gadgets the game would offer him in the next attempt. The number one was actually quite intimate, but a distinctive, stylish event with its own soul. Everspace 2, on the other hand, seems much slower, more sober, and … in short, more common.

Don’t get me wrong, it won’t (probably) be a mess. Flying and shooting is still quite fun. But on the other hand, they get bored quite quickly, and when we went through the roughly five hours of story that are available in early access, we really didn’t feel like indulging in more or flying away to explore the side locations we missed while watching the storyline.

If the story is strong enough to lift the whole thing and shoot the quality of the experience upwards, we dare not guess. However, he did not succeed in the first five hours, which is not a good sign. Loot is also quite boring, it will still need to be really enriched, because piles of unnecessary brothels don’t bother anyone. Ask anthem.

We also sincerely hope that some parts of dubbing and graphics are just early placeholders, because that is also no glory. In a space shooter, you simply want to watch a nice universe, the train doesn’t go through it, not a scattered horror in the background that looks like someone accidentally imported a sprite in the wrong resolution. We deliberately let go of number one to confirm that we’re not releasing the nonsense of selective memory, and really, the first part just looked better. So maybe it’s just some unintentional touch.

It’s too early for verdicts, of course, but … We’re writing impressions. And if we explained how excited we are, because we enjoyed the one and the two did not lose their charm, then we would have to go to kneel on any legume, because you should not lie.

At the same time, however, we hope that we are wrong and that the creators will still wipe our eyes. However, they have enough time for that – the full version is not coming out in a year.