Everspace
Space… the final frontier. These are the voyages of
the starship [INSERT NAME HERE]. It’s continuing
mission: to explore new regions and not die horribly
by crashing into rocks, getting killed by raiders or
blundering into electrical storms. To boldly go into
a new randomly generated world where no-one has
gone before.
Everspace, believe it or not, is a space combat game.
Well, a space exploration game. Sort of. It’s also a
roguelike, as you’re given a randomly generated
world each time you play, and when you die you
start back at the beginning. As popularised by the
likes of Rogue Legacy, though, all is not lost when
your adventure is over - you can spend some of the
money you’ve accumulated on your run on upgrades
for your ship before venturing into the abyss again.
So far, so roguelike. Everspace sets itself apart chiefly
by framing the action as a first or third person space
combat game, and also by including a strong storyline
that progresses as you get further into the game with
each successive run. You’re a clone, with no memory
of your original life, but you can start to piece
together fragments of memories as you encounter
old friends (and enemies). The surprisingly engaging
storyline - told through hand-drawn cutscenes and
solid voice acting - makes for a compelling reason
to drive your progress through the game, but even
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(PC, PS4, Xbox One, Out Now)
without that dangling carrot the core gameplay loops
of the game prove equally gripping.
Everspace definitely leans towards a more arcade
model; your ship is simple to control and is bristling
with systems that require very little management.
As a starting point you get two main weapon slots,
missiles, and a couple of support systems and
consumable items. The support systems (which
operate on a cooldown timer) offer bonuses like
boosted damage and shields, whilst consumables
range from plasma mines to support drones. The only
resource you need to monitor moment-to-moment
(apart from your hull integrity and shield strength) is
your energy level, which acts a bit like a Dark Souls
stamina meter by depleting as you activate weapons
and support systems but recharges over time.
Combat itself is swift and rewarding. Enemy ships
are highlighted and you get a target-leading cursor to
aid your aim, and simple, logical movement controls
make dogfights fun and easy to engage in, whilst
the occasional capital ship prove challenging, but
rewarding opponents.
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