Elite: Dangerous Reviews
A "launch" build with some features still in infancy, Elite: Dangerous nonetheless offers terrific space flight ambiance and trading progression befitting of the once-revolutionary series. In a few months time, this title could be outstanding.
Elite: Dangerous puts you in some amazing spaceships, but doesn't always give you a lot to do with them.
There's a lot of balancing to be done in the long term, then, and the big hurdle for new players will be getting up to speed without losing interest in those stodgy early hours. The mid-point, where everything coalesces, is so liberating, so brilliant in its scope and possibility, that it's hard to be too upset about these wrinkles. For all its frustrations, you'll spend much longer in the sweet spot than you spend getting there. Elite: Dangerous demands much, but repays your devotion many times over.
A great game and, with time, potentially a classic. Much rests on Frontier's ability to build on these broad but somewhat shallow foundations.
My general sense is that this is only the beginning for Elite: Dangerous. The foundation is strong, the community is dedicated, and the development team is committed to building out the world for what appears to be a long time to come. Give it a year or two, and I expect Elite: Dangerous will have a huge amount of new content. As it is, Elite: Dangerous is still a fascinating and entertaining space combat sim with nearly unmatched scope, which more than makes up for its gigantic learning curve and lack of structured content. If you've spent the past decade pining for a new space combat sim, then you'll find a happy home in Elite: Dangerous. I'll see you there.
[W]ithout doubt, Elite: Dangerous is a purchase that will provide inestimable value, delivering many hours of gameplay opportunities and experiences. Furthermore, this is a developing universe, with many planned updates and new features due over the coming months. It seems likely that the depth and scale of the experience is only going in one direction: to the stars.
There's definitely a strong core game principle here, and all my problems with it are ones that can be solved with some continued developer TLC. Flying your ship feels good, the galaxy accurately conveys an immense sense of scale, the use of real life stars and planets adds an amazing sense of wonder, and the trading and combat systems have strong cores. Overall, Elite: Dangerous is really cool, but mostly as a tease of what it could be. I genuinely hope the developers continue to support it as they have thus far, because this game is just a few more levels of progression away from being truly incredible.
A welcome return for the pioneering space adventure, but despite a solid start it will need a steady supply of new content and tweaks to reach elite status.
Star wars that may leave you lost in space
Despite a solid framework for an incredible game, right now the title can feel barren and lacking in variety
Elite: Dangerous is a beautiful arcade experience, plugged into an empty galaxy, one so big and bold that it might trick you into thinking there's more to see and do than there really is. You'll probably love it anyway.
Elite: Dangerous is unforgiving, obfuscating, and occasionally dull, but it's always immersive and beautiful. It offers an incredible universe to explore that, despite occasional graphical repetition, offers the tantalising possibility of wonders yet unseen at the end of each new hyperspace jump.
Can I go back to my spaceship now? There's a real sweet run I want to make….
Everyone's experiences in Elite: Dangerous will be unique to them, and it only takes a couple of mesmerising ones to justify the early grind.
Elite: Dangerous has core mechanics that work well within the online multiplayer universe, but has many single-player components built-in. Missions tend to get repetitive, but I have yet to exhaust myself exploring a new system or planet. The universe can feel quite empty, even if you are playing with the open-world options. Frontier promises to expand the game with content updates, and if you were looking for a new paint job, they are available for purchase. You'll be sure to experience a new "wow" factor every time you play.
There's so much to see, do, and explore... if only you knew how.
Most of the time, Elite works. The excitement, even the boredom, of the game is still preserved for me as something I am happy to have paid for. But it would be a poor reviewer indeed who did not mention that the sim's rough edges have not been satisfactorily sanded down.
Elite: Dangerous is a very ambitious title which has been implemented well so far. It has been "released," however its current base form will leave much to be desired for the majority of players as, while the universe is exceptionally large, what you can actually do, while initially fun and engaging, is quite limited and repetitive.
Elite Dangerous successfully takes the original game and turns it into a true 21st century revolution as you explore the furthermost reaches of the universe as you attempt assassinations, protect spaceports and search for those illusive credits in order to better yourself in this gaming world. The learning curve is a little steep and the controls can be at times fiddle some but overall, the developers of Elite Dangerous should be commended on creating a truly visual, immersive and memorable experience on the PC that not only pays homage to the original but takes it to a new level thanks to the MMO component and inclusion of the Oculus Rift DK2.
Elite Dangerous is not going to be the game for everyone, and in fact most are going to be turned off by all it demands from players. The fact remains though, that the game does exactly what it wants, and does it very well. It isn't here to please everybody, but those who it is for are going to have a good time.