The Expanse is easily one of the ??be?st space operas of all time, and there’s no shortage of ways to dive into the series.

The novels by James S.A. Corey kicked off The Expanse all the way back in 2011. Since then we’ve gotten six seasons of a TV adaptation, a number of comic books, a TTRPG ruleset, and a five-chapter Telltale Games series. All of that hasn’t been enough to satiate my desire for more of The Expanse, and I know I can’t be alone. Fortunately there are plenty of other video games that manage to capture the overall vibe of Corey’s series, and if you’re working your way through another re-read, there’s a game that almost perfectly pairs with each book in The Expanse. 

Just read Leviathan Wakes? Try ΔV: Rings of Saturn

Remember the Cant! ΔV: Rings of Saturn is a game that lets you relive the days when the crew of the Rocinante were simple ice haulers. It puts you in the cockpit of a 2D ship and give?s you a top down view as you use real ph?ysics to pilot through dangerous situations. Prepare to flip and burn while mastering the many technical abilities you’ll need to become a successful space miner. 

Just read Caliban’s War? Try Red Faction: Guerilla 

In Caliban’s War fighting breaks out on the surface of Ganymede, but Red Faction: Guerilla takes you to Mars instead. There it puts you in the midst of an insurgent battle and lets you take advantage of fully destructible environments as you wage war against the Earth Defense Force. The 2018 remaster is a great way to experience one of the best sho?oters of the PS3/Xbox 360 era. 

Just read Abaddon’s Gate? Try Prey

Humanity faces alien horrors in Abaddon’s Gate, and Prey forces you to do something similar. Developed by Arkane Studios, Prey is the perfect combination of FPS and sci-fi horror. As a survivor on the lunar-orbiting station Talos I, you must fight off violent alien creatures in fast-paced action while also trying to solve th?e mystery of what exactly happened to th??e rest of your shipmates. 

Just read Cibola Burn? Try Mass Effect

The human race has just begun its climb to intergalactic empire in Cibola Burn, but Mass Effect still manages to capture the *cough cough* expansive feeling of traveling across galaxies to connect with other human settlements. As an RPG it also lets you organically grow and connect with your own space crew in a way that no other game has quite managed. Expanse fans turning to Mass Effect will probably end up finding their second-fa??vorite sci-fi series in the games. 

Just read Nemesis Games? Try Children of a Dead Earth

A new kind of space warfare has broken out by the end of Nemesis Games, and that deserves a new kind of battle simulator. Children of a Dead Earth boasts that it's “the most scientifically accurate space warfare simulator ever made,â€?and I see no reason to argue. If you want to truly dig into the ship engineering and orbital mechanics that goes into every pulse-pounding skirmish in The Expanse, then this is the one for you. 

Just read Babylon’s Ashes? Try Terra Invicta

By this point in the series there's an all-out war between the inner planets and the OPA. Terra Invicta sees humanity being attacked by aliens, but the game also has a focus on factions. The secret to victory in this strategy game is to consolidate power on Earth in order to construct a strong enough fleet to challenge the aliens that are flying toward us from the edge of the solar system. It’s a great depiction of a war that spans? the entire Sol system. 

Just read Persepolis Rising? Try Elite Dangerous

Elite Dangerous feels quite a bit like the world of The Expanse just before Duarte launches his invasion in Persepolis Rising. Humanity has spread throughout the stars, and the game is essentially a flight simulator that gives you various jobs like mining, interstellar delivery, and pirate hunting to complete. The galaxy in Elite is actually the Milky Way, and all the small touches that make Elite’s simula?tion feel so rea??l help make this otherwise simple game incredibly engaging â€?particularly in VR. 

Just read Tiamat’s Wrath? Try FTL : Faster Than Light

So many characters in Tiamat’s Wrath are forced to risk their lives sneaking through dangerous enemy space, and that’s the entire premise of FTL. In this rog??uelike you play as a crew, or really a ship, delivering important wartime intel across the galaxy. You’ll need to upgrade your ship and hire new crew members while navigating through space. At every turn you’ll encounter enemies that will try to shoot you down, board you, or otherwise put your mission to an early end. 

Just read Leviathan Falls? Try Stellaris

By the end of The Expanse, humanity isn’t just fighting themselves but the very godlike beings that once ended all advanced life in the galaxy. Stellaris is a 4x game that takes things to that scale. You construct an empire from the ground-up, spreading throughout the stars and encountering the mysteries ??of space while trying to grow your people into a prosperous civilization. This is the perfect space game for people who love the intense management of real-time strategy games with a dizzying array of routes to pursue.&?nbsp;

Just read Memory’s Legion? Try Starfield

Memory’s Legion is a collection of stories that encompasses the entire timeline of The Expanse. Because it focuses on a humans-only future where the species has spread out to the stars that are at least a little close to home, Starfield feels like a natural continuation of these stories. Thanks to being a Bethesda-style RPG, Starfield checks a number of boxes all while portraying a future that could have been an alternate version of The Expanse where humanity never discovered the protomolecule and the s?ecrets it unlocked. 

The post 10 best games to play if you love The Expanse appeared first on Destructoid.

While Starfield is nearly here, you might not be partaking (for whatever reason!). From the thoroughly entertaining The Outer Worlds to the unrestricted freedom of No Man's Sky, let's look at the six best games thematically similar to Starfield that will satisfy?? your sci-fi-loving brain right n??ow.

[caption id="attachment_367652" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Deep Silver[/caption]

Chorus

One of the most underrated games in 2021, Chorus should be on your list if you crave sci-fi action. While you can't get out of your spaceship and wander about, there is an open area to explore as you fly at high speed through asteroids and space gates. The combat impresses with its fast-paced action and powerful weapons. There's also an?? intriguing storyline to follow, complete with side quests to complement it.

[caption id="attachment_367674" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Frontier Developments[/caption]

Elite Dangerous

Want to explore the stars but you're stuck at home with a 9-5 job? Elite Dangerous might be able to transport you beyond the skies above. You'll be upgrading your ship as you fight enemy forces, explore the beautiful cosmos, and soar amongst the stars alongside your friends. There's also a major sense of scale as the developer claims on its Steam page that "the entirety of the Milky Way [is] re-created at its full galactic proportions". It has been free on the Epic Games Store in the past, so check your library if y??ou haven't already.

[caption id="attachment_367676" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via EA[/caption]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

One of Bethesda's greatest aspects is its storytelling. The majority of its games have immense lore and an intriguing storyline full of interesting characters. The Mass Effect series offers a similarly strong narrative that has you invested in its roster of heroes and villains. In addition, the worldbuilding is outstanding, as you get more intrigued by the factions and environments of this sci-fi universe the deeper you delve into it. Hopefully, Starfield will offer a story that has just as much drama as the legendary ?BioWare series.

[caption id="attachment_367643" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Hello Games[/caption]

No Man's Sky

With one of the rockiest launches in modern gaming history, No Man's Sky was a shell of the promises original made by the developer Hello Games. Fortunately, over the years, the game has received wide acclaim for its bevy of features, stunning landscapes, and introduction of co-op. The randomized nature of the game has given us strange new creatures and gorgeous scenery that fans often share their pictures of No Man's Sky. Starfield also features many, many worlds; No Man's Sky has likely inspired Bethesda with its daring concept, for b??etter or f??or worse. Hopefully, the former.

[caption id="attachment_367661" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Annapurna Interactive[/caption]

Outer Wilds

If No Man's Sky doesn't tickle your fancy, Outer Wilds might instead. You're exploring a solar system that is trapped in a time loop, and it is up to you to solve the mystery behind it. The planets in this game each offer their own little secrets to discover as you find out details about the Dark Bramble and the alien ruins across the system. While there are no RPG mechanics to speak of, Outer Wilds will likely give you the same exploratory rush in Starfield. Nevertheless, Josh Talentino called the game "Superb" in his review for Destructoid.

[caption id="attachment_367670" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Private Division[/caption]

The Outer Worlds

The closest game you'll get to Starfield is probably The Outer Worlds. Not to be confused with the similarly titled last entry, this Obsidian FPS/RPG has an exciting and engaging campaign. You'll find well-written characters, an entertaining loot-and-shoot game loop, and a captivating story. The Outer Worlds does not feature interspace combat or a huge universe to explore. However, the densely populated environments have engrossing side missions and inspired art design. In fact, The Outer Worlds was Destructoid's 2019 Game of the Year.

[caption id="attachment_395803" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via 505 Games[/caption]

Death Stranding

While there aren't "traditional" RPG mechanics in Death Stranding, that sense of exploration from Starfield is present in the game. You’re delivering packages throughout the world and helping connect the once-separated areas of post-apocalyptic America back together. Directed by Metal Gear Solid veteran Hideo Kojima??, its sci-fi concepts are thought-provoking and stunning to behold.

The interactability between players is also unique as you help each other form a better world. Death Stranding’s availabl??e on Xbox Game Pass for PC if you want to check it out.

[caption id="attachment_395804" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via KeokeN Interactive[/caption]

Deliver Us The Moon

If you want to explore a sci-fi world without chaotic shooting gameplay, Deliver Us The Moon might be your ticket. You’re exploring a space station that is unresponsive and within it, you’ll discover exactly what has happened. The story is told in a quiet, ye??t impactful way. The puzzles are also well-imp?lemented.

The detailed environments also present the story well, hopefully like Starfield. It’s a sci-fi game that’s a brea??th of fr?esh air (well, at least as fresh as it can be in space).

[caption id="attachment_395805" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via EA[/caption]

Star Wars Squadrons

Lastly, there’s Star Wars Squadrons. The force is strong with this one! If you want to prepare yourself for ship battles in Starfield, you can control various Star Wars ships in Squadrons, and it's a rush to shoot an Imperial ship in an X-Wing in this g?ame. The c?ockpit view is also one-to-one to what Rebels like Wedge and Luke saw back in the day with all the visual do-hickeys and buttons intact.

As our review notes: “It finds a great balance between making the player feel like a responsible pilot and a complete badass.�/p>

The post The 9 best games similar to Starfield that you can play now (Up??dated) appeared first on Destructoid.

Odyssey temporarily halted

Frontier Developments has announced that it has been forced to delay the launch of Odyssey, the incoming expansion to interstellar explorer Elite Dangerous. Citing the COVID-19 pandemic as causing "ongoing impact" on productio?n, the DLC will now arrive later in 2021.

"2020 was a difficult year for many, but in spite of those challenges we are pleased with our progress towards what is a truly ambitious new era for the game," said Frontier on the official Elite Dangerous website. "We've been delighted with the excitement and positive response to our development diaries, interviews, stream?s and trailers and want to thank all of you for your continued support."

"The ongoing impact of the pandemic however, including the renewed lockdowns in 2021, continues to put added pressure on our teams and ultimately our development timeline. We have therefore had t?o make the difficult decision to make some adjustments and changes to our existing development ro??admap."

According to the post, the PC edition of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is now tentatively scheduled to launch its alpha in "early spring," with the full release expected soon thereafter. Unfortunately for console players, the delay is more significant, with Odyssey not expected to arrive on PS4 and X?box One until Autumn 2021 at the earliest.

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey will bring a cavalcade of new features to the sci-fi adventure. Perhaps the biggest addition offers players the opportunity to leave the relative safety of their ship to explore planets on-foot, offering both first-person exploration a??s well as heart-pounding combat against the denizens of uncharted worlds. A bold new frontier indeed.

The post Elite Dangerous: Od?yssey expansion delayed due?? to pandemic impact appeared first on Destructoid.

You can also redeem The World Next Door

This week's Epi??c Games Store giveaway mixes the f?amiliar with the new.

Until next Thursday, November 26, you can nab Elite Dangerous and The World Next Door. If you've always thought about trying your hand at exploring the vastness of space but you never found the right time – or should I say enough time – for Elite Dangerous, it's a good opp??, especially if you're set up for VR flights. Frontier Developments is still supporting the game with ongoing expansion content, too.

I had never heard of The World Next Door, and I figure that goes for most of you. It's part visual novel, part action-puzzle-batt?ler. Interesting combo! The plot centers on Jun, a teen trying to return home from a magical world "before time runs out," and there are dialog and relationship choices to fuss over.

I'm more excited about next week's pick-up, MudRunner, for its out-there factor. I'd never buy an all-terrain vehicle simulator, but I wou??ld abs??olutely check one out for free. I've heard good things.

While filling in the tags for this post, "Elite Beat Agents" pop??ped up and I got real sad.

The post Elite Dangerous is free on the Epic Store this ??week and MudRunner is coming next appeared first on Destructoid.

Where there's never a final frontier

It's hard to accurately convey what a game-changing, mind-blowing experience it was when Firebird's intergalactic, space-trading adventure Elite first hit home computers back in 1984. It wouldn't be amiss to compare it to the 2001 launch of Grand Theft Auto III, as Elite - for the first time - opened up the linear worlds of gaming's formative years, and instead of telling the player what to do, asked "What do you want to do?"

It's a mentality that is alive and well today in the form of Frontier's Elite Dangerous, which retains the exploratory instincts, and deep, open-ended gameplay of the original series, now dressed up in enticing and atmospheric modern-day visuals and sound. Since its initial launch in 2014, Elite Dangerous has grown into an epic inter-planetary adve??nture, hooking in new players with each passing update and offering endless hours of a??dventure.

If you are yet to blast off into the great unknown yourself, then next week could provide the perfect opportunity, as the base edition of Elite Dangerous will be given away gratis on PC via Epic Games Store. From November 19 through November 26, all you need do is log in to your EGS account and pick the game up, and you're?? good to? go.

Who knows??? Your next all-night gaming obsession could?? be a mere week away.

The post Elite Dangerous will be free next week on Epic Games Stor?e appeared first on Destructoid.

It's joining the base game next month

If Elite Dangerous is the final frontier, then its Horizons&nb??sp;expansion ??is the free frontier. Starting in a month, anyway.

Elite Dangerous is getting an update next month that rolls the Horizons add-on into the base game on all platforms. You could look at this and say it's permanently free. But, it might be more appropriate to say that Horizons is just part of the standard Elite Dangerous experience from now on. 

Whichever way you view it, Elite Dangerous is going to get bigger on October 27. For anyone who already purchased Horizons, they'll get Azure paint jobs that can be used on all ships in the game. Horizons will remain on sale until October 26, effectively only so people have a last chance to buy those Azu??re paint jobs. That doesn't seem like an amazing use of $30 but I'm not in charge of your personal finances.

Horizons is Elite Dangerous' only real content expansion, but this shrewd move is clearly a means of onboarding new players before 2021's Odyssey add-on. There's a lot to be excited about when it comes to Odyssey, as this is the expansion that'll allow you to ditch the spaceship and explore planets on foot. Developer Frontier is knocking down barriers to get deep into the Elite Dangerous ecosystem in hopes that it'll translate to Odyssey sales. It makes sense. When a game like Elite Dangerous gets its hooks in someone, it usually doesn't? let up for a long time.

The post Elite Dangerous won’t charge for its Horizon expansion anymore appeared first on Destructoid.

Frontier doesn't want the expansion to feel 'compartmentalized'

Frontier Developments is starting to open up about Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, the next step in the space sim's ongoing adventures. In this "early 2021" expansion, you'll be able to ditch your ship for a bit of otherworldly on-foot exploration. Better yet, you'll be abl??e to scan alien vegetation and sell the data.

I recently spoke with a pair of developers working on Odyssey to try and fill in a few of the blanks.

Art director Jonathan Bottone called Odyssey "one of the largest updates where we've taken the technology that we had originally, reworked it based on the simulation, and created an even more immersive experience than before." Players have been losing themselves in Elite Dangerous since 2014.

Odyssey is a visible new entry point for the long-running game but "not at the expense of the existing player base," according to lead designer Gareth Hughes. Frontier is sticking to the "fundamentals" of Elite. "For us, it's combat, trade, exploration, and all the blurr?y bits in between that?? merge," he said.

"It's 'How can we take? those things from the space game and transpose those into on-foot so it doesn't? feel like we're making a compartmentalized addition?' It feels like a layer across the whole game."

Planetary exploration will be a matter of "How far can I go before my ??suit energy starts to run out? Am I going to be able to make it back to my ship? Am I going to be ambushed while I'm out there?"

"We're playing around with how heat, gravity,?? and radiation will affect the player," said Hughes.

"We're still balancing that stuff. It has to be enough of a threat without suppressing your ability to actually go o?ut and explore. It's a really fine balance to make these environmental factors meaningful without them affecting the gameplay loop so severely that ?it's no longer fun."

Whatever it takes to fill in Codex entries, I'm probably in?. They'll claw away at my mind.

Aside from your pilot's scanner – a tool used to "identify organics in your locality on the planet s?urface" and extract "genetic information that can be sold back at port" – I had to ask abo??ut outposts.

Hughes told me that human settlements are "populated by the factions you're used to seeing." You can accept missions from NPCs, trade with them, "massacre them," play the role of pirate – the usual. Elite Dangerous "do??esn't tell ??you who you have to be and when you have to be that."

Players will also be able to disembark at ports. They're intended to be "social hubs where you can meet other players, find mission givers that you might not otherwise experience, and create a safe space where pilots can meet and do piloty things," according to Hughes. "The social element is importan??t."

I'm curious to see how on-foot combat shapes up – it wasn't shown during the remote press event – and how well Frontier will manage to keep planets feeling distinct from one another given the scope of Elite in general and this DLC in particular. Odyssey seems like a challenge, but it's one? w?orth taking on.

The post Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is a ‘layer across the whole game’ appeared first on Destructoid.

Moonwalk

The next major Elite Dangerous expansion ???will put players in a position they've never been before: Upright, on two legs, walking about extraterrestrial planets.

In March 2019, Elite Dangerous developer Frontier Developments teased that the next major update would be "a defining moment in the history of the game." We now know the scope of that statement. The Odyssey expansion will i??????????????????????????ntroduce atmospheric la??ndings and exploring on foot.

There's more, of course. Frontier also describes NPC mission-give??rs, encounters that range from stealth to "all-out combat" (from a first-person perspective), social hubs, and a deep cus?tomization system for weapons and armor.

In a way, it sort of sounds like the Dust 514 to EVE Online. But, we'll find out more about the nitty gritty of Elite Dangerous: Odyssey sometime ?down the road. It's currently expected to launch in early 2021.

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey Announcement [Frontier Developments]

The post Walking is one small step for m?an, one giant leap for?? Elite Dangerous players appeared first on Destructoid.

Packed my bags last night, pre-flight...

Frontier Developments has released a slew of details pertaining to the next update to their intergalactic sim, Elite Dangerous. Expected to release on April 23, this new update brings all sorts of new content to the ever-gr?owing space adventure, so let's dive right in.

First up is the all-new Beginner's Zone, which will offer brand new Commanders a selection of simpler missions, designed to help budding explorers earn their wings and understand Elite Dangerous' features, controls, and mechanics. Speaking of ease, a new? Advanced Docking Computer will be added to all newly-purchased ships going forward, making landing and takeof?f a breeze for those with a less than steady control hand.

The new Pilot's Handbook will be an index of the universe, of sorts, allowing t?raders and sky pirates to check out informat?ion on opportunities and quests in the area, which can be directly linked to your ship's cockpit. Speaking of ships, module options are being increased, with all ships new and old to be fitted with extra Optional Internal slots.

The Community Events are being replaced by an all-new feature: Interstellar Initiatives. These will be month-long missions, built up of several phra??se?s, that hint at having possible long-term repercussions on the galaxy. Expect more info on these soon.

As well as all of the above, there will be changes to certain menus, tabs, and HUDs, tips added to the loading screens, along with the latest glut of bug fixes. It's a pretty meaty update. You can check out the full patch notes over at the official Elite Dangerous blog.

Elite Dangerous is available now on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

The post Elite Dangerous April update brings new Beginner’s Zone, module slots and monthly activities appeared first on Destructoid.

Space opera expansion coming next year

Those of you still cruising through the deep reaches of outer space in epic intergalactic adventure Elite Dangerous might have to get comfortable whilst you wait for some new content, as it appears the next major update won't be coming until late 2020.

Although Frontier Developments' exploratory simulation has received two major expansions to date - Horizons and Beyond - the developer believes it will be some time before they are ready to add another similarly hefty content update. When it does ar?rive, however, it is expected to be something very special indeed.

"We can understand that having a long wait for news can be frustrating," said the team in a statement. "But we truly believe that this will be the single most impactful update for our community. Having a development team dedicated to this milestone is our continued and unwavering commitment to making Elite Dangerous the most ??authentic, ambitious, and expa??nsive evolving space game in the world."

Originally launching in 2014, Elite Dangerous is a sequel to the 1984 home computer title Elite, still considered by many to be one the greatest video games ever made. Elite Dangerous allows players to explore an ex??pansive representation of The Milky Way, going o??n missions, transporting stock, or just cooly drifting along like George Peppard in Battle Beyond the Stars.

The Elite Dangerous community are a passionate and dedicated bunch, and hop?efully this will be well rewarded when Frontier Developments finally deliver this long awaited update. In the meantime, numerous smaller updates will still ??be drip-fed over the coming months, so players will be able to continue their journey to infinity and beyond.

Elite Dangerous is available now on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

The post Elite: Dangerous will receive its ??ne??xt major update in 2020 appeared first on Destructoid.

Intergalactic fake news

October 4 was National Poetry Day, which, in parlance with the event, led to many people taking to twitter to express their thoughts and feelings through rhyme. One Elite Dangerous player, however seems to have taken things a little too far for Twitter's sensitive algorithms.

Posting on the official Twitter account for the space-trading epic, the Elite Dangerous social media team offered the following poem:

There once was a pilot from Lave,
Who wasn't particularly brave.
He encountered a Thargoid,
Who he tried to avoid,
But now he's one foot in the grave!

Belgian Elite fan Tim Wellens, inspired by this simple limerick, responded with a ko??oky ?poem of his own:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Thargoid or foe,
I will come to kill you. o7

Unfortunately, Wellens then found himself on the receiving end of a suspension from Twitter. Quoting his own masterpiece back at him, Twitter accused Wellens of "Violating our rules against posting violent threats", reiterating that "You may not make specific?? threats of violence or the physical harm, death or disease of an individual or a group of people". I guess that includes ficti?onal intergalactic villains.

Wellens has since appealed twice against the suspension, to no avail. Speaking with Eurogamer, Wellens spoke of his frustration of feeling he's up against a computer, rather than human beings to whom he can simply explain the situation. "It would have only taken them five seconds to see that my tweet was completely harmless," explains Wellens. "and I have s??een much more violent tweets than mine.??.. Trump even threatened Korea with fire and death."

Algorithms, man. They'll? be the u??ltimate judgement of us all.

Twitter bans Elite Dang??erous player for writing poem about killing Thargoids [Eurogamer]

The post Elite Dangerous player writes poem about ??game, gets suspended on Twitter appeared first on Destructoid.

Test out Beyond - Chapter One on January 25

Elite Dangerous picks back up this year with a third season, Beyond, and PC/Mac players will soon be able to test out its first chunk of content. Frontier Developments is holding an open beta on January 25 for Beyond - Chapter One before its full launch on PC, PS??4, and Xbox One in Q1 2018.

Here's a summary of what's coming up:

New Ship: Chieftain
Elite Dangerous Horizons Commanders will also be able to take to the stars in the new Alliance Chieftain, designed not onl??y to dish out punishment, but to avoi??d it. Manufactured by Lakon Spaceways, the Chieftain is more maneuverable than ships of similar size and weight, and its combat profile means it can more than hold its own in a fight.

Improved Core Mechanics
Chapter 1 of Beyond will bring improvements to some of Elite Dangerous' core mechanics, including accessibility enhancement??s to the engineering mechanics, an overhaul of mission rewards and big changes to Crime and Punishment. We’ll be sharing more information on the changes to Crime and Punishment, and the Engineers in a future post here on the forums and in the livestreams mentioned above.

Wing Missions
Chapter 1 of Beyond will give you?? the chance t?o take on wing missions with your fellow Commanders, sharing both the efforts and rewards.

Revised Trade Data
Commanders will now ??be able to access trade data from systems they have previously visited, in order to make more informe??d decisions when shipping goods across the Milky Way.

Planetary Visual Improvements
Chapter 1 also includes the first of the planetary visual improvements coming as part of the Beyond series of updates (with more surface level improvements coming later in the year) bringing a new vibrancy to the Elite Dangerous galaxy.

GalNet Audio
With the introduction of GalNet Audio, y??ou will be able to catch up on the latest news from across the galaxy without ever leaving the action.

This stuff will be free. That said, some of the upcoming improvements are only accessible to Elite Dangerous: Horizons owners. As Frontier puts it, "those without Horizons will still get access to the changes that affect the base game (such as the modifications to Crime and Punishme??nt)."

"Throughout 2018 we're bringing four Beyond updates to Elite Dangerous Commanders which focus on adding new content, uncovering and progressing the mysteries of the galaxy and enhancing existing core gameplay experiences," says Frontier. Beyond - Chapter One will be "fo?llowed by two smaller content updates through the year and our largest update coming in Q4."

I continue to like the idea of this game but haven't taken the plunge.

E?li?te Dangerous: Beyond - Chapter One Beta Announcement [Frontier]

The post The ?new season of Elite Dangerous starts this month with an open beta appeared first on Destructoid.

Staring into the abyss

The other day I spent a couple of hours at work reading about sailboats. Like a ten-year-old with a new fascination after discovering Treasure Island or some other seafaring fantasy, I was obsessing over famous ships from the past, and the prospect of buying one of my own when we move away from here, out of this big unfriendly city, and try to set?tle down in an island town next year to reform our lives.

I went home that evening and turned on Elite Dangerous. A game I have been playing since summer of last year. A game I gave high praise to here at Destructoid when I reviewed the PS4 version a couple of months ago. I hear all kinds of negativity tossed in this game's direction. It is boring, it doesn’t feel complete, it’s a “space truck simulator,” you just deliver stuff from one place to?? the next ad infinitum.

They ar??e all right, an?d yet so wrong at the same time.

Boring is such a subjective thing. I can understand the intimidation of having to fly 200,000 light years within a system to get s??omewhere, sitting and staring at a screen for twenty minutes with naught else to do but peruse a starmap or check your cargo manifest or rankings. To most people that is like watching paint dry. But I’ll illuminate something here to try and make more sense as to why I actually find that appealing.

I get up every day at 6AM. At one point in my life it used to be much earlier, but it’s around 6 now and I can’t often get up much later. I am a troubled sleeper for whatever reason. Typically I go through emails, check the news, the weather, and then start to get ready. At 7, my kids get up, so I get them dressed, feed them breakfast, help clean them up, brush my dau?ghter's hair, get lunch made, pack their bags, sign off on homework, and then get their gear on to go to school.

On my day off, I typically drive my wife to w??ork, then my daughter to school, then my son to preschool. He is away for an hour and a half, so I clean the house in that time generally. My wife is pregnant and her pregnancies are very tough on her. She has some medical issues where we run a higher risk for miscarriage among other things, and by ?the end of the day, she is so tired she can barely move. But she still decides to work a couple of days a week because she loves her job. That being said, she needs help around the house so I do that.

When my son gets home, it’s play time, and lunch time. I spend the rest of the day with him typically playing until my daughter gets home. Then the three of us play, and read, and do activities. Then we clean together (their room is ceaselessly untidy). I then prepare dinner and we go and pi??ck up my wife. We eat, and if we have any errands (which we usually do) we go and get those done.

The days I work, the rest of the ??week, are usually far tighter. I try to do as much of the aforementioned activities as possible without sacrifice, but work it in around eight hours of work. My job is either extremely quiet or busy, and seldom in between. When it’s quiet I do a lot of reading. I don’t have time to write; I tried to when I first started with Destructoid, but it was hard to stay focused wh??en I was constantly being interrupted.

After our errands and dinner, it’s either bath time, clean-up time, story time, pajama time, or some combination thereof. We try to have the kids in bed by 9. After that, we usually?? sit and talk about our days, and about life in general. My wife has a tough tim??e falling asleep due to her discomfort, so I’ll then typically lay with her and read to her. TV just seems to keep her awake, and she can’t stand silence. Luckily this usually doesn’t take too long. My voice is droll, monotone, and nasal. This is why you’ll never see me in a video or hear me in a podcast. But miraculously it provides somebody some comfort, I guess.

By 10PM, I am finally alone. But I don’t have the energy for a frantic game of PUBG, or the concentration to sit and master an old NES classic all the time. Often I don’t even game at all. But my favorite, favorite thing to do is to pick up Elite Dangerous, and fly around the stars.

Sometimes I bounty hunt, if I’m looking for a little excitement. More often I haul goods from star to star, carefully plotting my own routes, trying to keep w??ithin a certain cluster to build up reputation with certain factions. Sometimes I just find an unknown system and fly around it, individually exploring each new discovery to add to my roster. And all of this typically involves staring at a screen, usually for minutes at a time, and listening to the sci-fi ambience as I watch numbers countdown to my destination.

It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. It's my little so??litude to end the day.

When we went on vacation to Vancouver Island, which is where I grew up as a kid, it was probably the most relaxed all of us had ever been. I don’t remember ever seeing m?y wife so content or happy. And the moment I realized that’s what I wanted more of, and that it might be good for all of us, was sitting in a kayak. I had been fighting tough waves all day, pushing further and further out of the bay, turning back around swiftly to let it fire me back toward the shore as the spit rolled over me and damn near tipped me several times. But when the wind subsided and I found my arms were too tired to push, I just sat there. It was probably no more than fifteen minutes but it felt like an eternity, just? sat there listening to the water slowly churn around the boat, with everything else completely silent.

The world of Elite is very much treated like you are a ship captain on the high seas. There is a vastness to it that would not be as effective if you? could just fast travel to where you needed in an instant. Of course your frame shift drive allows you to jump quickly to different systems, but someti??mes you need to cruise through vast distances within those systems, often at one hundred times light speed in order to get to any major astrological body. I can understand this being very frustrating for folks who just want to get on with it. But in the suburb where I live, when it’s too cold or dark to sit outside and enjoy it while cars are zipping down the road in front, it’s the one place I get to go where time just seems to stop for a minute, where I’m not distracted by a million sounds, where I can literally stare off into space and wind down, occasionally treated to a beautiful earth-world, gas giant, or nebula.

When we move, and we will move come hell or high water because every ounce of my time right now is spent planning, organiz??ing, and saving money, it will be a big change for all of us. There are no guarantees it will work out, and we will have to sacrifice, I’m sure, in order to make it happen. But when we do, I want a sailboat. I’m not picky; a ten footer would be fine at first, something to learn on. What little free time I’ll undoubtedly also have there, I can take it out, and just sit in the water.

But for now, I have Elite Dangerous. My escape. Not as much a game for me a??s?? it is a micro-vacation, the same way a cigarette is for some, golf for others. It’s my sanctuary and my respite from the insanity of living.

What’s yours?

The post Why Elite Dangerous is my nightly holiday appeared first on Destructoid.

2017: A Space Odyssey

The other day my son came downstairs long after bedtime. He didn’t want a drink of water or another story; he heard? me jumping into hyperspace and wanted to watch. At three he is already a space nut who can name every planet in our solar system including most of the moons. He is completely fixated on learning about our solar system, and when he watches TV, it’s usually documentaries on YouTube. 

Elite Dangerous is a game for him and anyone else who grew up looking up the stars, watching Star Trek or some variation thereof with their parents, who dreamed of being an astronaut and who wanted a telescope instead of a baseball bat for their birthday. I fall squarely within that category; I grew up on games like Star Control 2, the Wing Commander series, and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation with my dad, and dreamed of what could be out there in?? the endless cosmos wai??ting to be discovered.

Elite Dangerous fulfills the fantasy of taking flight in a galaxy of seemingly endless discovery, with all the thrilling fun that comes along with staring at star maps, keeping an eye on fuel levels, and comparing the price of commodities from system to system. If any of that sounds dull to you, here’s the good news; you probably already have your answer concerning whether or not you should play Elite Dangerous. And if you have been waiting for the PlayStation 4 release but were concerned about how it would translate from the PC, this port will not disappo??int you.

Elite Dangerous: Commander Deluxe Edition (PC, Xbox One, PS4 [reviewed])
Developer: Frontier Developments PLC
Publisher: Frontier Developments PLC
Released: June 27, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

Elite Dangerous knows its audience and doesn’t make much of an effort to cushion the blow of what it represents; a living fictional galactic economy and ecosystem where you play the role of an individual looking to “make it” in the universe. After going through a couple of dull but functional (and entirely critical) tutorials, you will start the game in a station with zero direction on what you should be doing next. From here on, you will quickly learn that a big part of playing Elite Dangerous is actively reading wiki pages, forums, and docu?men?tation.

And if any of that scares you off, I’m sorry to say that this is a basic requirement in enjoying Elite. Nothing is laid out on a silver platter and you are expected to comply and get into this flow of what can only be called study very early on in order to tackle the galaxy sized learning curve that awaits you. Elite is a game that thoroughly rewards your knowledge? and understanding of its many systems and without paying cl??ose attention to the dichotomy at play here, you will not be doing much more than flying through space aimlessly.

The first order of business will be learning to control your ship. The Sidewinder is a functional slow moving beast that is fantastic to learn with. Until I started getting accustomed to other ships I didn’t appreciate the balance and suitability of this ship for new players. Once you find yourself in a Cobra or something better, you will grit your teeth in frustration should the time come when you are not watching your funds and your insurance is not enough to put you back? in something better, forcing you to effectively start the game over in the Sidewinder.

While faction relationships and ranks are maintained, there is no leveling system here; ??effectively you are your ship and its equipment, and if that gets blown away, so does the bulk of your time and progress. It's a rough start with the Sidewinder early on, but with a bit of time and modification you can build it into something decent and start making some decent credits doing cargo delivery or even tagging along with Federal ships in low security resource ?areas and picking off stray pirates with your meager loadout.

Apart from the basics of landing and taking off and learning the myriad controls of the ship which on its own will take hours, you will also need to learn about the Mission Board, Commodities, Factions, and Ship Outfitting among other things. This will take some time. Even basic navigation feels like a herculean task to undertake at the start, but my biggest advice is to jump right in and start doing. Curio??us what the value of Tobacco is a few systems over? Buy a couple of units and go out there, check your star map for delivery routes, see if you net a profit.

Earl?y on it pays to stick within a cl?uster of star systems to be able to get your bearings and understand how your actions affect reputation, and grasp the general fundamentals of trade. Combat is another thing better suited for after you get a decent ship, but bringing your Sidewinder into a low intensity conflict zone or two will get you accustomed to the basics without much at stake to lose, assuming you don’t piss off any local officials and find yourself being hunted every time you enter that system until the bounty on your head wears off.

After you have spent a few hours getting to grips with the flow of game play you can get a little more ambitious and start taking on more dangerous missions. If you have a friend to play online with, this can be a lot of fun. On PC me and my pals would regularly get together for a time hunting down bounties, the better of us carrying the bottom feeders until they (well, I) could afford to get better equipment. On the PS?4 the drop-in online modes are intact, though I found my time in open-play to be somewhat problematic on a technical level with delays in jumping, the occasional menu locking up, and other minor issues that were not present during my time in solo mode. Considering I am playing r??ight at launch, It isn’t much of a surprise, and I’m sure any bugs or kinks will be worked out on Frontier’s end before long.

As a PC player, online was seamless, and true to the title of the game, bloody fucking dangerous. There is nothing more terrifying than getting a private message saying “You can either ?drop your cargo, or I can blow you away and tak??e it” from a dude cruising around in an Anaconda who could wipe you out in a second. And even if you do decide to be gracious in granting his request, he might just decide do it anyways.

But oh, the sweet feeling of revenge should you be able to build yourself up and do it back to him later. Elite Dangerous feels like a persistent universe, and a part of this immersion is the mysterious way in which updates are doled out. The dreaded Thargoid, an insectoid alien race, were nowhere to be seen early on despite being a staple of the series. As updates were rolled out, people started finding “barnacles” on the surface of the odd planet, ancient Thargoid structures, and now as of the 2.4 Horizons update, Thargoid appear to have completely returned to the universe of Elite and are going to be a dangerous force to be?? reckoned with.

You can play the game blindly, enjoying the different loops of trading, combat, and exploration it has to offer, but it works best as an ongoing experience. I strongly consider at least reading the news updates in game and out, and checking out the forums and Reddit if you are going to participate; community is big here, and even if you play solo entirely and never meet another commander face to face, it will still feel like a more lively experience if you are on the up and up of what’s going on in the galaxy. This is ??your second life in space as much as it is a video game, and? the level of engagement it offers can be addicting.

Speaking of game play loops, missions are the core of what Elite is really about. In order to make any reasonably good money?? early on apart from loading up on some commodity that has a high yield in another system, you really will need to take on missions from the various factions and make sure your ship is equipped to continuously handle those with higher risk and requirements. While there are better ways ??to make a quick buck, these are typically safer options when getting started. While you may be attacked by pirates while doing a data delivery or cargo delivery mission, it usually isn’t too tough to escape to safety as long as you have a basic concept of how to properly pilot your ship. And by sticking around in a factions territory and completing multiple missions for them, better ones that pay out more will gradually become available.

And you can move between loops as well. There is no class locking you into a particular style. The majority of ships have quite a bit of wiggle room to allow for extensive customization and you can store unused modules for later if you want to make room for new ones, or trade them back for a bit of a discount if you want to jump right from being a trucker to a combat specialist. So any time you are getting board with hauling explosives ten systems away, you can switch it up and do something else which is good because to be frank, if I have a complaint with Elite, it’s in the sameness of the mi??ss?ion structure.

Apart from the odd random encounter and mission critical message which will pop in to change things or offer you a secondary objective, there is really not much difference between one boom data delivery or assassination mission and the next. If you are looking for a consistent narrative or a cinematic experience of any kind in Elite, you aren’t going to find it in the traditional sense. You may find yourself talking about the time you cra?shed into a Federal ship by mistake and had to book it out of a system, or the time you narrowly escap??ed plasma death from a roving pirate, but these are your stories. You are going to create them as you play, and if you find the idea of the game play loops available here boring, that may be a very short amount of time indeed.

In addition to the main mode of play there is also a CQC Arena option which throws you into a multiplayer arena in a halfway decent ship in Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag. Like most multiplayer modes these days you will gain experience and grow in rank the more you play and will unlock new ships, loadouts, and modules to mess about with. It took me by surprise how fun this was; I never tried Arena over on the PC but gave it a shot during my time with Elite on PS4 and had a blast. It took awhile to find a match since the main bread and butter of Elite Dangerous is certainly not Arena, but it was a seamless, lag fr?ee expe?rience.

The thrill of racing through a space packed with obstacles and dog fighting has an intensity here that is seen far more seldom in the main gameplay. It’s definitely a side show but due to the mechanics of Elite Dangerous’ combat and flying mechanics being?? so tight, it’s a lovely little distraction overa??ll.

Technically the PS4 release of Elite Dangerous does an adequate job of preserving the quality of the PC version. On launch it suffered screen tearing issues?? which have since been patched. Otherwise the port is fairly consistent and looks great, al?l things considered. Having played with HOTAS joystick on PC, I was especially nervous how the controls were going to translate over. I had heard mixed things about both the PC and Xbox One versions regarding their controller setup, but I am pleased to say I found it to be quite comfortable and enjoyed myself just as much using a joystick.

The face buttons all bring up a larger menu, the motion control of the PS4 controller is used to good effect allowing you to free look when a toggle is pressed, and yaw and left and right thrusters can be toggled with a simple press of R3. Anything not tied to a button can be accessed from the comms menu, but I didn’t feel any pressing need to remap anything. f you don&rsquo??;t have a PC, or if you just want to explore the galaxy from the comfort of a couch, you are not fundamentally missing out on much by opting for the console port over the PC version.

A lot of my time in Elite Dangerous is spent just cruising around the galaxy. I love seeing new planets, stars, and just generally enjoying the ride. And that’s the beauty of it for me. I can take a break from the credit grind anytime and focus explicitly on exploration and still have some incentive from a progression standpoint to do so. The game rewards you for playing it however you choose to, and has an int??eresting enough algorithm for procedural generation with such a focus on realism that it all just clicks without much suspension of disbelief required to get lost in the immersion of it all.

The future of Elite Dangerous is exciting. This is a complete game; you can buy it right now and have a full experience without feeling like anything is missing. This was not entirely true until the Horizons expansion, which added several game play elements including planetary landing which is absolutely critical to completing the Elite experience. I can’t stress enough the importance of opting in for the expansions as they become available, but the meat is there, even if what they are promising seems hopelessly lofty (Walking around on populated planets with inhabited cities and hunting wild game? I’ll believe it when I see it - and I’m not sure it’s really necessary.) The model of smaller updates combined with major expansions to add continual layers to Elite works despite cr??iticisms of a fairly demandin?g pricing model.

Elite Dangerous is an investment if you buy into it and enjoy what it offers, which is an experience that is really like no other. Star Citizen has made big promises, but until there is an official release of some sort on the direct horizon, Elite Dangerous is the current reigning champion of the space trucker simulation for better or worse, even if it will only ever attract a ?small yet fierce following of enthusiastic commanders.

I am one of them, certainly. But I’d never recommend Elite; not directly. If you have looked at it and said “it seems boring”, “it’s a spreadsheet simulator” or “I just don’t get what is appealing about it”, you will probably never be won over by the game in its current state. But if you read up on the planets for fun, enjoy movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, or Moon, or find the idea of hauling cargo from system to system and maybe getting in the odd fight along the way appealing, there is very little else out there like Elite Dangerous. I'm highly recommending it despite the tedium in its game play and the long periods of time you will spend just looking at stars/reading stuff on a screen. It is a beautiful, one of a kind experience that I cherish, one of my favourite games in the last few years, and the PlayStation 4 release is no exception.

I might ev?en prefer it over PC because I can slump on my couch with a beer and chips and no pants on - the typical uniform of any good space trucke??r.

_{[This review is based on a retail version of the game provided by the publisher]}

The post Review: Elite Dangerous appeared first on Destructoid.

It'll debut with every expansion and the Horizons season pass

It's been slow going for PlayStation 4 owners waiting on Elite Dangerous. Xbox One and especially PC players are well acquainted with Frontier Developments' sprawling space sim by now, and as much as a surprise "It's out real soon!" announcement would've hit the spot after all this time, that's not the case. But we do have a release window for the slo?w-and-steady PS4 port, and it's Q2 2017.

Along with this accompanying trailer, the studio has spoken a bit about?? what's new for the PS4 version. There will be touchpad navigation for the map, four "hotkeys" that you can assign to the touchpad, and optional "motion-based headlook controls" for combat. Nothing too compelling, but then, I wouldn't expect anything substantially exclusive or different from the existing versions.

Arguably more useful than all of those minor features, there's also PlayStation 4 Pro support planned for Elite Dangerous, w??hich will leverage the console for "enhanced performance," whatever that entails.

I've found the idea of Elite simultaneously interesting and intimidating, which has kept me away??, but it sure looks cool. And for ??a game like this that sees lots of updates, there's something to be said for waiting until the time is right. (Is it?) I suppose we'll have to wait and see for the PS4 port.

The post See how Elite Dangerous is shap?ing up on PS4 ahead?? of its Q2 2017 launch appeared first on Destructoid.