Elite: Dangerous - Odyssey

 PC
Metascore
55

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 13
  3. Negative: 3 out of 13
  1. Eurogamer Italy
    May 30, 2021
    70
    Elite Dangerous Odyssey is a great expansion, but it came out too soon. Despite the good quality of the mission system and an adequate FPS module, the technical problems of this DLC are too serious to ignore.
  2. Cubed3
    Nov 29, 2021
    60
    Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is a fundamental shift in how this operates - literally. From space to the ground. Taking those first steps on a planet's surface after having landed there is simply awesome, and is decades in the making for fans of the Frontier franchise. The unfortunate reality however is that the performance is currently letting it down. Serious optimisation work is a necessity to iron out a multitude of issues - albeit it's probably not as bad as some are portraying in the immediate aftermath of release. While the new gameplay mechanics come with some variety for those bored of simple space combat, the shooting on the ground also needs a good deal of attention, with AI, and the general standard of combat, alongside the amount of different locations generated on planets, all in need of work. The thing is, this is a journey; a road map, and this is just the first staging post. Hopefully there's a lot more to come down the line.
  3. Areajugones
    May 26, 2021
    60
    Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is an expansion that has great ideas, but its lack of polish and content prevails over its innovation. As of today, we recommend to wait for its acquisition until Frontier Developments, as it sure will, refines its functionalities, then settling it as one of the most complete MMO of the industry.
  5. CD-Action
    Jul 23, 2021
    55
    While the base game attracted players with the vastness of space, this add-on narrows down the scale and has you complete missions on foot. Sadly, this pretty exciting idea was executed poorly. New tools (e.g. blowtorches and scanners), cool planetary facilities, and procedurally generated missions won’t prevent you from being swamp with repetitive tasks and samey visuals. Additionally, Odyssey is unstable and poorly optimized. [08/2021, p.67]
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  6. GameGrin
    Jun 1, 2021
    55
    A great base to build from for the future but in its current state it’s hard to recommend until Frontier gets in front of the performance issues and bugs that plague Odyssey right now.
  7. TheSixthAxis
    Jul 7, 2021
    50
    Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is an ambitious addition to the Elite formula that doesn’t quite hit the highs it should. It instead serves as a preview of what the game may be like in 6 or 12 months from now, and is hard to recommend as it currently is. Personally? I’d wait and see how Frontier Developments improves the game. Let’s face it, there’s still plenty to explore in Horizons.
  8. Attack of the Fanboy
    May 24, 2021
    50
    Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is an unfinished expansion with some cool ideas in need of a lot of additional iteration and work. As it currently stands the Elite Dangerous PC community is beta testing Odyssey for the inevitable console launch, despite the expansion being advertised as a finished product. Unless they don't mind paying to play in a glorified beta, commanders should stick with Horizons until the dust settles.
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  1. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    May 28, 2021
    I am an Elite apologist, and have been since the earliest of accesses. When I praise the exploration and simminess I do so from the mindset of a guy who can put on a playlist of songs and indulge in the kind of spaceman play-pretend reserved for toddlers in cardboard boxes. And I would be an ingrate if I did not acknowledge the delivery of those spacelegs I have so often requested. But even I can only stomach so much bugginess and general wonk. Hopefully in the future Frontier will finish working on Odyssey's borked features. When that happens, I'm sure this will be the place to jump in for new players. But I can't make that recommendation now. Perhaps if you're desperate to step foot on a strange world (lord knows I have been) this fancy-yet-malfunctioning ferry might satisfy you. For everyone else, stick with the spaceship you've got.

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Most Discussed PC Game of 2021

User Reviews

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User Score
3.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 55 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 55
  3. Negative: 37 out of 55
  1. Elebril
    May 23, 2021
    2
    "Elitepunk 3077"
    If it had been released on PS4 and Xbox One too, the PS Store would have another piece of garbage to remove.
    You pay $40    "Elitepunk 3077"
    If it had been released on PS4 and Xbox One too, the PS Store would have another piece of garbage to remove.
    You pay $40 for becoming a free beta tester for a s**t company before they release it on consoles.

    My first impressions just minutes after release:
    https://youtu.be/elg5-5-4UwM

    As of 23.05.2021, 4 days after release:
    The good:
    + station interiors look nice
    + stations are populated, some short voiced dialogues
    + infantry conflict zones are very basic but fun, check out my vid here:
    https://youtu.be/hqY359KMXRo

    + space legs indeed make the game even more immersive, ships look great from this perspective
    + I personally like some of the guns, and the jetpack is a nice thing to have
    + galaxy map has been improved (imo)
    + good number of new on foot missions
    + cutting stuff with the welding tool is a nice small thing
    + more content for exploration (not speaking about QUALITY, just QUANTITY)
    + not bad on foot animations
    + the short cutscene when you're dropping into a conflict zone on foot is cool, so is the one when you are respawning in a dropship

    The bad:
    - preordered the game? You gave us money in advance? well, s**t, too bad, we won't rent additional servers so you can play it on day 1
    - horrible performance, unoptimized trash, on recommended specs it's a rollercoaster between 20 and 140 FPS without vsync (ryzen 3, 3300x, 1060 GTX 6GB, 16GB RAM) on ultra, and hardly any better on low. You will dip under 30 frames regardless of the settings if you are running a similar rig, but ppl with 3060/70s also report huge performance drops. Just go to reddit.
    - input lag both in menus and when moving, press escape to enter menu, wait 2 sec for it to pop up. Meddling with game files reduces this slightly, but I didn't pay $40 to fix someone's garbage
    - the new graphics are much WORSE in general; the new shadows make everything too dark, Manyt lights almost don't give any light at all. I mean, look at ship interiors, compare the interior of the Cutter between Horizons and Odyssey, you can't see any detail in that ship now. The UI lighting looks way off. The "skybox" for space lacks details, stars, the nebulae are barely visible, there is no awe there anymore. Planets have better textures but they don't look better in many cases, some seem to be seriously bugged, lacking the eye candy,, terrain features, colors or atmosphere. Earth-like worlds are bright af for some reason now, a stark contrast against anything else. Even the brightest neon decals on your ships and SRVs hardly emit any light. The only situation where the new lighting and shadows work nice is during firefights at outposts when running with a flashlight makes sense, and in station interiors. Apart from that - the game looks much worse, and runs like trash in outposts (frames generally nosedive when you are close to "gliding" towards a planet). Minimum viable product in terms of performance.
    - bugs, NPCs stuck in station interiors, crashes
    - no missions for coop
    - weapon and suit engineering, extra grind
    - station interiors are literally ONE ROOM + your hangar + shuttle hangar, compare this to the stations and cities in "the other space game"
    - cannot walk inside ships, you literally get teleported inside and outside
    - I'd argue that most of the AI revamp is worse, but maybe I'm just used to the previous one
    - character models are not for the year 2021, and definitely not with this performance hit
    - right now there is a split of playerbase between Horizons and Odyssey
    - ground troop AI is weak, they often stand in the open and just pew pew, they get hit - single dodge side ways. Sometimes they do take cover, but only sometimes
    - qunatity over quality, the new missions are like any other missions in elite, very basic

    That said, I feel sorry for the frontline developers who worked on this and were obviously forced by Frontier's s**t management to release this. As with Cyberpunk, this needed at least another half a year to be tested and polished.

    If you're still not convinced this add-on is trash, just watch Obsidian Ant's and Yamiks' videos. I'm having more fun playing "the other" space sim that is endlessly in alpha.    … Full Review »
  2. OvidiuMe
    May 23, 2021
    0
    Good idea, bad implementation.

    Elite Dangerous was a wonderful game but it has been plagued by bugs and crashes. Now, with the latest    Good idea, bad implementation.

    Elite Dangerous was a wonderful game but it has been plagued by bugs and crashes. Now, with the latest expansion the game is literally unplayable. From graphic bugs, to crashes, to losing your inventory and not even delivering what most of the players wanted...

    Elite Dangerous Odyssey is a wreck, a full payed DLC that is even worse than Cyberpunk was. So many problems and bugs, it might take over a year to fix.
    DO NOT BUY this DLC because it doesn't work.    … Full Review »
  3. taulator
    May 24, 2021
    0
    It is an unfinished and broken mess. Frontier developement is a disingeneous company that is more than happy to release unfinished productsIt is an unfinished and broken mess. Frontier developement is a disingeneous company that is more than happy to release unfinished products that fulfills none of the promises they make.
    Do not waste your time with this DLC. Frontier do not respect your time, so DO NOT BUY!    … Full Review »
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