Elite: Dangerous

 PC
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1913 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,150 out of 1913
  2. Mixed: 209 out of 1913
  3. Negative: 554 out of 1913

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. giskarduk
    Dec 19, 2014
    7
    Elite has not learned a thing in the past 30 years. In 1984 is was all back and forth, back and forth in a very tedious fashion. In 1993 with Elite 2 they updated game but still produced the same back and forth boring game play. In 2014, its the same none sense. Yet the X series by Egosoft stole the Elite crown over a decade ago by adding more depth to that simple formula. Making space inElite has not learned a thing in the past 30 years. In 1984 is was all back and forth, back and forth in a very tedious fashion. In 1993 with Elite 2 they updated game but still produced the same back and forth boring game play. In 2014, its the same none sense. Yet the X series by Egosoft stole the Elite crown over a decade ago by adding more depth to that simple formula. Making space in to an interesting simulation.... Admittedly Egosoft threw the crown away with X3 and XR, abandoning core features that made it a great space sim. But does Elite Dangerous deserve a crown, even one that is laying in the mud because nobody wants it....

    The biggest issue here is the fact they decided to make a single player game in to a multiplayer game, so multiplayer feels like single player should feel and solo play is just you in multiplayer without players. Truth is, without Multiplayer Elite Dangerous is so boring it will put you to sleep.

    It is a great space sim, definitely made for the PC and PC hardware, from a space flight perspective its great the best. But these games moved on decades ago, they became much deeper than any Elite game has ever managed to be.... Elite Dangerous is like a Pacman shoot em up in the age of Call of Duty. Players simply expect more in a universe then to watch the stars flash past for 10 minutes at a time as you fly towards a station you will be leaving within seconds of arriving over and over and over again.

    Good game, poorly designed, nice flight mechanics, but this is not the 1990s anymore....    … Expand
  2. Bmane
    Jan 16, 2015
    7
    Elite Dangerous is a odd game. It's perhaps one of the most immersive space game I've ever played, and I've pretty much played them all, being an avid space sci-fi gamer.

    What's odd about it is my playtime. I look at it, and shake my head. I feel ashamed. I feel guilty. Here's a game that I've dreamed about since my first outing in outer-space. Here's a game that I know I should love,    Elite Dangerous is a odd game. It's perhaps one of the most immersive space game I've ever played, and I've pretty much played them all, being an avid space sci-fi gamer.

    What's odd about it is my playtime. I look at it, and shake my head. I feel ashamed. I feel guilty. Here's a game that I've dreamed about since my first outing in outer-space. Here's a game that I know I should love, cherish and burn away at until I've soiled my pants and I'm knee-deep in my own waste...

    Unfortunately, that never happens.

    What happens instead is, I tend to play Elite in short strides, because, to be perfectly blunt, it isn't 'ready' yet. It still feels like a 'beta' and it most certainly does not feel complete. There is no mistaking that Elite has a lot of potential, it's just a shame that most of that potential will be in the form of paid expansions and future DLC. Which mind you, I have no problem with. With promises such as planetary landings, and multi-crewed ships, I'll happily throw my money at them. But make no mistake, I'll angrily grumble away while I do it, reminding them that I didn't pay for an empty shell of a game.

    And that is sadly what Elite is at the moment. An empty shell. A game that promises so much, and has delivered so little. It is immersive. It is a great game, to be fair. But a deeply flawed one at that. The game's current mechanics are sub-par and undeveloped.

    Combat is exhilarating, takes skill, proper skill, and is a joy to behold. It's just a shame that combat aspect of the game that I'm least interested in. I'm sure the Elite combat jockey's are enjoying the game to its fullest, but even they get burned out from it now and again. I've a couple of friends of mine who also have Elite, and are 90% combat, 10% trading. They don't play Elite anymore.. Why is that? It's a question that gets answered with a shrug and a statement of, "Well, there's not much too it..."

    There same could be said for trading. If your not doing anything related to combat, then your possibly grinding your way at the rather mundane method of making money in Elite. Regardless of how you earn your credits, be it bounty hunting missions or trading away on some profitable route, or doing sanctioned courier missions for some NPC faction, watching your faction rep tick up, one percent at a time, you and along with your combat buddies, are all in the same boat.

    That is, you are all grinding away for money. Combat pilots do it for the bounties, and faction rep to boot is a nice bonus for them. Traders do it via smuggling or legit means, regardless, it's all about money. And what can you do with that money? Well, here's where Elite falters greatly.

    The core process of progression in Elite is jumping from Ship A to Ship B, and from there to Ship C and D. That's basically what Elite is, in a nutshell.

    Some of the mechanics are not fully fleshed out and this further emphasizes why Elite is a great but deeply flawed multiplayer game. Let's do a rundown on some of them:

    Piracy - For anyone that hasn't played Freelancer Discovery, the online RP mod that has a medium sized community following it, then let me tell you that piracy in that game was fun. Essentially you would camp a space highway/tradelane and wait for your intended target. You'd then knock out the tradelane and issue your demands. That was enjoyable and when I did it, I felt like I was committing piracy. It felt... 'right'. In Elite, I do not get that feeling at all. Piracy is not only difficult, (as it should be) but it can be tedious and downright boring at times. It takes a lot of work, a lot of luck, and a lot of waiting around, for it to be reliable and profitable. And even then, why do it?

    Economy: Essentially Elite's economy is only there to support players in upgrading their ships, there is literally nothing else to it. Sure prices will change based on trades being done, but really, nothing happens on the grandiose scale of things.

    Factions: Players can grind, and I mean that literally, GRIND to gain faction influence for a system that overall has little value in things, barring direct intervention by the developers. This is an area that is still being worked on, and I'm still not impressed.

    Exploration: My favorite aspect of the game. Or, it would have and should have been if it was even remotely interesting. It isn't. Go look up player vids of players exploration. Most of it contains oddball commentary on the stats of a planet, such as atmosphere and orbital period, while pretending to sip some cognac while pretending to be the late great Sir Patrick Moore. I want to explore ancient ruined wrecks in space. Interesting and bizarre visual anomaly's and other odd stuff... I don't want to drool over a planets stats. Speaking of planets, another point of criticism is that most of the planets look the same, and are quite dull and not as beautiful as they should be.

    I can recommend Elite, but I whole heartily recommend waiting for a more complete Elite.    … Expand
  3. daroczi
    Jan 14, 2015
    7
    I despise everything related to trading.
    I despise everything related to missions.
    I don't mind the time it takes to travel because it's an expected side-effect of the 1:1 size galaxy. I don't mind that the systems are all similar and repetative because I expected it. I'm disappointed with the absence (not lack, absence) of multiplayer features. I'm disappointed that all of a ship's    I despise everything related to trading.
    I despise everything related to missions.
    I don't mind the time it takes to travel because it's an expected side-effect of the 1:1 size galaxy.
    I don't mind that the systems are all similar and repetative because I expected it.
    I'm disappointed with the absence (not lack, absence) of multiplayer features.
    I'm disappointed that all of a ship's aesthetic options cost actual mf dollars.
    I love the visuals.
    I love the audio.
    I love lamp.
    I love the combat (i didn't know until yesterday that visiting Nav Beacons guarantees a steady flow of combat).
    I love that this game has endless potential. Yes this is a shell of a full-game, but its a perfect shell. When the modding community gets their hands on this, they've got the best foundation to support their talent. I'm optimistic.
    I'm so invested in this game that I often catch myself talking to myself while playing, and even if it's something minor, I'll leap outta my chair yelling whether I'm giddy or pissed. Not having some unintellectual hand-holding HUD to play the game for you and actually having to do tasks yourself like travelling makes for a sense of accomplishment and individuality (Skyrim vs Morrowind). I can see how many gamers wouldn't have the patience to enjoy this and I don't blame them. It isn't a casual game, its a long long-term investment. Please Frontier, IMPROVE CORE GAMEPLAY BEFORE ADDING NEW. Scouring a whole star-system for a USS (unidentified signal source) is more repetative, frustrating, and boring than travelling or docking. Last thing, do Discovery Scanners need to be so expensive?

    -3 points for: poor customer service, no multi-player features other than coexistance, everything related to trade, and "find" missions (including: how the f am I supposed to selectively retreive personal weapons or slaves in 2 hours?).    … Expand
  4. BastardySkull
    Jan 2, 2015
    7
    Ultimately unfinished. Beta should have been extended for at least another 6 months, and the game should not have launched without any serious multiplayer functionality. Ship hulls are too expensive and the game expects too much of an unrewarding grind for larger ships. If Frontier listen to their toxic fanbase they risk losing this game to frustration.
  5. bbcokeley
    Dec 16, 2014
    7
    Very pretty game, solid combat and decent structure. Although a lot of recent news surrounding the 'Offline mode' being dropped is true, I have played since Premium Beta and have a lot of hours in this game.
    .
    the mining as it stands is pretty good, a solid mechanic and a bit of thinking is required to get to/find the best places. . Like I said combat is solid, its engaging, exciting    Very pretty game, solid combat and decent structure. Although a lot of recent news surrounding the 'Offline mode' being dropped is true, I have played since Premium Beta and have a lot of hours in this game.
    .
    the mining as it stands is pretty good, a solid mechanic and a bit of thinking is required to get to/find the best places.
    .
    Like I said combat is solid, its engaging, exciting and can be rewarding as an early career path.
    .
    Exploring still needs some work, bu I kind of enjoyed this feature as it can be easily done in a starting ship to get you on your way with a couple grand in Cr.
    .
    This is it for a basic out line of the game.
    7/10 for the following reasons:
    .
    you need a joystick/HOTAS setup so -1 point for that.
    .
    there is are a few missing features and or broken petty things that should have been addressed -1 point for that.
    .
    Offline mode was killed but its not a major feature for me personally I can understand if its off putting for some people but just remember there are clever people that can (and probably will) mode the files to make it off line (watchdogs had it (got hacked), SimCity had it....(EA finally gave inn) this will have it eventually) -1 point for that    … Expand
  6. nightia
    Dec 18, 2014
    7
    Merely a platform and framework for something better in the future, experience and atmospherics really great. Solid stability. Beneficial to have some sort of HOTAS input peripheral to really appreciate the experience. It has a very steep learning curve. Performance is good, even on less than powerful hardware. Generally the other reviews are correct, its warm but not hot.

    It has the    Merely a platform and framework for something better in the future, experience and atmospherics really great. Solid stability. Beneficial to have some sort of HOTAS input peripheral to really appreciate the experience. It has a very steep learning curve. Performance is good, even on less than powerful hardware. Generally the other reviews are correct, its warm but not hot.

    It has the potential to become the "Killer App" for Oculus Rift when the Rift goes mainstream.

    Just don't expect a top tier AAA title with story line with a vast multi-player experience, since the on-line social interaction is hopelessly weak to say the least. This is modern take on Elite:1984, ground breaking at the time, but hopelessly weak compared to its modern contemporaries.

    I know quite a few individuals who have picked this title up, well aware of what they were getting into. They have all expressed the notion that the experience will greatly improve as the game develops.
    Difficult to justify the $50 cost at this stage for what you are getting. I see that $50 as an investment for something better in the future.

    Frontier Developments now have the responsibility to deliver an experience ultimately better than its modern contemporaries. The only problem could be forthcoming space combat/trading titles due for release in the 2015/16, they may steal the thunder.

    At least coming in at the ground floor at this stage, if the game does eventually take off, individuals should have a head start with equipment, cash and experience.

    I have no issues with the online cloud server interaction, if it protects the investment Frontier Developments have made in Elite Dangerous.

    I'm giving it 7 out of 10, since it has the potential to be something fantastic. From a gaming perspective. I wouldn't put it into the realms of BF4, Skyrim or GTA V at this point, since I'm not going to be running into the office tomorrow saying what an epic session I had on Elite Dangerous last night.    … Expand
  7. Trebonius
    Dec 29, 2014
    9
    I expected a wonderful game but I am severely disappointed. The world is vast indeed, but the 400 billion star systems are very similar and there's little entertainment to be had.
    You can forge your own path - be a trader, pirate, bounty hunter... well, you sort of do a little of almost everything anyway and what they advertised about creating your own story is a joke, there is NO story    I expected a wonderful game but I am severely disappointed. The world is vast indeed, but the 400 billion star systems are very similar and there's little entertainment to be had.
    You can forge your own path - be a trader, pirate, bounty hunter... well, you sort of do a little of almost everything anyway and what they advertised about creating your own story is a joke, there is NO story whatsoever, at least not yet.
    What's really annoying besides the "400 billion" glitches that the game has is the bounty system which is very poorly conceived. You can get attacked by an NPC and if you retaliate you get a bounty on your head for no reason, unless your attacker is marked as "wanted", and this makes life of a bounty hunter very difficult.
    Excellent graphics but in spite of my PC specs being far above Elite's recommended system requirements, the game runs far from smoothly so the game's code optimization upon release promise was not kept. God knows what sort of rig one needs for this game...
    If you haven't bought this game yet I don't recommend it, not until serious changes and fixes have been made.    … Expand
  8. Pannon
    Dec 26, 2015
    4
    The gamer site reviews reflect the score, that has hopes and wishful thinking has attached to it.
    If you read them, note the date of the review. They reviewed the game not long after it was released and the game has (had) a huge potential to become something much bigger. The reviewers gave the high scores for high hopes. A year later, the game barely changed, beside a few additional    The gamer site reviews reflect the score, that has hopes and wishful thinking has attached to it.
    If you read them, note the date of the review. They reviewed the game not long after it was released and the game has (had) a huge potential to become something much bigger. The reviewers gave the high scores for high hopes. A year later, the game barely changed, beside a few additional features, which ultimately just gave the game more grind, instead of adding meaningful content.
    If you play it for a few hours you get the vibe, that you may have to do a lot of things to progress anywhere, and perhaps you get excited, just thinking about the endless possibilities and options and choices.
    Give it another 10 hours, and your entire gameplay consist of preparing to start to play the game and waiting for that moment, when you start really playing. Unfortunately, that moment never comes. What you do in your first hour, is what you will do for the rest of the time. Either trade back/forth between stations, which consist of taking off, traveling - loading screen -traveling - landing, or fighting endlessly spawning enemy ships, which change absolutely nothing, whether it comes factions or affiliations of various powers. All the other ships you may see as traffic is nothing else, but background filler. They serve no purpose or function, beside they are giving the illusion of "things happening". You can actually test this by trying to follow a ship, which will end up traveling somewhere infinitely, or landing at an non particular space station, and then taking off and doing over and over, without selling something or fighting.
    You can also test, that whether those ships you blow up makes any difference to their faction or base. They do nothing.
    Eventually, you will realise, that the entire universe is created for you, and outside of your visual radius, nothing really goes on, and everything ceases to exist as soon you leave. Unidentified signals sources pop up for you randomly, if you fly slow and their content isn't determined, until you stop to investigate by dropping out of hyperspace.
    Sound effects is great. That's why I'm giving it a 4. If nobody else, then it's the sound team, that perhaps did their best to make something.
    I see, a lot of people praising graphics. I don't see it that way. It's not hard to draw space and place objects floating in it.It's much harder to create Earth based fantasy worlds or actual locations with buildings, vegetation.
    I can't give more than 4, and if I would not consider the sound and music, this game is maybe a 2.    … Expand
  9. Ranulph
    Mar 6, 2015
    7
    After spending probably around 80 hours playing Elite: Dangerous, I find it a bit of a mixed bag. Echoing other reviews I have read out there, when it is good, it is very good, but it can also be dull and slightly infuriating at times. I have been mainly doing exploration, with a side of bounty hunting. The former can be very dull, even if profitable if you have the right specs in yourAfter spending probably around 80 hours playing Elite: Dangerous, I find it a bit of a mixed bag. Echoing other reviews I have read out there, when it is good, it is very good, but it can also be dull and slightly infuriating at times. I have been mainly doing exploration, with a side of bounty hunting. The former can be very dull, even if profitable if you have the right specs in your ship. The latter can be exciting, but it really depends on your opponents. The frequency of dog fighting in Elite is a bit uneven. Sometimes one gets attacked by pirates in supposedly safe systems, while in star systems where anarchy reigns you don't get almost anything happening. The steep learning curve is fairly steep, which is both good and also bad. I feel some systems would require a bit more explanation. The controls, even if highly customizable, are a bit overwhelming for newcomers. However, if you get a decent flight stick controller (I have the Hotas X) flying will seem like second nature after a while, and that is a pretty good feeling to have. Overall, the game is just good enough to keep me interested, albeit mildly, and I look forward to what the future brings to Elite: Dangerous.… Expand
  10. Vidicus
    Mar 28, 2015
    7
    When it comes to space flight sims, none can touch Elite Dangerous. The game is beautiful, has great sound, and the flight controls work fine. The only downside to this game is the current lack of content. No story, no NPCs, and little to do outside of mining, hunting, exploring, and trading. However, if you own a Oculus Rift.... this game is a must have. Perfectly executed for VRWhen it comes to space flight sims, none can touch Elite Dangerous. The game is beautiful, has great sound, and the flight controls work fine. The only downside to this game is the current lack of content. No story, no NPCs, and little to do outside of mining, hunting, exploring, and trading. However, if you own a Oculus Rift.... this game is a must have. Perfectly executed for VR gameplay.... a true treat to behold.… Expand
  11. hawkenfox
    Apr 3, 2015
    7
    PROs
    1 - 400 Billion Stars
    2 - Great Ship interface 3 - Great fun in wings with friends 4 - Cruising through space demonstrates it's vastness. 5 - Ever changing player crafted storyline with their interaction with persistence AI characters. 6 - No 2 planet are the same 7 - Nebulas are beautiful and getting more beautiful thru updates. 8 - If you are a space nerd you will get space    PROs
    1 - 400 Billion Stars
    2 - Great Ship interface
    3 - Great fun in wings with friends
    4 - Cruising through space demonstrates it's vastness.
    5 - Ever changing player crafted storyline with their interaction with persistence AI characters.
    6 - No 2 planet are the same
    7 - Nebulas are beautiful and getting more beautiful thru updates.
    8 - If you are a space nerd you will get space orgasm.
    9 - No hand holding figure the game out ... for those who love this sort of stuff.

    CONs
    1 - Not really a full game yet.
    2 - Certain career path are not focused on and lack polish. Eg. Exploration.
    3 - Space can feel empty when you travel the fringe world.
    4 - Bugs and more bugs (expect that in all next gen games with loads of hardware to render to.)
    5 - Downloading the game from frontier can be a pain but there is a steam version now.
    6 - Steep learning curve for some players who require hand holding (Hint : Play the training mission)

    Elite is not a full game at the moment. Although it's released in Dec 2014, frontier is still developing the release version. I am a beta backer, did not really agree with the way it's being done. Certain key feature
    that were promised never came, some backers asked for refund on the game. They felt betrayed.
    Nonetheless I still hold high hope for the game as there were active development every month and lots of
    patches when the need arises. Needless to say it's a painful still beta game, and probably will forever be
    beta.

    It's only right that I should warn potential buyer into this game that if you are not ready to come into a beta
    game that have been said to be fully release , dont. Just dont because you would feel cheated. But if you
    came here to see some beautiful space scape your money will be well worth. Just have to sit tight to let
    the feature roll in. I come on and off the game once in a while so I don't feel burnt by the current lack of
    content. The only cool thing in Elite Dangerous is pvp , war , community events and wings system where
    you can have friends in a squad of 4.

    With that being said it's a strange kind of MMO ... althought it's an MMO with 100K players only 32 players can appear in the same instance. So for example no more than 32 human players will be visible to you in the same system. There have been some issues with match making, bugs that make wing members invisible and such. Yes there are bugs and issue, but all modern games have loads of them as they become more complex over the years to write and compile... so this will be the future issue of all next gen games.    … Expand
  12. Mhiester
    Mar 24, 2015
    7
    The 1.2 update and patches after it are a very good sign for Elite. Progress continues at the same pace that was going at beta.

    Yes, the game is unfinished, and it's still a grind, but it's gotten better. The developers have added features that were needed (wings), and have been balancing, along with adding promised content (ships). If you are able to stand the grind to progress, and    The 1.2 update and patches after it are a very good sign for Elite. Progress continues at the same pace that was going at beta.

    Yes, the game is unfinished, and it's still a grind, but it's gotten better. The developers have added features that were needed (wings), and have been balancing, along with adding promised content (ships).

    If you are able to stand the grind to progress, and the continuous development process, then this is a great example of a space game. The flight mechanics feel great, and make combat about much more than just aiming fast. If you aren't convinced by the game at the moment, keep an eye on it as more time goes on for it to be developed.    … Expand
  13. Heathy87
    Apr 7, 2015
    7
    Compared to the X-series that is X3:TC or AP, Elite simply lacks depth, Its not finished like others have said and is largely hinging of the success of its expansions and content patches. Elite is good in many ways, Its graphically superior to X3, has deeper combat and has a much larger game world (the entire milky way) but lacks any real depth or synergy with the game play professions youCompared to the X-series that is X3:TC or AP, Elite simply lacks depth, Its not finished like others have said and is largely hinging of the success of its expansions and content patches. Elite is good in many ways, Its graphically superior to X3, has deeper combat and has a much larger game world (the entire milky way) but lacks any real depth or synergy with the game play professions you can take up.

    You either Fight, Trade, Mine, or Explore.

    Fighting is done in various places in the game, it doesn't feel very consistent in that there are either a limited number of ships in your instance, or they continually spawn in, it can be fun but becomes a grind relatively quickly no matter where your doing it.

    Trading speaks for itself, unlike the X games however where trading seemed to have an effect on the stations, getting them to create new items over time, the Commodities market in Elite seems flat and lifeless, there is no crafting in this game by players or by the game world itself everything simply exists, so trading is a means of moving stuff from A to B endlessly trying to make a profit while doing so.

    Mining is a sub set of trading, as there is no crafting or manufacturing aspect to this 'mmo' you simply sell what you mine, no depth here. fly to asteroids shoot them scoop chunks, currently its less intuitive than if you could get out the space ship with a pickaxe.

    Exploration has the most depth for me, you have enough star system to explore the galaxy is massive, if all you need is the variety of space itself to keep you entertained you'll enjoy this aspect of the game, although it doesn't necessarily have much depth in itself, its a matter of going out scanning planets and star and returning to civilisation with the data.

    Basically I feel its potential but Elite: Dangerous doesn't really do anything new, the cockpits are nice to look at, space is great, the detail and sound are top notch, but there is barely an mmo here and barely a game I would consider playing for more than a couple of hours every other day. No matter what profession you do in Elite it doesn't not feel like a grind toward a new ship.

    If your the kind of person that is happy just exploring space from a first person perspective, uninterested in too many complex game features and player impact, you'll like it, there are plenty of places to visit in the galaxy and plenty of nice vistas to find.

    If you want a deep complex sand box mmo similar to Eve online, you will not find it in Elite, they both try to achieve similar things that is a breathing universe, although Elite is a far cry from the intricacies that gives Eve its notorious wrap for having a extremely steep learning curve. and depth/synergy with the professions.

    I'll Score the game a 7, and put it on Par with what X3:TC is sitting at on this site, which i think is fair, although X3:TC or AP, are currently the deeper games of the 2, what elite has is better fidelity and sound mostly, but less player control no empire building which directly results in basically less things to do to keep the game feeling grindy. Elite: Dangerous is not a terrible game its simply not a very deep one, although as time goes by it hopefully will grow depth to bring it in line with X3 or Eves longevity/complexity.    … Expand
  14. Rauta
    Mar 17, 2015
    7
    My opinion is based on current state of E:D (v. 1.2).

    As for the graphical side of the game it's very good, even on worse PC 's game's running smoothly enough. Sounds and music stands on a high level. The feeling of flying is great on joystick and decent on mouse and keyboard. Although there are a lot of things that are not yet fully finished and makes me feel that I payed 40€ for    My opinion is based on current state of E:D (v. 1.2).

    As for the graphical side of the game it's very good, even on worse PC 's game's running smoothly enough.
    Sounds and music stands on a high level. The feeling of flying is great on joystick and decent on mouse and keyboard.

    Although there are a lot of things that are not yet fully finished and makes me feel that I payed 40€ for product not yet finished. The universe is beautiful but it feels like it is mostly dead, and as far as there are community goals that are bringing the game back to life a bit there's still not really that much to do. There is no planetary landing (yet) and no first person module (yet) which in Star Citizen (SC dev 's had much more money and the game is not released but still) will be already implemented on release. Nonetheless it is a good game that can bring up a lot of fun if you are not against a continuous repeating the same scheme all over again. I would also love to say that after adding needed expansions and some more polishing it will be perfect space sim but right now it deserves 7/10.    … Expand
  15. behastie
    Dec 17, 2014
    7
    There's a lot to like in Elite: Dangerous, but there's also a lot missing and even more that isn't working. The grouping system doesn't work, so the game is multiplayer that doesn't let you play with your friends. They have a really good economy, except that the AI doesn't work so well, so space stations are a mess of exploding npc transports and missing commodities. They have a reallyThere's a lot to like in Elite: Dangerous, but there's also a lot missing and even more that isn't working. The grouping system doesn't work, so the game is multiplayer that doesn't let you play with your friends. They have a really good economy, except that the AI doesn't work so well, so space stations are a mess of exploding npc transports and missing commodities. They have a really good set of bounty hunting, exploring and trading careers to advance with, but bounty hunting often makes the feds or random factions turn red and shoot you (confirmed bug), trading cargo is glitchy and exploration data disappears. At this point, after around one million credits lost to bugs, most of the tension in the game boils down to a question of whether a given feature will explode when I try to play with it.… Expand
  16. gAndyGD86
    Feb 26, 2015
    7
    since freelancer i'm waiting for a game like that and this could be it...almost.
    the best thing about this game is the atmosphere. there is no other game where you feel like a real space pilot like this. on the bad side are the quests which are for the most parts pretty boring, repetitive and sometimes just really hard to complete without getting an appropriate reward.
  17. Ciger
    Dec 16, 2014
    6
    Just a game shell, would compare to some early access titles. Dont get me wrong it is a lot of fun, just dont expect any deep gameplay mechanincs. Still some bugs to be dealt with mainly with alternate missions. Games hangs up from time to time. 6 is the best I can give ED right now.
  18. wolverine2710
    Dec 16, 2014
    6
    ED looks great but the gameplay is a bit hollow. Atm a lot of the things discussed in the DDA-archives are NOT in the game, like for example wings. FD has released a good platform (if MP works OK with release that is) to build upon and they have said they will build upon it. To be fair atm I would give it a 6 but future improvements could make this a 8 or 9.
  19. RandyFandangle
    Mar 11, 2015
    4
    EDIT: Back after a month to update review, and it's going down from a 5 to a 4. Nothing new of any use, still empty and buggy. On the plus side, an XBOne version is on the way..... wish they'd stick some content in the PC version before trying to cash in with a feeble port. The 4 is still for potential, though I'm not holding out much hope any more at this stage. Disappointing in theEDIT: Back after a month to update review, and it's going down from a 5 to a 4. Nothing new of any use, still empty and buggy. On the plus side, an XBOne version is on the way..... wish they'd stick some content in the PC version before trying to cash in with a feeble port. The 4 is still for potential, though I'm not holding out much hope any more at this stage. Disappointing in the extreme.

    (Previous review)
    Giving this a grudging FIVE for now, as I've only been playing for a couple of weeks. I'll come back later and update after another week or so.
    What I can say is that NO WAY IS THIS WORTH 10/10 AS IT STANDS RIGHT NOW!
    There are just too many bugs, and mechanisms that don't work as they should. Well, I'm praying they aren't working as they should, cuz if this is how they have designed it then God help us.
    Had some fun, but it's hard to find sometimes. Frontier are gonna have to release some damn good stuff very soon or players are gonna bail.
    Hey, the 5 is for potential. Will have to see.    … Expand
  20. grimdar00
    Dec 21, 2014
    7
    Elite is basically an amazing space sandbox, with an enormous size to play in. However, you'll get bored rather quickly at the moment due to lack of content and things to do.

    The missions are randomized and based off templates, so you'll see the same mission pop up at different stations with a different item to acquire, or person to kill. Unlike the X series of games, each    Elite is basically an amazing space sandbox, with an enormous size to play in. However, you'll get bored rather quickly at the moment due to lack of content and things to do.

    The missions are randomized and based off templates, so you'll see the same mission pop up at different stations with a different item to acquire, or person to kill.

    Unlike the X series of games, each planet/star only has ONE station in it. And there's only a small handful of station designs. So while there are literally billions of systems to visit, they all seem the same.

    Right now the esthetics, visuals and controls of the game feel FINISHED, and really nicely refined. It feels *really* good to fly especially with a nice joystick system. However the content is painfully lacking. I've spent a LOT of time grinding, doing research on best trading runs and making lots of credits, but I actually have nothing to buy with all these credits.

    - I can't make a fleet
    - I can't build a station
    - I can't make my own empire
    - Very, very limited number of equipment/customizations to buy for my ship
    - and even if I could customize my ship the way I wanted, I can't even see it from the exterior, except in "outfitting mode"

    As far as a trader is concerned, all I can do is just buy a bigger ship, and continue... grinding with absolutely no end point. And when I get the "elite" trader status, then what?

    Ok, but we do have a REALLY fantastic sandbox right now. So I'm just hoping this was planned by the developers to release the "heart" of the game so to speak, by a series of expansion packs. I do sincerely hope there is something amazing planned to input into this cool world, because it has amazing potential.

    Right now unfortunately, feels pointless.    … Expand
  21. tpapas1
    Dec 16, 2014
    5
    well at least its not x-rebirth :) for which we waited 3 yrs to have a playable non buggy experience. it seems like arma 3 . Bohemia needed an extra year to delivered a full game...

    Elite at its present state its extremelly promising but unfinished. Not worth the money they ask but still enjoyable. positives 1. I like the combat and exploration system. 2 graphics are great. 3 ship    well at least its not x-rebirth :) for which we waited 3 yrs to have a playable non buggy experience. it seems like arma 3 . Bohemia needed an extra year to delivered a full game...

    Elite at its present state its extremelly promising but unfinished. Not worth the money they ask but still enjoyable.

    positives
    1. I like the combat and exploration system.
    2 graphics are great.
    3 ship handling
    4. Rift + track ir support magnificent
    5. they convey nicely the feeling of the unknown- unexplored . especially within meteor fields

    sadly the disadvantages are many
    1. game is a shell = no real missions= you are paying for an always online beta version....NOT a full game
    2. while the need for always online it is not an MMO= no interaction with other players
    3. GAME SERVERS MOT STABLE, NOT POSSIBLE TO PLAY WHEN YOU WANT...
    4. bad support

    Come back in 1 year    … Expand
  22. helioarc
    Jan 21, 2015
    5
    Half a score for half a game. Looks pretty at first, but lacks any depth. You'll be bored within an hour or two. Maybe one day it will be worth buying, but for now I'd steer clear.
  23. ShottyMonster
    Dec 16, 2014
    5
    I've been playing since premium beta (about 4-5 months).

    Flight mechanics: Great, responsive and adrenaline fueled. AI: Ok bordering on bad Universe Sim: Weak and shallow Trading: Good but currently broken Supercruise: Terrible and boring Combat: Fun but repetitive Sound design: A* Graphics: Very good but some odd decision made regarding supercruise HUD Overall: Fun for a    I've been playing since premium beta (about 4-5 months).

    Flight mechanics: Great, responsive and adrenaline fueled.
    AI: Ok bordering on bad
    Universe Sim: Weak and shallow
    Trading: Good but currently broken
    Supercruise: Terrible and boring
    Combat: Fun but repetitive
    Sound design: A*
    Graphics: Very good but some odd decision made regarding supercruise HUD

    Overall: Fun for a while but marred by terrible games design decisions ultimately resulting in a boring experience.    … Expand
  24. CptBadger
    Feb 1, 2015
    6
    Half-baked release, with essential features missing and VERY dodgy multiplayer. Unable to play with friends.

    "Miles wide and an inch deep" seems to be a general consensus about this release. Pros: - Great sound design - Nice visuals - Great fly mechanics. - Rather on the "sim" side of things Cons: - bad core design - lackluster multiplayer - laughable amount of content -    Half-baked release, with essential features missing and VERY dodgy multiplayer. Unable to play with friends.

    "Miles wide and an inch deep" seems to be a general consensus about this release.

    Pros:
    - Great sound design
    - Nice visuals
    - Great fly mechanics.
    - Rather on the "sim" side of things

    Cons:
    - bad core design
    - lackluster multiplayer
    - laughable amount of content
    - very little variety
    - bugs

    tl;dr Will certainly get better with time, but right now it certainly does not deserve the praise it gets.    … Expand
  25. LordDwyer
    Apr 3, 2015
    8
    Firstly, if you are thinking of buying this game, do the research. It is NOT and arcade shooter or a casual game. It is MASSIVE! I mean bigger than anything I have ever played. I've read some reviews that are negative, and to be fair, the majority of the negative reviews are written by morons who had no idea what they were buying.

    Graphically: It is beautiful. Depth: I'm still    Firstly, if you are thinking of buying this game, do the research. It is NOT and arcade shooter or a casual game. It is MASSIVE! I mean bigger than anything I have ever played. I've read some reviews that are negative, and to be fair, the majority of the negative reviews are written by morons who had no idea what they were buying.

    Graphically: It is beautiful.

    Depth: I'm still sinking and I am 6 months in. You can role as combat, trader or explorer and that is only down to ship loadout and option, not a class selection. Freeform is the word of the day.

    Playability: Expect a steep learning curve and remember that the forums are your friend. I use a HOTAS, keyboard and mouse. To be fair, I'm currently saving for a Wookie co-pilot.

    My only negative is that because the play space is so vast you may forget it is an MMO at times. Exploring is a lonely business, but combat if gritty and intense. Don't expect to dock at a station with a nice cutscene sequence, you land that ship yourself, controlling all aspects of your ship position.

    Anyone with less that a few weeks in game experience writing reviews is simply not qualified, and so their opinion should be immediately discounted.    … Expand
  26. Slickums
    Feb 3, 2015
    0
    Really tried to like this, but after 6 weeks giving it a go, me and my friends have given up.
    So overhyped - shame on some of the reviewers. Can't believe we bought it and stumped up $60 for this empty, broken and frustrating game.
    There are lots of promises of future content, but I really don't think it's been designed very well as it stands, and promises are worth spit anyway.
    YMMV.
  27. bombocloddo
    Jan 2, 2015
    7
    Not quite there yet. Needs more variety, more content and some immersion enhancers such as voice / radio / video feeds and better mission texts. Its a bit too generic. only 3-4 stations, and planets with different textures, then 2-3 sorts of asteroid fields, makes the 400 Billion star systems seem a bit strange. instead 50 star systems with more detail would have been much better.

    They    Not quite there yet. Needs more variety, more content and some immersion enhancers such as voice / radio / video feeds and better mission texts. Its a bit too generic. only 3-4 stations, and planets with different textures, then 2-3 sorts of asteroid fields, makes the 400 Billion star systems seem a bit strange. instead 50 star systems with more detail would have been much better.

    They should watch the old Freelancer game, that made many things quite right.    … Expand
  28. ShearForce
    Dec 16, 2014
    6
    Doesn't matter how big the sandbox is if there is no sand in it, or in this case very little of it.

    If you truly do love the space games, go ahead. Currently there are five things to do in game. Running missions Bounty Hinting Mining Exploration Trading Non of them earns you a vast number of credits, but the ships and upgrades cost a lot, so be prepared to grind for that ship    Doesn't matter how big the sandbox is if there is no sand in it, or in this case very little of it.

    If you truly do love the space games, go ahead.

    Currently there are five things to do in game.
    Running missions
    Bounty Hinting
    Mining
    Exploration
    Trading

    Non of them earns you a vast number of credits, but the ships and upgrades cost a lot, so be prepared to grind for that ship you really want.

    Anyways, off to play some more.    … Expand
  29. TravisPerkins
    Feb 6, 2015
    0
    Guy in the other office was raving about this for months, so I bought it when it came out.
    Asked him today if he was still playing - he said nope "It's too boring and fake".
    He's dead right. Wish I'd waited before buying. Oh well, it's only money, right? LoL.
  30. Toumal
    Apr 2, 2015
    8
    There's currently a campaign going on against Elite due to the developer announcing that they are not shipping with an offline mode (They might do one lateron, but they said they can't make promises).
    If you see reviews giving 0/10 then you know you've found one of the disgruntled offline players. Did Frontier handle that whole thing well? No. However those are not reviews anymore, just    There's currently a campaign going on against Elite due to the developer announcing that they are not shipping with an offline mode (They might do one lateron, but they said they can't make promises).
    If you see reviews giving 0/10 then you know you've found one of the disgruntled offline players. Did Frontier handle that whole thing well? No. However those are not reviews anymore, just revenge attacks.

    Yes it's online only at the moment. Don't buy if you live on an oil rig with no internet connection. It's annoying that the developers basically keep all the stellar data on their servers and you need to have internet connection for the game to know what stellar bodies to generate, but that doesn't make Elite a 0/10 game. Not by a long shot.

    Elite Dangerous is an amazingly beautiful, if troubled game. The feeling of space flight has been nailed in a way that competitors will struggle to match for some time. Space really does feel big, you're not restricted to a cubical "mission area", Space is also pretty empty, but when you do get close to planets, gas giants, stars or even black holes, Elite turns into the most beautiful space game to date. There are entire websites dedicated to collecting the best screenshots from the game, and for good reason. And then you stare into space and wait for your frameshift drive to take you to a station that's quite some distance away, doing nothing. Well, almost, for there's pirates pulling you out of frameshift. But there can be stretches of boredom.

    Sound design is simply 10/10, hands down. The entire idea of your ship "generating" sounds for your situational awareness instantly solves any of the "sounds in space" issues, and the first time someone shatters your cockpit glass you'll hold your breath instinctively.

    The overall stability is good. There's a constant stream of patches with both bugfixes and major new features. Multiplayer is a bit hit and miss, with the peer-to-peer networking sometimes causing problems. These days it works most of the time, but it's still spotty at times.

    The controls are perfect. The ships are huge and have significant mass, and the game feels like it. You're not turning on a dime in Elite, since even the smaller ships are the size of a small house, and the bigger ones get up to half a kilometer long. And that without even counting the non-controllable capital ships that are several kilometers long and announce themselves with one of the most amazing warp-in effects you've ever seen in a game.

    Oh and you don't need a joystick for this game, many people including myself are happily playing with keyboard and mouse.

    Why is this only 8/10? Because once you've mastered the various activities, you realize that a lot of the long-term motivation is still missing. We've had a big update recently that does help and turns Elite into a great Coop experience, but it clearly needs more actual content, more activities to do.

    Luckily Frontier is working on new feature updates and there's even (paid) expansions adding a first person mode as well as multicrewing and flying and landing on planets coming up.

    As it is, Elite is not a 10/10 game. That said, it could end up being a 10/10 in the future, and it is wholly recommended in it's current form. It will definitely entertain you longer than any CoD game. Elite is a deeply atmospheric game with slightly spotty networking but extremely polished combat and controls. You will have a lot of "wow" moments, and the next feature update isn't too far away.    … Expand
  31. suntox
    Aug 30, 2015
    0
    Be careful with this game. The people who preordered this game have still not received an actual game with content. All you got by now is a framework of 400 billion star systems which are just generic and empty (automatically created). Generic missions that are extremely boring with over 90% travel time (hours), everywhere the same. The same 3 station models in every system. Only a fewBe careful with this game. The people who preordered this game have still not received an actual game with content. All you got by now is a framework of 400 billion star systems which are just generic and empty (automatically created). Generic missions that are extremely boring with over 90% travel time (hours), everywhere the same. The same 3 station models in every system. Only a few available ships and little equipment. There is close to no content next to this. So at the moment only dreamers and roleplayers actually find what they want.

    And instead of adding the missing content, they offer you the next big update for the price of a full game!!!

    Plus the forum moderators are very agressive if you talk about that on either steam or frontier forum. They ban you on steam forum for fake reasons if you don't shut up when they tell you to, and remove your valid comments. This is pure fascism.

    The name David Braben now seems to stand for exploitation and fraud. Very saddening.    … Expand
  32. LeoKol
    Dec 16, 2014
    4
    DISCLAIMER: This is an objective review. Everyone giving the game 10/10 is lying to themselves, and you. That said, if you own, or are looking to own, an Oculus Rift, then this game is a must buy. The game is beautiful. It makes for a perfect Oculus Rift title thanks to it's stunning visuals, immense sense of scale and beautiful audio.

    tl;dr - Current state of the game: Grind credits to    DISCLAIMER: This is an objective review. Everyone giving the game 10/10 is lying to themselves, and you. That said, if you own, or are looking to own, an Oculus Rift, then this game is a must buy. The game is beautiful. It makes for a perfect Oculus Rift title thanks to it's stunning visuals, immense sense of scale and beautiful audio.

    tl;dr - Current state of the game: Grind credits to buy bigger ships so that you can grind credits better. Graphics & Gameplay has been improved over the original Elite (1984), but content has stayed the same (unless you count the 400 billion empty, lifeless, procedural star systems).

    Elite Dangerous will be a great game in another year or two. I have little doubt of that. However, as of the writing of this review, Elite is almost entirely unplayable. The foundations for a great game are all there, but there's little to keep players interested.

    Mining, exploration, combat and trading are the only activities currently open to players. You can either do any of these activities on your own, or you can accept a generic mission and do them for an npc you'll never meet or interact with. With exception to combat, all these systems are basic and repetitive.

    While there is a dynamic economy in the game, trading is hardly complicated when compared to that of games like X3 or EVE. You buy low, and you sell high. The only excitement comes in the form of random pirate and police attacks. You can observe changes in the economy, but, unless you enjoy watching numbers go up and down, I doubt you'll find this exciting.

    Exploration involves flying to new systems and pointing yourself at 'undiscovered' celestial objects & stations. You won't be stumbling into any ship graveyards or sentient nebulae. There are no surprises here and, unless you're an astronomer looking to observe binary stars & black holes, you probably won't find this very exciting either.

    Mining is even simpler. You find asteroids and you shoot at them. Maybe you'll get attacked by a pirate, maybe you won't. Combat, on the other hand, feels great and intuitive. The game's audio and HUD are highly immersive and really shine in combat. Unfortunately you'll most often find yourself fighting against AI due to the whole 400 billion star systems thing.

    There is no concrete system that promotes team-play, and you'll probably make more money fighting NPC's rather than players. The games selection of ships is also rather limited when compared to other titles (and they all look like geometric shapes).

    The biggest problem with the game right now is the fact that there is no end-game. There's nothing to strive for. You may set personal goals, like visiting a distant system or getting a certain ship, but, at the heart of it, everything you do ends with you making credits in order to make credits better.

    The living world is entirely a novelty, and will almost never directly impact you. You may have to go to another system to buy cheap goods, or you might note the presence of more police ships, but this will never make a significant impact on the way you play the game. You will never feel like you're doing something important. There is a giant disconnect between the world of the NPC's and the world of the players.

    There is a giant intergalactic war being waged, but unless you force yourself to care it's really of no consequence to you. You can't interact with NPC's, so there's very little to connect you to the troubles of the poor populace of miners living on some rock. You might visit a planet with billions of inhabitants, but the space around it will feel just as empty and lifeless as the distant reaches of the galaxy.

    So, all of this leaves you to motivate yourself. Sure, you can try to join one of the galactic empires and lead them to victory, but what's the point? No NPC will thank you, unless it comes in the form of a giant wall of text available as a generic contract in a space station. You won't get a limited edition ship, nor will you get the joy of watching or participating in any giant cinematic battles. There's no sense of urgency or need to drive you forward.

    All you have to do, is to make credits so that you can get upgrades simply for the sake of getting upgrades. The foundations for a great game are all there, but to call this release ready is a joke. I highly advice new players stay away from Elite until more content is added. I've honestly had more fun playing the Star Citizen alpha than I have playing the release-candidate version of Elite.

    To put it into contrast, imagine an X3 with better graphics and combat. Now imagine that you can't control more than one ship. That NPC's don't have a voice and communicate through text. That there is no single player story. That all space stations serve only one purpose. That you never see any other ships unless you're in combat or docking. That you can't own space stations. That exploration only leads to you finding floating credits. And, well, the list goes on...    … Expand
  33. keksbruch
    Dec 16, 2014
    5
    Expected more. Rushed release. Really not much to do in the game, multiplayer doesn´t really deserve the name. The little that is there is still bugged.
  34. Skycrime
    Jan 1, 2015
    5
    I really wanted to like this game, but it just isn't ready. This is a beautiful single player game with a vast universe and no depth. Having been marketing as multiplayer, I find the lack of social features- even basic chat functions- to be massively disappointing. The universe here is dead. The systems have no character, nothing to set them apart. The ships and equipment don't, either,I really wanted to like this game, but it just isn't ready. This is a beautiful single player game with a vast universe and no depth. Having been marketing as multiplayer, I find the lack of social features- even basic chat functions- to be massively disappointing. The universe here is dead. The systems have no character, nothing to set them apart. The ships and equipment don't, either, while we're at it. The missions are repetitive, and players have no impact on the world. The AI is limited at best, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out why I should launch the game again. I want it to be great, I really do, and I'm hopeful that it will be. But as it is now, I just can't recommend it.… Expand
  35. christhenoob
    Dec 20, 2014
    4
    I want to love this game. I really do. I've been a backer since alpha and was really sold on the vision that they had. Unfortunately, the game that was released is not the game I imagined it to be. If you were expecting an MMO, I hate to disappoint, but this is not an MMO in any sense of the word.

    Interacting with other players when not completely broken is almost impossible due to the    I want to love this game. I really do. I've been a backer since alpha and was really sold on the vision that they had. Unfortunately, the game that was released is not the game I imagined it to be. If you were expecting an MMO, I hate to disappoint, but this is not an MMO in any sense of the word.

    Interacting with other players when not completely broken is almost impossible due to the sheer size of the universe. Although huge, I've never played a game that has felt so empty. I imagined roaming the galaxy pirating and bounty-hunting other players in epic battles of wits, but I'm lucky if I even see another player. Not to mention the hours upon hours of tedious grinding it takes to be even remotely equipped to do so.

    Playing with your friends is just impossible in the current version not only because the game lacks even the most basic of social tools, but because the game punishes you for playing with other players. Bounties are only awarded to the person with the last kill, missions are given and rewarded individually, you can't even see your friends half the time, multiplayer is just a downright mess.

    Don't get me wrong, the game is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, and the sound design might be the best I've ever heard in a video game. But great visuals and audio does not a game make. It's just a shame that the game design is so horrid. There is no story to speak of. Every mission follows the same of several archetypes: "Kill this", "Deliver that", "Fetch this", etc. Missions are boring and feel as though there is no consequence, especially when you're offered the exact same mission seconds after turning it in.

    The actual gameplay is mind-numbingly grindy. Most MMOs get away with this because the grind is for a greater purpose, but in Elite the only reason to grind is so that you can grind some more. It kills what very little motivation I had to play the game in the first place. The combat is pretty good, but it's not enough to carry the game through.

    There is also so little in regards to depth it's absurd. There is an entire universe of systems, yet there is hardly any difference between the systems. The missions are the same, the factions are functionally the same, it's the same system over and over with a couple of variables tweaked along the way. Ships are "customizable" in that the more money you have the better your ship is. There are no side-grades to speak of except maybe weapons where really only 2 or 3 are actually viable.

    At the end of the day, the game is just disappointing. Modern graphics and stunning audio coupled with gameplay from the 80's. I think it's naive to say game design hasn't improved in the last 30 years, and it's a shame that this game decided that it didn't have to.    … Expand
  36. Goosebump
    Dec 26, 2014
    4
    Had been looking forward to this very much. The reviews all sounded good and the videos looked great.

    Now that I've parted with my money and installed it, I couldn't be more disappointed with how utterly rubbish the new player experience is. The in game tutorials are rubbish - enormously disjointed and assume far too much. Rather than have in-game videos, you're flicked out of the    Had been looking forward to this very much. The reviews all sounded good and the videos looked great.

    Now that I've parted with my money and installed it, I couldn't be more disappointed with how utterly rubbish the new player experience is. The in game tutorials are rubbish - enormously disjointed and assume far too much. Rather than have in-game videos, you're flicked out of the game to YouTube to watch some video that again, assumes you know a heap of stuff as it proceeds to talk about "basics" that are not basic at all.

    There is obviously a solid game in here somewhere based on the number of positive reviews and if you have the patience to try and muddle through this minefield as a new player then you might find it. As it is, keep your money - at least until they fix the new player experience (or if you're already versed in such wildly mystifying "basics").    … Expand
  37. Rex_richards
    Dec 22, 2014
    7
    if you have an interest in the new elite vs the original elite.... well it is more or less as you would hope. BUT it is much harder than the original elite, and far more detailed. In other words it will require a lot more time to really succeed at it. When elite came out on the bbc model b, it was pretty much the only game you could get with any depth at all, and it is a question ofif you have an interest in the new elite vs the original elite.... well it is more or less as you would hope. BUT it is much harder than the original elite, and far more detailed. In other words it will require a lot more time to really succeed at it. When elite came out on the bbc model b, it was pretty much the only game you could get with any depth at all, and it is a question of lifestyle. you are talking hundreds and hundreds of hours needed to succeed at new elite. So for someone as lazy and casual as me... well, I'll stick with something like sniper elite, talos principle, where you can start it up kick some ass and get quick results.… Expand
  38. WyattDerp
    Jan 30, 2015
    0
    Like others, I bought into the hype some of the reviews and totally false trailers pushed. Seriously wonder if those reviewers actually played the game for more than an hour.
    Well I have, and although I thought it was fantastic for a week, the cracks started to appear dang quick.
    You can't get away from it - the more honest reviews have nailed it. It's a shallow, hollow, soulless game    Like others, I bought into the hype some of the reviews and totally false trailers pushed. Seriously wonder if those reviewers actually played the game for more than an hour.
    Well I have, and although I thought it was fantastic for a week, the cracks started to appear dang quick.
    You can't get away from it - the more honest reviews have nailed it. It's a shallow, hollow, soulless game with little to offer apart from initially pleasing visuals and a good sound treatment.
    And everything DOES start to look the same, as you do the four things that you're allowed to.
    Waste of $60. Avoid guys.    … Expand
  39. Marasmusine
    Dec 22, 2014
    8
    I am having a delightful time roaming the galaxy. There aren't many games that give me that feeling of awe from celestial bodies and the immensity of space. I'm eagerly awaiting planetary landings, so I can check out the sunsets on different moons and planets. The sound design is excellent. I guess people complaining about "grinding" or "exhausting all possibilities" just don't have thatI am having a delightful time roaming the galaxy. There aren't many games that give me that feeling of awe from celestial bodies and the immensity of space. I'm eagerly awaiting planetary landings, so I can check out the sunsets on different moons and planets. The sound design is excellent. I guess people complaining about "grinding" or "exhausting all possibilities" just don't have that spark of curiosity about our universe.… Expand
  40. WiggyStardust
    Feb 9, 2015
    0
    Whoa!
    Not what I expected after watching the trailers and reading some of the reviews.
    Firstly you really do need a fancy joystick to play properly. Fair enough bought one. Been playing for a couple of weeks - graphics and sound are good at first. BUT, all the star stations look the same, NPCS are dumb as rocks, so they are either boring or instantly kill you. Missions are crap.    Whoa!
    Not what I expected after watching the trailers and reading some of the reviews.
    Firstly you really do need a fancy joystick to play properly. Fair enough bought one.
    Been playing for a couple of weeks - graphics and sound are good at first.
    BUT, all the star stations look the same, NPCS are dumb as rocks, so they are either boring or instantly kill you.
    Missions are crap. Seriously guys, this isn't 1995 any more.
    Wow, just not worth $60 bucks. Not worth $20 bucks either! lol.
    Yeah, server outages, gankers, can't meet your buddies, crappy comms.
    Get the picture?    … Expand
  41. CmdrRoy
    Jan 4, 2015
    7
    I get annoyed by people who either give this game 0 - usually the ones who will never forgive Frontier for the offline mode debacle - and also the ones who give it 10 who are blinded by all the hype.

    I have been playing since mid-beta and can see why it is not for everyone. But there is one factor that keeps me coming back: It's not Eve. I don't have to spend my time playing by other    I get annoyed by people who either give this game 0 - usually the ones who will never forgive Frontier for the offline mode debacle - and also the ones who give it 10 who are blinded by all the hype.

    I have been playing since mid-beta and can see why it is not for everyone. But there is one factor that keeps me coming back:

    It's not Eve. I don't have to spend my time playing by other people's rules. I can have fights with other players and not worry about a million other players turning up and zapping me. I can do my own thing.

    If you want Eve fork out your 10 quid a month and stay away with your tedious griefer buddies. Sit around in space stations all night doing nothing except talking because you are too scared to leave and might start having to play the game.

    The graphics are amazing and although gameplay can be repetitive, that's the nature of computer games.

    A few points get knocked off because missions don't work tremendously well. I would like to be able to complete them without having NPC pilots trying to bribe me all the time and then having the whole thing cancelled because I hit the wrong button.

    The nerd in me admires the attempt to create a Milky Way copy in the game. There's no way of telling whether or not it's accurate but I like the point it makes about the vastness of space.

    In conclusion I hope that Frontier keep pushing this thing forward and make some improvements, add a few more ships and perhaps add some more variety in terms of missions.

    I have spent a fair bit of money on this game and although it's been worth it, my VFM rating will go up if Frontier introduces developments such as landing on planets and walking around.

    So ratings are:

    Graphics 10/10

    Gameplay 7/10

    Sound 9/10

    Value for money: 6/10

    Overall 7/10    … Expand
  42. L-Arkwright
    Dec 21, 2014
    8
    Hadn't read that much beforehand and played just the release version, so, coming from not having that high expectations and having liked the original - I quite fancy this game.

    Have seen some small bugs, but nothing game spoiling. Sure, it is shallow exactly on a level with the previous Elites ,and the multi-player aspects are lacking. But as I expected Elite, it is exactly that and    Hadn't read that much beforehand and played just the release version, so, coming from not having that high expectations and having liked the original - I quite fancy this game.

    Have seen some small bugs, but nothing game spoiling. Sure, it is shallow exactly on a level with the previous Elites ,and the multi-player aspects are lacking. But as I expected Elite, it is exactly that and does it brilliantly. I just love the atmosphere, sounds, fighting and mainly, the immersion. Only thing I'm concerned is the current difficulty-level: once you know how to fly well, the npcs are way too easy. I hope there will be harder challenges in the updates.
    At the core, gameplay-wise, it feels like a Euro Truck -simulator in the emptiness of the deep space, spiced with optional combat. If that sounds like your thing, it is really good. But right now, if you're looking for deep story, complicated multi-player experience or anything else than straightforward space-flight-simulation - better wait for the updates and expansions.    … Expand
  43. Angus_MacGyver
    Feb 24, 2015
    1
    I am not happy with the way in which this game was marketed to customers.
    Elite Dangerous was to offer me an ingame multi player experience which were not implemented on release. How a company can not even have a way in which players can communicate with each other in game is beyond me. The MMO side of this game does not exist.
    That aside, ED was enjoyable for the first week until one    I am not happy with the way in which this game was marketed to customers.
    Elite Dangerous was to offer me an ingame multi player experience which were not implemented on release. How a company can not even have a way in which players can communicate with each other in game is beyond me. The MMO side of this game does not exist.

    That aside, ED was enjoyable for the first week until one comes to realise the bugs, exploits and total lack of content available for a very expensive game just left me feeling defeated.
    Ship insurance? This is the worst idea since Everquest use to penalise players for deaths by removing hard earned exp. It is quite possible in Elit Dangerous to lose everything you have worked for in a matter of seconds, due to lag, poor NPC AI or just GTA griefers out to destroy your ship using hacks.
    Yes Elite dangerous is a new game, and the bones are very solid. Should FD waited a couple of months before releasing? Yes probably but the push for Christmas sales put it onto the shelves, so now they must contend with angry customers.
    There are some PVE group games available, but without the correct ingame chat/communication, it still feels like a lost cause.
    The current game is very tiresome and dull but does have massive potential. I just hope the Devs hurry up and fix what is already here because as far as I am concerned, it still feels like Beta testing to me.
    My biggest concern for ED and partly the reason why I was banned from the official forums was because I felt the only testers of this game were Flyboys, die hard fans of the original. So we ended up with an almost duplicate game from 1984 but with better graphics.
    You can't do this, a game needs to evolve, it needs to captivate its audience not suck their will to live ( try trade runs for 4 days straight ).
    Flyboys will tell you to experience all the game has to offer..... Right....
    If you are going to market a game as an MMO it neefds to up to the standards of what most expect an MMO to have. ED does not even have the basics of any MMO currently.

    I have high expectations for this game in the future, if you are thinking about buying this dont.
    Wait a few months, check in on reviews, there is just not enough to offer more than a couple weeks of excitement here and the patches seem to be creating more problems than they are fixing.    … Expand
  44. JigiSix
    Mar 24, 2015
    8
    (TL;DR: TRY COMBAT INSTEAD OF BORING THINGS)

    I've played Elite: Dangerous for a few hours now, and the graphics look amazing, the sound is great but the gameplay is semi-repetitive which I can understand, as I've just only started playing. I hope the gameplay will change up a bit after a few more hours. For now, it's been something like this. Step one, get to a station. Step two, get a    (TL;DR: TRY COMBAT INSTEAD OF BORING THINGS)

    I've played Elite: Dangerous for a few hours now, and the graphics look amazing, the sound is great but the gameplay is semi-repetitive which I can understand, as I've just only started playing. I hope the gameplay will change up a bit after a few more hours. For now, it's been something like this. Step one, get to a station. Step two, get a delivery mission. Step three, deliver the data and get like 700 credits (which, for those of you who don't know, doesn't get you **** Step four, repeat the process. Tried combat. Immediately killed a high value target, got quite a bit of money. Play dangerously in Dangerous, and you'll do **** amazing.    … Expand
  45. teethbits
    Mar 28, 2015
    10
    I have been having the best time of my life with my friends in the Lugh system. Testing on background simulation goes well and the recent Community Goals have made the conflict explode PVP wise (in a good way!): Blockades, combat zones, interdiction wars... all in Wings. Awesome fun.
  46. Daisai
    Jan 7, 2015
    4
    If this game was released about 10 years ago it would have been decent with the lack of content, however in 2014/2015 a game which costs this much should have alot more content then it currently has.
    And even the little content that it does have does not work.
    If you are thinking about buying this game, ask yourself, are you willing to spend the money you normally spend on a finished    If this game was released about 10 years ago it would have been decent with the lack of content, however in 2014/2015 a game which costs this much should have alot more content then it currently has.
    And even the little content that it does have does not work.

    If you are thinking about buying this game, ask yourself, are you willing to spend the money you normally spend on a finished product on a product which is not even half done.

    Yes it has alot of star systems, however you can not do anything in more then 99% of these start systems.

    If you buy this product you are not buying a product, you are spending some money in the hope that 1 day the product might be up to a standard normal people/developers might call "ready to release".

    Don't get fooled when they say the scope of this game is huge, since this all depends on their future.
    If they decide to release this game on a console ( which i think they first intended ) the scope of this game gets alot smaller, since consoles are lesser platforms in terms of performance.
    Because at this moment already a playstation 4 has 2 year old hardware, after 1 or 2 years thats even older.
    So if they release this game on consoles they have to take this into account when they release new content.

    So all in all, think well before buying this game, i did and am not pleased with what i got.
    The game is far from finished or even in a state one would call beta, this game shows signs of not even beta testing at all.    … Expand
  47. RadioShed
    Feb 11, 2015
    0
    Thought this was supposed to be a rich interactive and believable galaxy simulation.
    WRONG!
    The trading sim is pathetic, the missions are generic fetch quests, I can barely work up the enthusiasm to type a review here.
    Superficial and fake. Instanced, grindy, boring.
    Tedious, punishing, and boring. Absolutely hate it and have deleted it.
    Enjoyed the graphics for the first week though.
  48. Tick
    Jun 12, 2015
    3
    I'll start off with the 10/10 rating I give everything and work backwards to my score of a 4.

    The Interface is not mouse driven in menus. You have to use keyboard controls which is not intuitive seeing how you used the mouse to navigate the menus before the game launched. The interface has to be instinctual and natural to the majority of PC users. This means the Mouse. The interface is    I'll start off with the 10/10 rating I give everything and work backwards to my score of a 4.

    The Interface is not mouse driven in menus. You have to use keyboard controls which is not intuitive seeing how you used the mouse to navigate the menus before the game launched. The interface has to be instinctual and natural to the majority of PC users. This means the Mouse. The interface is a Vital component as it should be background and thoughtless. Just a smooth interraction to get through so you can play the game. It isn't... It's awkward. You cannot use your mouse in the various menus. When you are in the system map and click on a station you do not get options like "set destination" or anything. You have to use your keyboard as if you were playing an old 286 computer computer game. The galaxy map you can click on things and a pop-up menu does come up but it is so sensitive that trying to mouse over to the options closes it more often than successfully choosing an option. Interface -3

    Graphics are pretty good. They are by no means Amazing. I have settings on Ultra and run it on a 60hz 4k monitor. They never made me go "WOW" they were just pleasing. Score: +2

    the ships are kind blah. Just wedges that look kind of dated. Put up against the environmental graphics the ships look drab... Score: +0

    Controls: They are complicated. This is a steep learning curve. If you have just a mouse and keyboard you have to fool around with the controls for quite some time to get anything resembling intuitive controls to fly with. Score:-1

    Manual everything: Docking is a pain in the butt. Apparently after you play the game for a while you can buy a computer to automatically dock... but if you have played the game long enough you may just like manual docking and not want the computer to do it for you... I don't know why the auto-dock computer isn't a starting item and you can save ship resources by taking it out later on... It's easy to miss the spot you have to land on, you get warnings by the station to MOVE NOW OR YOU WILL BE SHOT, you accidentally press a button to deploy hard-points and your guns deploy. You were just fined. Score: -1

    Navigation: It's ok, you have to adjust the mouse sensitivity and dead-zones to improve this, and if you don't know what these are because you're new to games like this.. You're SOL. Some planets don't even show up on the system map because they are tethered to another planet.. Nothing explains this, you have to figure it out on your own. The ships seem sluggish, and you have to fool around with Pitch, Yaw and roll to get something you like, again if you are unfamiliar with what this means, you're again, SOL. Score -1

    Tutorials: Not very helpful at all. This game assumes you are experienced before you play. It assumes you're an existing backer. It assumes you've played the original game. It seems that without a HOTAS or Joystick set-up the game puts you at an initial disadvantage. Buying a new HID before you experience the game is asking a lot. New Player experience Score -2

    I tried going back to this game, and I couldn't... It's just so boring. I had to drop my score by another point. -1

    I really want space games on the PC to make a come-back. I didn't back the game, and I wanted to try it once it was released. I bought the game, and my experience has not been that positive at all. I showed the game to some friends. they were not that interested in picking it up after seeing how much micro-management is required at the start of the game. I can see micro-management of all the details giving efficiencies and advantages once you become more familiar with the game, but it seems that you have to deal with all this right out of the box and can earn money and buy stuff later to reduce the micromanagement..... Strange..... The community generally says "we want a complex game. So get out of here" I'm sure I'd want a more complex game as well, once I have sunk my teeth into it... but not right out of the box...

    I can't in good conscience recommend this game to anyone other than the initial backers.    … Expand
  49. boldsirrobin
    Mar 23, 2015
    8
    I'll confess at the beginning - I was a fan of the original 1984 Elite, so I may be biased. My first impulse was to give it a 9 or 10, but that would be silly, as I agree with some of the negative comments here; l love the game in spite of its obvious faults. I give up on games very easily (because life is too short to play tedious games) but I've been playing Elite: Dangerous since theI'll confess at the beginning - I was a fan of the original 1984 Elite, so I may be biased. My first impulse was to give it a 9 or 10, but that would be silly, as I agree with some of the negative comments here; l love the game in spite of its obvious faults. I give up on games very easily (because life is too short to play tedious games) but I've been playing Elite: Dangerous since the day it came out and am still trying to squeeze time out of my busy schedule to play it, so it must have some magic.

    Pros:

    + Beautiful graphics and sound.

    + Flight - you have pitch, roll, yaw and four directions of thrust, and a choice between the default flight assist mode where the ship does more-or-less what you'd expect, and "flight assist off" where it behaves in the crazy way objects in space actually behave.

    + Combat - a variety of weapons, ships and tactics, and everything from one-on-one encounters to massive PvP+PvE battles that go on for weeks.

    + The galaxy as your sandbox.

    Cons

    - Although its better than the release version, it needs to develop multiplayer a lot more, though the latest version does have "wings" (i.e., combat teams). Teams and events tend to be organised via the forums or social media; this should be integrated into the game.

    - While player actions do affect the universe, the devs need to tweak this to work much better. Of course the actions of one player can't have a major effect on the fate of empires, or even most star systems, but there need to be certain tipping points where a system could go either way depending on what players do. One thing people like about games is the idea that their character is going to make a difference.

    - The universe is kind of homogeneous. Types of government need to have more effect on how business is done, starports need to look more different from each other, there should be rare local commodities, weird religions you can get on the wrong side of - in short, different cultures.

    - Missions are generally obtain/transport/destroy one-offs, with tiny incremental effects on your reputation. They need to feed into each other more.

    Procons (i.e., things some people will hate and others may not be bothered by or even like)

    * There's no back-story for characters or an overarching story line. You start as a blank slate, and if you're not careful, you'll continue as one.

    * Space is big. That's an advantage in many ways, but it does mean you won't run into many other players outside a few popular (and hence dangerous) locations. Sometimes nothing much happens - you can spend a long time just travelling from one place to another. It used to annoy me, and it's a deal-breaker for some people, but now I kind of enjoy the change of pace.

    * There are few limits on PvP. If some guy with an Anaconda (the biggest ship) feels like blowing your little Sidewinder out of the sky, there's nothing to stop them except the prospect of their bounty increasing, which tends not to deter pirates who have Anacondas. Even NPC fights can be absurdly one-sided (hint: don't investigate anything that says "Strong signal source"). On the plus side, you get more of a sense of danger from the game, which leads us to ...

    * Real penalties for dying. Your ship is insured, but you'll lose a lot of money, all your cargo and even cartographic information (but not any bounties on your head, unfortunately). Some people hate this; I find it adds to the excitement. Fight or flight is a serious choice.

    * It's difficult. You'll spend a long time just learning how to fly your ship, and it'll be a while before you can enter a combat zone and survive more than a few seconds. Personally I like that it's difficult, but I agree with criticisms of the learning curve. The game needs proper tutorials that talk you through things, not a few basic solo missions and links to YouTube videos.    … Expand
  50. Darious
    Feb 18, 2015
    4
    The truth is somewhere between the shill tens and the zeros.

    It's a pretty game, but also pretty empty of content. Your primary options are to grind as a miner, grind as a trader, grind in combat, or explore new systems - which, after the 10th or so system, gets to feel pretty ... grindy. But make NO mistake - it is beautiful. And first two week of playing was breathtaking. But as    The truth is somewhere between the shill tens and the zeros.

    It's a pretty game, but also pretty empty of content. Your primary options are to grind as a miner, grind as a trader, grind in combat, or explore new systems - which, after the 10th or so system, gets to feel pretty ... grindy.

    But make NO mistake - it is beautiful. And first two week of playing was breathtaking. But as time went on I'd gone from trading, to exploring and out of sheer boredom bounty hunting and finally to just flat out p-king.

    After about a month I find that I just don't bother to log in anymore.

    Maybe in a year or so it might be worth the bother, but not right now.    … Expand
  51. beegjaymes
    Jan 15, 2015
    3
    I was an early backer so I've played E:D since the first public release. Elite was the game which defined gaming in my childhood. Unfortunately this is just a complete disappointment.

    It's dull.

    Very dull.

    And tedious.

    Very tedious.

    And buggy.

    It makes me sad to say it but: Don't buy it. Just don't.
  52. Gutenisse
    Dec 26, 2014
    4
    It's a copy of Elite II from 1993 with superb graphics. It's fun for a few hours, but then you start wondering why you keep playing it. There's no goal, other than making more and more money.

    The combat is pretty fun, for a few hours. Trading is fun, for even less hours. The only progress is buying a bigger or better ship, bigger or better guns, but why? To make more money, so you    It's a copy of Elite II from 1993 with superb graphics. It's fun for a few hours, but then you start wondering why you keep playing it. There's no goal, other than making more and more money.

    The combat is pretty fun, for a few hours. Trading is fun, for even less hours.

    The only progress is buying a bigger or better ship, bigger or better guns, but why? To make more money, so you can buy bigger and better ships. It's fun - for a few hours.

    After a few hours, it gets boring and I'm starting to remember why I stopped playing Elite II.    … Expand
  53. Blanke73
    Dec 18, 2014
    6
    It's quite unfortunate that as of now Elite is a skeleton of a game. the frame work is there, but not much meat on the bones. They rushed this game so they could count the pre-orders on their financials, and the game is suffering for it.
  54. chokecook
    Mar 28, 2015
    10
    So, this is either your game liking or it isn't.

    If it is, then this is the bstest space sim you can possibly play on a PC.

    I've basically stop playing everything else. I'm probably over 50 hours now and still just feel like I'm not even getting started, and every flight is an adventure
  55. Saratosa75
    Dec 14, 2015
    1
    Horizons buyers, be aware of a few facts, before you decide to pay $50.00 for an expansion.

    1. Premium Alpha and Beta backers are discarded, not listened to and continually been ignored, since 2014. I paid $75.00 for Premium Beta, and according to Frontier, I do not qualify to own Horizons. There are thousands of us, some paid over $140.00 and left in the ditch by Frontier    Horizons buyers, be aware of a few facts, before you decide to pay $50.00 for an expansion.

    1. Premium Alpha and Beta backers are discarded, not listened to and continually been ignored, since 2014.
    I paid $75.00 for Premium Beta, and according to Frontier, I do not qualify to own Horizons. There are thousands of us, some paid over $140.00 and left in the ditch by Frontier Developments. They are fraudulent and money grabbers with a half baked product of something they call a game, and obviously they are not implementing any meaningful changes to the game, beside adding more places to do nothing (Horizons) for a full price of a new game.
    2. Anyone bought Elite: Dangerous previously and paid for the full product $49.99, must pay another $49.99 to own Horizons. So, they have to buy twice the price, just to land on planets.
    3. Those who only buy Horizons, only have to pay $49.99 and essentially own both Elite:Dangerous and Horizons.
    Let alone the fact, that the base game "Elite:Dangerous" continues to remain just a shell of a game, an empty void with barely any game play, beside auto-generated -spawned AI ships and completely non-functioning economy. Despite the raving reviews a year ago, the game has not evolved, beside a few additional gameplay elements, which has not changed much the game.
    You can kill thousands of ships, it will not make any meaningful (nobody is getting weaker or stronger) changes in the game world.
    You can trade thousands of items all across the systems, nobody is getting richer or poorer, beside you, and your reward is, that you can buy a bigger ship and do the same mindless/meaningless truck driver job or arcade shooter.

    The "Horizons" addon, let's you land on planets with no atmosphere, but not even all.

    Please, tell me if this is a fair business practice.
    Even the most criticized EA Incorp. with its endless addons and expansions to their core games don't do this.
    If you buy - for example - Battlefield 4 (core), for $49.99, your expansion of your pick will not cost another $49.99, and they aren't only adding another rifle to shoot with.
    Following Frontier Developments' money grabber practices of the past- my predictions:
    - You will be able to land on planets with atmospheres (sometime in 2016) for additional $20.00 for Horizon owners. Elite:Dangerous owners (if they still havent deserted this empty shell of nothing) must pay another $70.00 to own Horizons with "Elite: Atmosphere" upgrade.
    -You will be able to land on gas giants for addititional ($20.00) for Horizon owners, or you can get a Gold-Platinum-Game of The Year (no doubt the reviewers will hype it again, with a whole-total of 5 mins of gameplay) full package of Elite:Dangerous Horizons Atmospheric Gas Giant Edition for as little as $95.00.

    Previous Elite:Dangerous owners with no Horizons upgrade must pay an addtional $120.00 to enjoy Horizons+Atmospheric Landing+Gas Giants super package.
    -    … Expand
  56. Silencio56
    Dec 26, 2014
    8
    The game needs work and in my opinion was released too early, as there are a few pretty bad bugs right now. It's also lacking content and is in dire need of more ...everything. Having said that, what is there is excellent.

    It's difficult for me to explain why i like this game so much, i think it's because it makes me believe i'm really there. let me describe to you just one of many    The game needs work and in my opinion was released too early, as there are a few pretty bad bugs right now. It's also lacking content and is in dire need of more ...everything. Having said that, what is there is excellent.

    It's difficult for me to explain why i like this game so much, i think it's because it makes me believe i'm really there. let me describe to you just one of many moments i've had since playing. iIm in a hauler, the Elite Dangerous equivalent of a transit van, and the engines whine and moan with every adjustment to my speed or direction, the cabin shakes as i boost forward, i set course for a ringed, gas-giant, i fly down toward the rings and they become asteroids, i zip between them and i'm like a speck of dust. I kill my engines and sit there, so many stars out there, i could go and explore any of them, the giant planet looms in front of me, everything is dead silence, i actually feel fear at being so alone, but i also feel wonder at the sheer size of space.

    Ok so that's just me, but if that doesn't impress you then the fighting is awesome and the missions are horribly addictive, i just find myself sinking hour after hour into this game. ED is really cool now, albeit missing a load of stuff that we all want for it, if it gets those things in the coming few months i will upgrade my mark to a ten, because it's got more potential than a young Mike Tyson. A solid and well deserved 8 from me, a unique and beautiful experience.    … Expand
  57. Chaotic-Entropy
    Dec 29, 2014
    4
    With deep regret, for I am a lover of the genre, I cannot bring myself to recommend this game to a wider audience than extreme fans desperate for a fix and willing to accept anything. An outsider looking in will not see a sandbox (if you can call it that), at best the game is a sandcastle beach, where you are merely a bystander. At worst, the game is a barren desert, one which you areWith deep regret, for I am a lover of the genre, I cannot bring myself to recommend this game to a wider audience than extreme fans desperate for a fix and willing to accept anything. An outsider looking in will not see a sandbox (if you can call it that), at best the game is a sandcastle beach, where you are merely a bystander. At worst, the game is a barren desert, one which you are free to play in. It is an open world, but it is an empty world and one which players can play little to no real part except with ever watchful approval of Frontier.

    If you can somehow not tire of doing the same old repetitive missions or doing the old repetitive trading, mining or "exploration" then good for you. I however expect something more from a game of revolutionary scope than to just provide me the bare minimum of paltry amusements. Not to mention that it takes everything that is annoying about online games and removes all of the benefits, leaving just the always online, unpausible and constantly running mission timers. It provides no social features, little interaction with others without a lot of effort and has a game breaking approach to player conflict which rewards rage quitting and disconnecting by removing you from these difficult situations at your leisure. Just quit and reload and you're fine.

    At the same time, it provides a basic and simplistic singleplayer approach to a space game, all the travel, all of the grind, with little reward or acknowledgement. You will hear a lot of comments about using your imagination in the forums, to which I respond that I did not pay good money to a developer for a pretty backdrop for doing nothing but imagine.

    At the moment, it's release state is a framework of a game, with glaring issues and nonsensical design choices around every turn. This is a great shame as it has a lovely amount of potential, it's galaxy is mind boggling and gorgeous, it's combat is quite entertaining, if infrequent and unrewarding. The game engine is polished and stable, but without content and any semblance of immersion and interaction then there is no point. Nothing you do matters beyond what Frontier actively allows, it is not a malleable sandbox, it is reduced to a glorified Elite museum.    … Expand
  58. Hamerstein
    Dec 18, 2014
    7
    A solid release, if unspectacular. Elite Dangerous 1.0 is a framework, the fundamentals are there - trade, fight, mine, explore but it's lip-service. Having experienced the game's development from Kickstarter onwards, having insight into the development process via the Design Decision Forum and access to all builds from premium Alpha, it's fair to say that the release was premature.A solid release, if unspectacular. Elite Dangerous 1.0 is a framework, the fundamentals are there - trade, fight, mine, explore but it's lip-service. Having experienced the game's development from Kickstarter onwards, having insight into the development process via the Design Decision Forum and access to all builds from premium Alpha, it's fair to say that the release was premature. Features had to be dropped (postponed), the last month of development took on an almost panicked air, with as many elements being broken as were fixed.

    Fortunately the release candidate worked fairly well out of the "box", I haven't experienced any game breaking issues and am still enjoying the experience - which is not a bad thing at all as having "played" for a year prior, I'd be likely to feel entitled to a more jaded outlook - but I don't.

    Give it 6 months, and we may see the kind of game that it's potential implies, as it is, the release is worth a solid 7/10.    … Expand
  59. celloknife
    Mar 28, 2015
    9
    The way the galaxy has been modelled with procedural generation to a dot with actual data is amazing. Travelling through it is a dream come true. After seeing so many Youtube videos of Elite explorers I had to try it out and it has not disappointed. Black hole light distorsions, nebulae, oyu name it... Being able to chase and combat wanted PC or NPC to know stars has no price.
  60. Anthroban
    Feb 19, 2015
    5
    The graphics and sound are solid enough but the unforgivable sin of this game is that it is so very dull and boring. There is little in way of actual content - this doesn't mean the galaxy isn't enormous it means there are only about half a dozen things to do in it and they all get very old very fast.
  61. OccipitaL
    Dec 21, 2014
    8
    Gameplay is robust, sounds are absolutely amazing. It feels a little bit empty right now (well, hey it's space) due to not having any social tools/gameplay, also because there aren't really a variety in models in the game for ships and stations but it's good enough a start for me. None the less It's still a solid release. If they can improve social aspects in a short span of time it willGameplay is robust, sounds are absolutely amazing. It feels a little bit empty right now (well, hey it's space) due to not having any social tools/gameplay, also because there aren't really a variety in models in the game for ships and stations but it's good enough a start for me. None the less It's still a solid release. If they can improve social aspects in a short span of time it will be a great game to play for a long time with its coming features they promise.… Expand
  62. Megalon
    Dec 18, 2014
    0
    The slogan you will hear floating around the Elite community is "play YOUR way". Well i am here to tell you, that is only true if your way happens to coincide with the way the developers play. There is a glaring sense of selfishness in the development of the game that has turned out for the worse upon release. It is, as others have said, a shell of a game. There are some great flightThe slogan you will hear floating around the Elite community is "play YOUR way". Well i am here to tell you, that is only true if your way happens to coincide with the way the developers play. There is a glaring sense of selfishness in the development of the game that has turned out for the worse upon release. It is, as others have said, a shell of a game. There are some great flight mechanics and wonderful graphics holding up a flimsy grind fest that lacks any depth or character or content or multiplayer or anything that would make it an actual game. Elite: "Dangerous" is basically a space flight simulator minus the simulation.

    Just to give you some history, i backed the game when it was in closed beta and have played for a few hundred hours and have done everything the "game" has to offer. So i want to try to give you a quick run down of the features they are ADVERTISING without all the marketing fluff to hide what you will really be getting.

    "Play Your Way"- unless you want to be a solo trader, this is the biggest lie you will find in the descriptions of the game on their website. you will not play your way unless your way is- playing alone mostly and almost never seeing another real player while trading and trading and trading and trading again to have any hope of having enough money to "Play Your Way"

    Combat- first the website will make it sound like there is great PvP bounty hunting to be had in tandem with difficult PvE. I can tell you that there mostly certainly is not any of that. What you will get is news updates at stations for bounties on players you will never see. you will probably see Jesus Christ in this game before you take down a player bounty. The AI in the game is terrible and so easy to kill or escape from that they serve as nothing more than a waste of time. However if you do happen to take some damage or lose an engagement in anything but a stock starter ship, the cost is so astronomical that your immersion will be broken the moment your read the total. When you combine this with the extremely poor pay outs for combat, what you get is a fundamentally flawed risk vs reward system in terms of combat roles.

    Exploration- exploration consists of pointing your ship at astral bodies that are "undiscovered" then trying to get to a system as far away from your discovery as possible to sell it. basically it is information trading for sightseers with a small profit margin than standard trading. i will take this time to say that, if your goal is to explore a 1:1 representation of the milky way and nothing more- this game is perfect for you.

    Trading-"your every trade contributes to the dynamic market activity". the trading system is a static, one-note system that equates to little more than "easy win mode". of course there is nothing to WIN in ED, but what you can do is make money and trading is the easiest way (and i mean painfully easy) to do that. there is no economic simulation in place and you will never have a noticeable effect on any market. the worst of it all is that they do not tell you that there were exploits during the "gamma" phase of the game and they did not wipe any players prior to the 1.0 release. so you will be playing with players in 50 million+ credit ships who are multi billionaires. I am not sure how much the last part matters because, again, you will NEVER see them anyway.

    Factions- the faction rep system is broken as far as i know but even when it is working it does not provide any tapestry or color to your world in ED. all factions are just letters on a screen in a station telling you to do more boring stuff for hours so you can gain rep (broken) and do slightly less boring stuff for slightly more money. when i got this game i said "finally, i can be like boba fett and do merc work for the empire", then on Dec 16th i started the game in a turd of a ship deep in Federation space 200 light years away from the empire's capital. it took me 3 hours to fly to the outskirts of imperial space. this is not playing MY way.

    Now, i know what you are thinking- "this has a pretty decent meta score and i totally LOVE space sims". Well, i love space sims and rely heavily on feedback from the pc gaming community when making purchases. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE SEMI POSITIVE REVIEWS HERE. The Elite community is filled with the most blind and relentless fan boys one will ever encounter. If you would like to put what i am saying to the test then simply register for a forum account and attempt to post some useful criticism of the game. Before you know it you will be trampled by the horses of a thousand ED white knights and the keyboard punches of mighty neck bearded fan boys. You can attribute the reviews here to a small portion of those gray bushed and naive super fans. The reality is the game is 1 year away from being complete at best and even then i have little faith in the creator and lead dev and their ability to make this game work for a contemporary community.

    Save your Money    … Expand
  63. Wyzak
    Dec 18, 2014
    0
    Have a look at the kickstarter comment feed or the refund page on their forums. Some people have been waiting for more than 27 days for a refund after Frontier broke the promise to make it an offline only game. They have stopped all communication with the customers who have been requesting refunds. Those customers are also being treated like criminals, and like they are trying to abuse theHave a look at the kickstarter comment feed or the refund page on their forums. Some people have been waiting for more than 27 days for a refund after Frontier broke the promise to make it an offline only game. They have stopped all communication with the customers who have been requesting refunds. Those customers are also being treated like criminals, and like they are trying to abuse the system.

    The game is incomplete, it features very little of the actual promised features and everything has a little star next to it saying this will only be added post-release. It took my friend and me 8 hours to reach each other because the game does not allow you to specify your start location and does not offer any fast-travel methods. That's also a post-release "promise".

    Because the game has always-online DRM the future of the game is entirely in their hands and you never actually own the game yourself. If they pull the plug on the servers tomorrow all your money and time is gone. Due to the high cost of the servers I would not be surprised if the game is F2P in 6 months to a year.

    Their EULA also allows them to add in-game advertising...

    It's actually a 7 or a 8 game, but I can't give them a score like that with the way that they are treating their customers. and for the reasons listed above.    … Expand
  64. cmkao
    Feb 21, 2015
    4
    I got this due to the fact that I loved Elite II back in the day. It is OK.

    Lots of grinding - but then we had that in other Elite games, right? True, but here hours worth of credits can be lost by a random encounter with a pirate - and there is no reload option. If you spend hours (and I mean hours) of your free time grinding in the hope of getting a bigger ship and being able to do    I got this due to the fact that I loved Elite II back in the day. It is OK.

    Lots of grinding - but then we had that in other Elite games, right? True, but here hours worth of credits can be lost by a random encounter with a pirate - and there is no reload option.

    If you spend hours (and I mean hours) of your free time grinding in the hope of getting a bigger ship and being able to do a few more things, but then at the end of the day you are back where you started, you have to wonder if it was a good use of your precious time    … Expand
  65. UKastrogeek
    Feb 18, 2015
    3
    Not really too happy with the game as it stands, as it isn't living up to the hype and the BS reviews.

    Multiplayer is supposed to be patched in the next release, and we'll be able to form in groups of 4. Yes, that's right. FOUR. Don't get me started on the griefers or the boredom factor with so little interesting content in the game. Rapidly losing confidence in this, and I had    Not really too happy with the game as it stands, as it isn't living up to the hype and the BS reviews.

    Multiplayer is supposed to be patched in the next release, and we'll be able to form in groups of 4. Yes, that's right. FOUR.

    Don't get me started on the griefers or the boredom factor with so little interesting content in the game.

    Rapidly losing confidence in this, and I had such high hopes. Fingers crossed they can fix things quickly enough to stop everyone leaving, otherwise it's just wasted money again.    … Expand
  66. d33f
    Dec 19, 2014
    8
    Positive:

    Great visual and sound design, a lot of freedom to do as you please.

    Negative:

    Steep learning curve, mission descriptions could use some more details.
  67. taiko88
    Dec 18, 2014
    0
    The game is a boring and dry adventure into nothingness. The awe will drop off after the first hour and you will be left wondering what else is there to do besides the simplistic combat, the mind numbing trading, or the boring exploration. The multiplayer is broken and doesn't even work, the game itself is just a shell of what the game promised by the developers. Don't worry though allThe game is a boring and dry adventure into nothingness. The awe will drop off after the first hour and you will be left wondering what else is there to do besides the simplistic combat, the mind numbing trading, or the boring exploration. The multiplayer is broken and doesn't even work, the game itself is just a shell of what the game promised by the developers. Don't worry though all these amazing awesome features they keep promising will come.… Expand
  68. toramo
    Dec 16, 2014
    7
    Hello commanders !

    This Elite Dangerous is a really cool game. I already spent a lot of time on beta/ gamma. Pro Immersion ! Exploration, trade, fight, mining, Each module is working really nicely and the bunch of ships available deserve it ! And there is of course a tons of mission relative to your stuff and specialization. Buy & stuff your ship to specialize it or keep it    Hello commanders !

    This Elite Dangerous is a really cool game. I already spent a lot of time on beta/ gamma.

    Pro

    Immersion !
    Exploration, trade, fight, mining, Each module is working really nicely and the bunch of ships available deserve it ! And there is of course a tons of mission relative to your stuff and specialization.
    Buy & stuff your ship to specialize it or keep it versatile, it is your choice :)
    Everything is working fine and there is a lot to discover in the game.

    Cons:
    Multiplayer !!!!!!!! seriously this game is sold as an 'MMO' like game but actually there is absolutely nothing to do with your friends.

    It is really hard to meet friends (you don't know where they are) and even more hard to try to do something with them... No coop mission, no PVE (except conflict zone but it is really boring), no convoy escort for example etc...

    Just don't buy it if you don't like to play Solo, wait for early next year, the multiplayer part called "wings" will be added.

    -3 points because of this, it looks unacceptable to sold a multiplayer game without multiplayer stuff !!

    Otherwise, all good !    … Expand
  69. manquepierda
    Dec 21, 2014
    9
    A true space sim sandbox, Elite is. If you are in to be a hero, dont come. But if you feel ok with making your own way to the best space ship and gear that goes with it all the way having a blast with your friends or in solo then come along!
  70. Blackcompany
    May 7, 2017
    3
    Amazing sound. Quality graphical presentation. A large universe. These are the pros of Elite: Dangerous. And they are the only ones.

    On the other hand, flying is amazing difficult. Too many minute facets of fine control to balance at once. Docking is a horrendous pain, as its all in real time with tiny station entrances and a game that makes no effort to help you find your assigned    Amazing sound. Quality graphical presentation. A large universe. These are the pros of Elite: Dangerous. And they are the only ones.

    On the other hand, flying is amazing difficult. Too many minute facets of fine control to balance at once. Docking is a horrendous pain, as its all in real time with tiny station entrances and a game that makes no effort to help you find your assigned dock.

    Activities are the same tired ones that appear in every space sim: trading, pirating, delivery jobs and bounty hunting.

    It must have been easy to refine and polish the existing space sim genre when making Elite. I say this because, judging by the design direction, the first thing they decided against in the beginning was any semblance of actual innovation at all.

    Not recommended.    … Expand
  71. wolfy28
    Dec 16, 2014
    8
    Not a game that panders to people that want to have their hand held for story-lines. you have a galaxy, a ship and 100 credits, and now it is up to you.

    With the choice of trading, piracy, bounty hunting, mining, exploring, general or faction missions to take to improve your reputation with factions thus allowing certain other restricted ships to become available, you really make your    Not a game that panders to people that want to have their hand held for story-lines. you have a galaxy, a ship and 100 credits, and now it is up to you.

    With the choice of trading, piracy, bounty hunting, mining, exploring, general or faction missions to take to improve your reputation with factions thus allowing certain other restricted ships to become available, you really make your own storyline.

    This is not however to everyone's taste and if you prefer a standard "go here, do this, then go there and kill that" style of play, you may find this is not the game for you.

    As it stands Elite:Dangerous is a game you can lose days with, and it only looks to get better with future expansions that are planned.    … Expand
  72. Daffan
    Dec 17, 2014
    1
    Good flight model

    Good graphics Good Sound design --------- Multiplayer is an afterthought, in an MMO. No social features, group features. PVP is a second feature to even that with being able to move saves from singleplayer to multiplayer and back on demand. no PVE capability with friends either. peer 2 peer and instanced Nothing to do other than grind AI who cant fight    Good flight model

    Good graphics

    Good Sound design

    ---------

    Multiplayer is an afterthought, in an MMO. No social features, group features. PVP is a second feature to even that with being able to move saves from singleplayer to multiplayer and back on demand. no PVE capability with friends either. peer 2 peer and instanced

    Nothing to do other than grind AI who cant fight back, Mine rocks to sell to AI or trade with AI on static markets that cant have any player buy or sell orders or any player industry.

    Overall, a grind to get the biggest trader to carry the most to make the most profit, nothing to use money on and same for combat ships. No need to have smaller specialised craft when the biggest does everything in one, no role-warefare    … Expand
  73. Cmdr-coypu
    Mar 24, 2015
    10
    Rewarding to play as long as you know that you are going to have to invest time in learning how the Elite universe works and that you are prepared to live with the consequences of E:D's risk mechanics.
    i.e. never fly a ship you cannot afford to lose !
    HOTAS gear is not essential, I have played with mouse / keyboard since launch date - just bought a HOTAS set now for a change. The people    Rewarding to play as long as you know that you are going to have to invest time in learning how the Elite universe works and that you are prepared to live with the consequences of E:D's risk mechanics.
    i.e. never fly a ship you cannot afford to lose !
    HOTAS gear is not essential, I have played with mouse / keyboard since launch date - just bought a HOTAS set now for a change.
    The people giving this game a score of 0, after playing for weeks and then getting bored, are being rather mean-spirited I think - any game that you have played for weeks and enjoyed has been a good game I believe. Every game gets "old" after a while so it seems unfair to give E:D such a low score. I have played a lot of other great games for far fewer hours than I have spent in E:D and still considered it a good investment of my leisure time. Perhaps it is because E:D has no set "end" that people stop playing when they have got bored and some have only negative impressions at that point and have forgotten all the fun they had ? Whereas with other games once you have reached the "end" you can have a more positive closure experience.    … Expand
  74. Timyersidies
    Dec 16, 2014
    8
    In short a solid foundation is in place for a great space game so if your into flying pixel spaceships this is one to watch.

    It has an innovative approach to PVE and PVP with the same character able to choose which mode they want to play in for that session but all actions impact the same sandbox. It also does not need a subscription so you can dip in and out playing at your own pace in    In short a solid foundation is in place for a great space game so if your into flying pixel spaceships this is one to watch.

    It has an innovative approach to PVE and PVP with the same character able to choose which mode they want to play in for that session but all actions impact the same sandbox. It also does not need a subscription so you can dip in and out playing at your own pace in your own way.

    It is a sandbox game so don't expect a character story, cut scenes or linear missions. You need to use the missions and wider narrative provided by the game studio to craft a story or join in with the community who are already creating their own "Freeing Lugh" being an example.    … Expand
  75. Kaltern
    Dec 22, 2014
    3
    I'm not even playing it any more.

    I LOVED the original Elite, and I lived in Frontier, but this... this is just boring. Hell I get 100% more enjoyment out of Euro Truck than this, and that literally is going from one place to another. I think one of the main issues is the idea that players should have to manually do EVERYTHING. I mean, sure docking is fine, it's old school and you    I'm not even playing it any more.

    I LOVED the original Elite, and I lived in Frontier, but this... this is just boring. Hell I get 100% more enjoyment out of Euro Truck than this, and that literally is going from one place to another.

    I think one of the main issues is the idea that players should have to manually do EVERYTHING. I mean, sure docking is fine, it's old school and you have the option of a docking computer.

    But no autopilot when going from one station to another? Why? It's not as if you can click 'A' and then go make a coffee, cos you could be interdicted at any moment, but it sure as hell beats having to make sure you leave SuperCruise at precisely the right moment. It's a manual mechanic that wasn't even going to be IN the final game (it was added after alpha design discussions), so I don't know what was going to be in it's place.

    Combat is clunky and slow, the deliberate crippling of yaw movement sounded like a good idea at first, but in practice, it's a forced mechanic that just doesn't make the slightest bit of sense in space. Even with it's many many issues, SC's combat is so much better.

    Even the landing procedure is just odd... Ok, I get the reasoning behind there being no keybind for 'Request Docking Permission' - it will make macro-trading a lot more difficult - but it's not hard to overcome, and in the end is just an awkward way of yet again making manual control more prominent.

    Mining is pointless.

    This game is literally a timesink of the worst kind. If there was a bit more automation for travelling, then it might not be quite so bad. The laughable idea that your ship's navigation computer has absolutely no data on any other system except your starting one, and a couple of others (which I don't understand how or why), unless you purchase them from the map screen (not from Cartography, like you USED to be able to - another convoluted design change), makes no sense to me.

    And WHY you get money for 'discovering' stars and planets is beyond me, considering that data for this already exists to buy! Naturally, if you visit a truly unexplored system (which mathematically, you will, if you travel far enough), you SHOULD get paid oodles of credits, and would make exploring worthwhile - but exploring a system WHEN THERE ARE PLAYER SHIPS IN THE SAME AREA is utterly stupid.

    Elite is like an egg without a yolk, a sandwich without filling, beer without alcohol.

    And it's boring as hell.    … Expand
  76. flexy123
    Jan 7, 2015
    4
    I played in the Beta, mind you, before Retail hit the shelves. In the Beta, I made a lot of money until I finally was able to get an Anaconda. I also got me a shiny new joystick, throttle, etc...etc....
    I have no desire to play this game (even if it's right there installed on my HD) since I "feel" I have already seen everything this game has to offer. You can only have "so much" fun    I played in the Beta, mind you, before Retail hit the shelves. In the Beta, I made a lot of money until I finally was able to get an Anaconda. I also got me a shiny new joystick, throttle, etc...etc....
    I have no desire to play this game (even if it's right there installed on my HD) since I "feel" I have already seen everything this game has to offer. You can only have "so much" fun spending some days, a week or two flying in a dark, empty space from A to B to make credits and to buy a new ship. How long do you think would such a "game" sustain motivation? Others are correct, this game has not one yota of what I'd expect from a new game which calls itself MMORPG, this is user interaction, communication, PvP, trade, building etc. This game has NOTHING of that. It is a game for 45+ year old nerds (like me) who buy an expensive PC rig and then "enjoy" flying in an empty, dead space from A to B with other 45+ year old nerds. In other words: It's incredibly boring. A game concept that was cool in 1983 can hardly sustain 30 years later. When I get into a game today I want to feel I play in a "living world" where I can meet and play with others, where adventures and challenges arise from playing with others, discovering new places etc...but ED entirely failed in this MM aspect of the game. Another HUGE turn-off for me is that the "simulation" aspect of this game is a mere illusion, and one done badly actually. You can not actually fly to other star systems, instead you "jump" from one "box" to another, the universe as such is therefore not really connected since you're only always in a tiny local "box" which you cannot escape unless you get into Hyperspace mode. If you are not hyperspacing you could target another system and you will NEVER reach it. I am aware that this is due to technical limitation and other games in essence do the same thing, but for me it's a huge turnoff to know that.
    And...PULEASSE stop it with stupid comments such as "good foundation" or "there will be cool expansions coming out". You don't enjoy a game because "there will be great things added in the future". You play a game NOW, not "in the future". And Frontier will have a hell of a bad time "adding" stuff to the game since this is the main mistake they made from the beginning: Rather than building upon a good foundation which deserves a name such as MMRPG..they merely *added* features, this is why anything *added* appears halfassed, such as multiplayer, communications, missions etc. If the game at its core is already built wrong (netcode....) you will have a hard time to make it better by "adding" stuff.    … Expand
  77. maxiu
    Dec 22, 2014
    8
    As a person who haven't played any of the betas, don't know what they promised on kickstarter and bought the game on release date without knowing much about it I'm really enjoying it. So far I've put about 30 hours into it and I'm not bored by any stretch of the imagination. Granted the game does look a little barren and some features are flat out missing like any form of playerAs a person who haven't played any of the betas, don't know what they promised on kickstarter and bought the game on release date without knowing much about it I'm really enjoying it. So far I've put about 30 hours into it and I'm not bored by any stretch of the imagination. Granted the game does look a little barren and some features are flat out missing like any form of player interactions (except maybe crashing at docking port - thanks guys for flying close to red light) but the foundation is pretty solid and what is in the game works really well. Looking at what the game has to offer in terms of ship customization has me a bit worried because choice of available guns and modules seems to be quite limited, scrolling through the station's inventory gets you a lot of things looking exactly the same but with a different price tag. All in all the game seems to be released a little bit prematurely and you can see it's missing features straight away, but it does not stop you from playing it all day long.… Expand
  78. Namix
    Dec 16, 2014
    9
    If you want a game that tells you what to do and when, this is not the game for you. If you want a insanely massive playground, where you can pretty much do what you want, this is it.
  79. MartinAtome
    Jan 14, 2015
    6
    The game is in fact still in beta, the basic structure is there and it's solid but both the gameplay and the content will need a lot of work before we can judge the final product.

    ED promises an open, immense, unforgiving world where the player has total freedom (and no safe nets), something we have seen already in games like EVE or DayZ and is very appealing, but it doesn't offer    The game is in fact still in beta, the basic structure is there and it's solid but both the gameplay and the content will need a lot of work before we can judge the final product.

    ED promises an open, immense, unforgiving world where the player has total freedom (and no safe nets), something we have seen already in games like EVE or DayZ and is very appealing, but it doesn't offer enough complexity to support that kind of experience.

    At the moment the main two strong points of the game are the flight/fight system (the only part of the game that feels like a finished product) and the scientific appeal that visiting a real 1:1 model of the known galaxy might have for some users, provided you have a tablet to spice up the journey with wikipedia.

    All other features are at embryonic state:

    -mining, trading and exploring are the only gameplay mechanics available outside fighting and are so simple that they could all be explained in detail in 2 pages.
    -stations and ships models are not enough for an open world, they become repetitive after few days.
    -ships equipment features few weapons and even fewer utility components, most of which are organized in tiers with an obvious best choice that makes all others intermediate steps to the most expensive piece.
    -the factions system (that's supposed to simulate the political struggles between NPC's factions, giving the player a chance to interact) is, again, too simple, a 15 minutes video on youtube will explain all you all there is to be known.

    All this simplicity means you'll master the game mechanics in a couple of weeks (except dogfight), from there on is just a matter of how many hours you are willing to trow at the game doing the same things over and over.

    As Scott Manley said: "it's a mile wide and an inch deep", if it manages to go a little deeper in the next year it'll be a great game, maybe the best space sim ever made (we'll see what SC has to offer)
    At the moment i wouldn't suggest the purchase of the game except for Elite series enthusiasts and Oculus Rift owners    … Expand
  80. AresDeus
    Jan 1, 2015
    0
    Next to no content and poor menu design. Your engine can handle the vicinity of a black hole but get´s slowed down by a freaking planet. Simple actions like docking permission requires to push a lot of buttons while you have no visibility. Almost anything you do needs to be done by scolling through menues that prevents you from flying. Exploring is a boring joke. Mining is even worse. NoNext to no content and poor menu design. Your engine can handle the vicinity of a black hole but get´s slowed down by a freaking planet. Simple actions like docking permission requires to push a lot of buttons while you have no visibility. Almost anything you do needs to be done by scolling through menues that prevents you from flying. Exploring is a boring joke. Mining is even worse. No risk vs. reward anywhere. If you are not a hardcore fanboy that loves to fall asleep while you´re doing "missions" or trading you better don´t waste your money on this game. But hey they always promise that content will come in future expansions (which you have to pay ofc). The game is a joke imho.… Expand
  81. WallyGog
    Feb 12, 2015
    0
    Another day, another update released.
    The release does not of course contain much in the way of sorely needed content - just another raft of attempted bug fixes, which will if past experience is anything to go by break twice as much as they mend.
    Other reviewers have already told you how shallow and broken the whole thing is, so I won't repeat their words. All I'll say is that if you're    Another day, another update released.
    The release does not of course contain much in the way of sorely needed content - just another raft of attempted bug fixes, which will if past experience is anything to go by break twice as much as they mend.
    Other reviewers have already told you how shallow and broken the whole thing is, so I won't repeat their words.
    All I'll say is that if you're thinking of purchasing this, have a good look at the negative reviews, and have a good think about it.
    Peace.    … Expand
  82. PizzaTheHutt
    Dec 16, 2014
    2
    If you have played any of the deeply complex X3 space trading sims, then Elite falls flat on its butt even more. I believed the false advertising of offline mode and getting a game that is worth playing. Not even good in online and offline is missing anyway, for absolutely no reason but greed and cash shop tactics. No modding will be possible, so this is a lost case. Waiting for refund butIf you have played any of the deeply complex X3 space trading sims, then Elite falls flat on its butt even more. I believed the false advertising of offline mode and getting a game that is worth playing. Not even good in online and offline is missing anyway, for absolutely no reason but greed and cash shop tactics. No modding will be possible, so this is a lost case. Waiting for refund but likely not going to happen, so I´m going to give it away or put it on ebay. Grab a cheap deal… Expand
  83. Squicker
    Dec 16, 2014
    3
    I was really looking forward to this game, being a massive fan of the original game and having in fact reached Elite status 3 times on 3 separate platforms. However this game leaves me cold as it feels like a rushed xmas cash grab.

    Let me start with the good: It's beautiful and very relaxing. One definitely feels the vast emptiness of space in this game, and on the Oculus Rift it does    I was really looking forward to this game, being a massive fan of the original game and having in fact reached Elite status 3 times on 3 separate platforms. However this game leaves me cold as it feels like a rushed xmas cash grab.

    Let me start with the good: It's beautiful and very relaxing. One definitely feels the vast emptiness of space in this game, and on the Oculus Rift it does look superb.

    However you will be forever taking off that Oculus Rift because the UI is so old-hat. There are no journals or trading tools in the game, I have already given up on the Rift and moved to monitor so I can play, because the simple things we take for granted in a modern game are not there. It's as if the designers are stubbornly remaining in 1984 and they don't care how cumbersome it makes their game.

    Next, not only is space empty but grouping with friends is near impossible and when you do, the next work performance is a horrid glitchy mess. I have 80Mb/s fibre and this game runs like I am on a 14.4Kb dial-up modem. Again, 1984 is looming. Ships glitch in and out, space stations appear from nowhere, collision detection is horrible. I don't think the network code is finished, not by a long measure. I would like to play this game offline to eliminate these problems but because Frontier did a very neat bait and switch one month ago, I do not have this option. This is probably the single worst technical aspect of the game.

    Challenge: there is none. The game is incredibly simplistic and is just rinse and repeat gameplay. I am trading and there's a handful of commodities to trade and within my 8 hours today I have already made a small fortune. It's just too easy to pick a short haul route and rinse it. Easy but dull.

    Content: There is none. This a framework for a game. Perhaps with some content it will even be a reasonable game (apart from above problems) but right now you've seen and done it all in a day.

    Presentation: Really old-fashioned. The menus are clunky things straight out of 84 but with higher res fonts, there's no consistency on using controller vs mouse in various menus. The Oculus is coded for but you have to take it off. Seriously out-moded thinking here with no join up to other game elements. Really feels cheap and rushed.

    Flight model: Dumbed down and in my view overly simplistic. Very arcade-like and clearly this game is designed to port to consoles easily, in fact this could be a PC version of a console game, it's that simple. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but just be aware if you are looking for a deep space-sim like experience here, you will not get it. I think the game is obviously aimed more at a console crowd than old fans of Elite and that's where the money is. So a sound business decision maybe, but it hurts PC players.

    Overall this is a sad day for Elite fans who looked forward to a re-envisioning of their old classic game, there is no vision behind this release. It's just a series of clunky mini-games held together by the theme of space travel. For the amount of time and money spent on Elite Dangerous this really is a surprisingly weak release and I can only think that Frontier ran out of money to release the game in a clearly unfinished state. My advice is to wait a few months and pick this up in the sales when perhaps frontier have written some new content and crucially, fixed online multiplayer, because that is game breaking at this point in time.    … Expand
  84. Redqwerty
    Jan 26, 2015
    0
    In an ideal world, I'd have given this maybe a 4, but there are so many completely mental 10's that I can't bring myself to do it.
    Keeping this short, the more negative reviews are spot on. The 10's are probably from people demonstrating extreme post-purchase rationalization cognitive bias in my opinion.
    It LOOKS pretty for a bit. then after a couple of weeks, you realise everything    In an ideal world, I'd have given this maybe a 4, but there are so many completely mental 10's that I can't bring myself to do it.
    Keeping this short, the more negative reviews are spot on. The 10's are probably from people demonstrating extreme post-purchase rationalization cognitive bias in my opinion.
    It LOOKS pretty for a bit. then after a couple of weeks, you realise everything and everywhere looks the same, and there just isn't that much to do. Except grind for a better ship. So that you can earn credits faster to grind for a better ship......
    Ultimately, it's completely boring. There is no rich story - it's just delusional roleplaying.
    Suggest you avoid it for at least a year, and have another look if the servers are still on.
    Wish I could get my money back.    … Expand
  85. chrisfs
    Mar 21, 2015
    9
    Elite Dangerous is an futuristic, space flight "sand box" game. You play a solo character who is a small time pilot with a spaceship. You can play in several different ways. You can engage in combat, in trade between solar systems, explore new systems or mine asteroids. You can do one, some or all of these, but you don't HAVE to do any of them. I think this is one of the best aspects ofElite Dangerous is an futuristic, space flight "sand box" game. You play a solo character who is a small time pilot with a spaceship. You can play in several different ways. You can engage in combat, in trade between solar systems, explore new systems or mine asteroids. You can do one, some or all of these, but you don't HAVE to do any of them. I think this is one of the best aspects of the game because it allows for different types of people to enjoy the game. Some people aren't good at combat. In some games, that rules out the whole game, but in this game, you can prosper in the game without firing a shot and often the occasional attacker by avoiding 'bad neighborhoods' and running away. With 400 billion solar systems, there's space for a lot of different people.

    I also like it's emphasis on space travel as a thing in itself, where you need to plot courses, take fuel into account and navigate around starts and planets in order maintain the best speed. Space flight is not simply a thing between battles, it's a thing itself. Because Elite Dangerous is more than just a first person shooter in space, there is considerable learning curve at first, and there can be a good deal of time between combats (although you can always find them if you spend time with the game to find out how). It's a space game and not a shooter with space as a skin.

    When I see criticisms of it being "boring", it usually boils down to people having an expectation that it's solely a combat game (it's not) or it's a 'conquer and rule the galaxy' game which it's not as well. It's better to think of it like a "Firefly The Game" game where your focus is to trade and do missions to keep yourself flying, rather than conquer a planet and build a private empire. That's not something you can do. If people expect it to be something it;'s not , that's when I see complaints. Might as well complain that crossword puzzles have no guns.    … Expand
  86. JerTheStampede
    Jan 1, 2015
    8
    It's fair to say Elite Dangerous is far from perfect, it has it's short comings, the bitter taste of the way in which the offline mode was dropped aside there really is an empty feeling to the game due to lack of content.
    That said, the mechanics of the game are fantastic, the groundwork for a truly exceptional game are most definitely there to be built upon, Frontier in my honest opinion    It's fair to say Elite Dangerous is far from perfect, it has it's short comings, the bitter taste of the way in which the offline mode was dropped aside there really is an empty feeling to the game due to lack of content.
    That said, the mechanics of the game are fantastic, the groundwork for a truly exceptional game are most definitely there to be built upon, Frontier in my honest opinion cannot take their eye off the ball and MUST keep churning out new content and by this I mean a lot more than setting up the odd conflict zone or manipulating the legality of certain mushrooms. Things like planetary landings and being able to walk around your ship etc are all well and good but these shouldn't be the things Frontier Development concentrate on imho they need to focus very heavily on content such as multi-player tools, additional ships and variety, the milkyway isn't as simple as a copy and paste solar systems which for all intense and purposes may as well be the same ones over and over making exploration as much fun as packing fruit on a conveyor belt.

    As it stands Elite Dangerous is an awesome game trapped inside a very good game, it just needs to be encouraged to mature properly, and seeing as offline mode is history now this development is solely in the hands of Frontier Development.    … Expand
  87. Vtrgott
    Dec 29, 2014
    0
    No content, not worth.

    Elite Dangerous is not a good game. It tries to feed off some lingering nostalgia you may have. However, while the playable area is large it feels empty. The player has no palpable impact on the universe.
  88. Gibbonici
    Dec 20, 2014
    8
    A solid start for a game that has huge potential. It has plenty of room to grow during post-release development, and does suffer a bit from underdeveloped features and a steep learning curve. There is actually a lot of depth in the political simulation (which is still being tweaked), but a lack of tutorials and the fact that Elite: Dangerous departs from the standard economy sim is spaceA solid start for a game that has huge potential. It has plenty of room to grow during post-release development, and does suffer a bit from underdeveloped features and a steep learning curve. There is actually a lot of depth in the political simulation (which is still being tweaked), but a lack of tutorials and the fact that Elite: Dangerous departs from the standard economy sim is space model means that some players may miss it. But at its heart, it's a game of discovery, not only in the literal sense of exploring the insanely huge galaxy, but also in finding out how that galaxy works.
    It has no campaign as such, but Frontier are injecting story "hooks" in the form of events which players can get involved with and influence the outcomes of. The current storyline is a struggle for the Imperial throne. As well as the injected storylines, others naturally develop as a consequence of the many thousands of local factions goals and statuses, and how players respond and interact with them.
    As an MMO, it's radically different to what the term usually implies. There are a massive number of players in the same persistent galaxy, all of whom have an influence on it, but the galaxy is so huge that it can be quite rare to meet other players. The game doesn't artificially force players together, so you'll need to make more of an effort than is usual if you do want to play with other people. There are also no standard MMO features at the time of writing, so guilds, parties and chat channels are absent - though they'll be developed as time goes on.
    But what the game does right now, it does very well. The flight model is fun, there are plenty of different activities to engage in, the background simulation brings a lot of unusual (and often overlooked) detail to the proceedings, and the galaxy model is a work of art. If you've played previous versions of Elite, you'll have a good feel for the game and where it is heading.
    It is, however, a niche game and always will be. It follows its own path within the space sim genre and is very different in feel, aim and effect to EvE or the X games, and this may throw some players until they get a handle on the Elite-style gameplay.
    As previously mentioned, the game will benefit from post-release development (which is relatively common these days for large-scale multiplayer games), so if you're looking for a fully featured game, I'd say leave it for perhaps six months before buying it. If you're happy to get in early and be part of the game as it grows and unfolds, then go for it. What is there right now is solid, stable and immensely playable even though there is plenty more to be added to it.
    A    … Expand
  89. dmstubbs
    Dec 16, 2014
    8
    Been looking forward to this for 20 years. It's not perfect but with more development to come this is going to be fantastic.

    Looking forward to when the storyline starts.
  90. Mattyboy1509
    Mar 23, 2015
    10
    To be honest I am a fanboi but I do have to say up until 1.2 a slightly embarrased fanboi who didnt play it that often. However its now good and shaping up to get even better. Although you do have to actually find a thrill in drifting among the stars and being in space ! I do luckily.
  91. kifriman
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    This is a true sequel to original Elite, absolutely Fantastic! Frontier have created the whole Milky Way galaxy to our playground! The graphics are incredibly beautiful, you can feel the scale of the galaxy when flying around in your ship. You start with small ship and begin to earn credits to get bigger ship to match your play style, it can be a pirate ship trying to steal cargo fromThis is a true sequel to original Elite, absolutely Fantastic! Frontier have created the whole Milky Way galaxy to our playground! The graphics are incredibly beautiful, you can feel the scale of the galaxy when flying around in your ship. You start with small ship and begin to earn credits to get bigger ship to match your play style, it can be a pirate ship trying to steal cargo from others while avoiding bounty hunters that want to cash in bounty on your head or you can carry cargo and trade them between star systems to get better price than you paid for it. The choice is yours!… Expand
  92. rupok93
    Dec 22, 2014
    9
    The game is great and FD are adding more and more content by the day. Explore space, trade rare goods, do some bounty hunting, smuggle some goods you pirated, buy new ships, etc. Its about the journey not about how fast you can grind to an anaconda ship. Some people on here are mad the game isn't casualized, the game doesn't hold your hand AT ALL!. There are normal tutorials like docking,The game is great and FD are adding more and more content by the day. Explore space, trade rare goods, do some bounty hunting, smuggle some goods you pirated, buy new ships, etc. Its about the journey not about how fast you can grind to an anaconda ship. Some people on here are mad the game isn't casualized, the game doesn't hold your hand AT ALL!. There are normal tutorials like docking, and combat but thats it. You have to figure out the game mechanics yourself and that is very rewarding once you do. Whether you saw some guy on reddit post about best mining locations or you met a commander(real player) tell you about a rare trading route, its all very cool to figure these things out that aren't labeled "GO TO THIS OBJECTIVE".

    What I suggest to new players is to ask around what actions get a bounty on your head because a lot of new players expect the game to be unforgiving when they come in but its not... You can easily amass 100k worth of bounties cause you did illegal things. Ill list some things that get you bounties:

    Some tips to avoid bounties:
    - If you are not in an "anarchy" govt system (you can check govt, factions,etc in the galaxy map) attacking clean ships (you can check this after scanning them) will net you a bounty, killing them gives you a much bigger bounty.

    - If you find goods laying around and pick them up getting scanned by federal security ships will net you a huge fine for carrying stolen goods, thus to sell these you should go to a place with low security (check galaxy map) or there are specific manuevers to smuggle them into stations (one is to be around 7km away from entrance of station and very fast go in the station doors because once you are inside fed ships cannot scan you). You sell goods like this at the black market under the "contacts" tab in many stations.

    -Do not do the missions which as you to kill civilian or trading ships, these net you a bounty far bigger than the payout, the only reason to do these is to get higher with the specific group that is giving you the mission.

    Some early game tips for new players:
    - Do hauling missions when you first start out under the "bulletin board" in stations, these are quick easy and safe starting money.

    - ALWAYS ALWAYS ask for docking permission from stations before going in otherwise they WILL SHOOT YOU after a given period. To do this go under your contacts tab on the left UI of your ship and clicking on the station, ask for docking permission. Check which dock number you are assigned and land there, take out your landing gear (L on pc) before landing. trying to land in wrong one will land you infraction and get you killed.

    - DO not shoot near stations, they will kill you instantly. You will see a message saying that a place is a "no fire zone".

    -Before jumping to another part of space you have to retract hardpoints (weapons,landing gear, cargo hold) otherwise you cannot jump. you can check if landing gear and cargo hold are out on the bottom right. U is to deploy or retract weapons. Also you cannot jump if you are "mass locked" meaning you are too close to a station, keep getting further away until you are not mass locked anymore.

    -When you are buying parts for your ship check your power consumption on the right, if your power consumption exceeds supplied, your ship will turn off stuff like life support or shields when deploying things like weapons ( you can sort of get around this by setting unneeded things to lower priority on the right UI but its better to get a bigger powerplant.

    -when you are buying parts check your FSD jump distance, this laden is when your cargo is at max, unladen is when its not. Make sure you don't make this too low and can't jump anywhere (check galaxy map to see how far things are. You can increase this by buying lower mass parts, better thrusters or by getting a better fsd drive.

    - REMEMBER TO REFUEL. You can buy a fuel scoop which lets you get fuel by going close to starts but its very dangerous. you can refuel at any nearby stations. IF you run out of fuel to jump in deep space with no station nearby, you are screwed. Just self destruct on the right otherwise you will just die a slow painful death.

    Thats all I can think of for now. Hopefully it helps a new ED player looking on here for reviews.
    GOOD LUCK COMMANDER!    … Expand
  93. frontiertales
    Dec 21, 2014
    9
    Just downloaded the game a bit late to get the mercenary edition but got the advantage of a group of friends already with beta and gamma experience, so got tons of help etc.

    Suffice to say I am really sad I took this long to get the game...
  94. tomgoossens
    Dec 22, 2014
    9
    A game for people who do not need hand-holding, Elite: Dangerous is a worthy successor in the old Elite line of games. Start with a small ship and a handfull of credits and explore the universe.
  95. twobeers
    Dec 23, 2014
    10
    Been waiting 20 odd years since Elite II for this and its epic. It will only get better with more content, Ignore the refund moaners watch the youtube videos and judge for yourself.
  96. Jingo
    Jan 12, 2015
    7
    Caveat: I give it a 7 for a finished game, but it's not finished yet. As an early launch game I'd give it a 10.
    Excellent, deep and truly vast scope space sim. Unlike others out there, it has 'real' physics including lasers that go the speed of light! Biggest game map ever, probably. Lots to do, so much customising and upgrading potential in every ship.
    But, we're waiting for expansions    Caveat: I give it a 7 for a finished game, but it's not finished yet. As an early launch game I'd give it a 10.
    Excellent, deep and truly vast scope space sim. Unlike others out there, it has 'real' physics including lasers that go the speed of light! Biggest game map ever, probably. Lots to do, so much customising and upgrading potential in every ship.
    But, we're waiting for expansions like getting out of your ship, landing on planets etc. Don't play with mouse and keyboard, a gamepad is fine, HOTAS maybe better. Oculus RIft-ready, they say. Also, this is a very long game, will take ages to get the biggest ships and upgrade them. Likewise in changing politics of a system. This game puts you as a space-ship-owning nobody amongst 400 billion star systems. Can't be the hero here, how's that for realism and something different?    … Expand
  97. JL11
    Dec 29, 2014
    9
    This is the most fun I have had in a PC game in years. Elite has that "just want to play for a few more minutes until it is 4:00 in the morning factor". While more content is needed it is fun as it is and Frontier is hard at work with addition free content and eventually paid add ons, such as first person and planet landing. I highly recommend Elite Dangerous.
  98. W3a7herman
    Dec 16, 2014
    7
    GREAT POTENTIAL!!!!
    Bulletin Boards / Missions? maybe tomorrow they will be better 5 (only fetch 5 or kill 5)
    Exploration? lolwut? fly around and aim at stuff Mining? shoot rocks and pick up bits (barebones) Trading? (allmost there!!!!) Outfitting? (could use info on what you outfit, oke i guess) Graphics? (awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Sound?(incredibly    GREAT POTENTIAL!!!!
    Bulletin Boards / Missions? maybe tomorrow they will be better 5 (only fetch 5 or kill 5)
    Exploration? lolwut? fly around and aim at stuff
    Mining? shoot rocks and pick up bits (barebones)
    Trading? (allmost there!!!!)
    Outfitting? (could use info on what you outfit, oke i guess)
    Graphics? (awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
    Sound?(incredibly awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111234omfg!)
    Combat? (hit and miss, sometimes great sometimes completely naff)
    Multiplayer?(chat not working, grouping absent, instances a disaster, not working too well)
    Social? (broken
    Piracy/Bounty Hunting? (it is there, sort of)
    Smuggling? (hahahaha, soon)    … Expand
  99. NewMenace
    Dec 25, 2014
    7
    Its a wonderful Space Sim with lots of stuff to do and tons of content to explore, with a dynamic universe a trully remarkable game. Its a challenging game (im playing using a regular KB+M config, and it took me around 10 hours of in game time to be a decent pilot who can land, launch engage without fail), mainly because of its gameplay which is very complex ( you cant land on a spaceIts a wonderful Space Sim with lots of stuff to do and tons of content to explore, with a dynamic universe a trully remarkable game. Its a challenging game (im playing using a regular KB+M config, and it took me around 10 hours of in game time to be a decent pilot who can land, launch engage without fail), mainly because of its gameplay which is very complex ( you cant land on a space platform for example without asking for permition first, and you must go to the landing pad assigned to your ship otherwise your ship will be attacked and most likely destroyed), the grinding at first its a little bit boring since you only start with 1000 in game credits, a very weak spaceship and many things you have to figure out either by watching youtube videos or searching the forum since the in game tutorials are very basic. For me at least its a great game that would evolve in the future (now it has only the features of the first Elite released in 1984, later they will add more things that are found in Elite 2, and other space sims like landing on planets, more freedom to exploration etc. At this point it has a decent amount of bugs but if you enjoyed space sims before you would enjoy this game too. (also the voice control commands work like a charm).… Expand
  100. Rahlekk
    Dec 25, 2014
    8
    A great space sim that needs some work. As it stands right now, flying is a blast but gets a bit old, but has a lot of potential. With a little more work, this game will be amazing.
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

65
#65 Best PC Game of 2014
5
#5 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 54 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 54
  3. Negative: 0 out of 54
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 8, 2015
    80
    First minute the game takes your breath away and then it entertains you for another couple of hours to end up like a meditative tool for hard working individuals. What a waste and shame for a game in such beautiful environment. [Issue#253]
  2. Ragequit.gr
    May 11, 2015
    90
    Everyone who played the original game back in the 80's, should be right at home. It's the 21st Century version of "Elite." But newer, uninitiated players may find it strangely desolate and repetitive. A grand space simulation, aimed at the series' hardcore fans.
    Read full review
  3. Games.cz
    Apr 23, 2015
    80
    You can focus on the journey, not the destination – even when some "road work" signs will bother you for the time being in the reincarnated Elite. But their numbers are declining with every new update so a thirty-year-old vision becomes more and more complete.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »