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. colescole
    Dec 18, 2014
    3
    This game is a shiny turd. It looks good but there is very little to do. Multiplayer doesn't exist. If you enjoy endlessly staring at different colored spheres then buy this game. If your hoping to have fun save your money and buy any thing else.
  2. ikarii
    Dec 18, 2014
    3
    What a weird, frustratingly designed game.

    The decision to pivot to always online clearly hurt it - it has less players than BF4 in an instance. Practically no features for teaming up with your mates. Only one single server location worldwide. Peer to peer networking. So, basically, an "MMO" without the massive multiplayer, but forced to be online, presumably as half assed DRM.    What a weird, frustratingly designed game.

    The decision to pivot to always online clearly hurt it - it has less players than BF4 in an instance. Practically no features for teaming up with your mates. Only one single server location worldwide. Peer to peer networking. So, basically, an "MMO" without the massive multiplayer, but forced to be online, presumably as half assed DRM.

    There's so little to do and so little content - so few different stations and ships, only a few different weapons (and even less if you exclude simple reskins). There seem to be about a total of ~30 something models in the whole game, including asteroids, all the space stations, and all the ships. There's a good variety of suns and planets, to be sure, but they're basically differently textured spheres.

    As it stands the game sits very awkwardly between something like Eve, and something like Freelancer, and is unlikely to please fans of either. The grind for cash is as basic as any MMO but with none of the game systems that make a good MMO - especially in terms of teaming up - but even basic things like being able to work out arbitrage between systems, navigation, communicating with other players, etc, are practically nonexistent. And in terms of single player space game fans, there's nothing much for them either - the grand space war they promised consists of "conflict zones" consisting of mindless AI battles in space, to the achievement of nothing, no NPCs that aren't simple disposable space ships (which might as well be named 01001110), and no missions of any consequence for yourself beyond reputation and cash.

    Essentially there's nothing to recommend about it - other than the sound design, which as others have said, is genuinely fantastic. Other than as a workout for headphones - this is a really expensive game, which in many ways is much much less complex and involved than games like Freelancer, Freespace and Eve, which cost practically nothing. It's about the level of 8-bit Elite, which is below the level even of most f2p mobile phone games these days.

    It's hard to see this as much other than a big flubbed opportunity and a mad dash into chasing MMO cash, but without the budget for anything MMO fans have come to expect.    … Expand
  3. Pureforce
    Dec 19, 2014
    3
    The game looks good and that's pretty much it.
    Game area is so big you will rarely see another person and even when yo do so it will most likely disconnect or instance you. It is not possible to play with friends since instancing throws you into different instance after each jump. The game disconnects a lot. There is broken chat and no other social side to interact with people.
    Apart    The game looks good and that's pretty much it.
    Game area is so big you will rarely see another person and even when yo do so it will most likely disconnect or instance you. It is not possible to play with friends since instancing throws you into different instance after each jump. The game disconnects a lot. There is broken chat and no other social side to interact with people.
    Apart from online multiplayer issues, game gets stale fast. After trade you quickly get tired of their archaic navigation system, you literally have to path plan every jump every time.

    Would not recommend.    … Expand
  4. dualist
    Dec 20, 2014
    3
    Pretty game, boring end-game, lots of broken promises.

    Here there is a list of things "that will be added during Beta" https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=19639 Well, is now released and many of them are not in the game. I backed this game from the beginning. I wanted it to be the next game I'll spend half of my life playing, but it has turn out that, like many    Pretty game, boring end-game, lots of broken promises.

    Here there is a list of things "that will be added during Beta" https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=19639 Well, is now released and many of them are not in the game.

    I backed this game from the beginning. I wanted it to be the next game I'll spend half of my life playing, but it has turn out that, like many Kickstarter and Early Access games, it was a bunch of lies.    … Expand
  5. Ryyx
    Jan 10, 2015
    3
    Elite: Dangerous is in every way the game that I remember... and that is not as positive a thing to say as it might be for some others. Elite was groundbreaking in it's day, featuring some of the most memorable sandbox elements that have shaped nearly every space game to come after it.

    Almost every game in the genre features some combination of exploration, bounty hunting, piracy,    Elite: Dangerous is in every way the game that I remember... and that is not as positive a thing to say as it might be for some others. Elite was groundbreaking in it's day, featuring some of the most memorable sandbox elements that have shaped nearly every space game to come after it.

    Almost every game in the genre features some combination of exploration, bounty hunting, piracy, trading and mining.

    Sadly, this game FAILS to deliver and innovate in a number of very serious ways.

    What is really irksome, is all the elements are here, trading, fighting, exploring, mining. You can do it all. But Frontier FAILS in almost every area of good game design in frustrating and often face-palming ways.

    The Sandbox is absolutely VAST, 400 billion star systems with countless locations to visit. Never in your lifetime could you hope to visit a fraction of them. Ambitious is an understatement for the scope of this game.

    Yet somehow, despite the sandbox being the biggest EVER, the depth of that sand is less than an inch deep... Just when you think you have scratched the surface in a chosen area of game play, you quickly realize that you have seen everything the game has to offer in that area.

    Try any profession and you will discover that within an hour or two, you will have done everything that profession has to offer, and the only incentive to keep playing it is the carrot on a stick mechanic of upgrading your ship to do it a little bit better till you can buy a new ship... but the gameplay doesn't improve or get more interesting. Fight one dogfight against an NPC and you have fought them all. Explore one star system and you have explored them all, with the occasional exception of rare spatial anomalies like black holes... but again, see it once, you have seen them all. Trading, mining... all the same, everywhere you go. Only the names and positions on the map change.

    To counteract this sameness, Frontier wisely tried to inject randomized events and situations to take part in, everywhere you fly are little undiscoevered signal sources and similar random events waiting to be explored. However, once again, there is a lack of depth and variation... Drop out of warp on one, and it's pretty much only going to be one of 4 things. A trader/caravan, a police ship, a wanted pirate, a random assortment of loot and wrecks.

    Nothing about these events changes, nor are they really interesting... IT's not like you drop in on a fight between traders and pirates, or get a distress signal asking you for power converters or anything that might add depth... It's just another RESOURCE Node for you to exploit, or be exploited by if your ship isn't up to snuff.

    Then there are the graphics - What is at first a great looking game, quickly becomes bland and boring as you realize there is no variation. All gas giants look the same, all asteroids look the same, all stations look the same, the minor variations you find in the graphics only keep it interesting for so long. In addition, you never really get a good look at your ship, making all those pain jobs and decals you can buy with real money pointless, as they only show up on certain fitting screens, and for other players who may or may not even notice them as you will only be visible on their screen for fleeting moments as a small blob of pixels unless you are right up next to them.

    The one saving grace I felt early on was that this was like guild wars, in that it was a free MMO and I eagerly tried to talk friends into trying it. I know that being able to explore and do things as part of a team will be more fun and profitable. But I quickly learned that despite being touted as some kind of MMO, it's really nothing like one... You can't really group up, not in any meaningful way, even with group play you find you can't share bounties, trade money or loot, you don't even end up in the same instances all the time.

    I am aware that his is coming as a free expansion in the coming months... but I'm afraid that will be too little too late.

    Probably the biggest cue that this game is flawed is that after playing it for a week, all I want to do is resubscribe to EVE online. A game that might lack the flight sim characteristics, but does everything Elite does BETTER except maybe exploration and scale (And EVE is huge, and there are things to explore).

    the best thing to come out of it was I discovered Voice Attack and ASTRA (an user made add on) that lets me control the game with my voice.

    Bottom line, this game was great in the 80s, and if this exact game came out in 2001-2005, I think it would have been a hit. But today, in 2015, this game is terrible dated, and IMHO really only appeals to the games old cult following.

    If you are one of those people who still load up the classic elite and think it's fun, you will LOVE elite: Dangerous.

    But if you are like the rest of us who moved on and live in 2015... This game is terribly outdated and stale.    … Expand
  6. 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.
  7. Grey_lead
    Jan 23, 2015
    3
    I was a HUGE fan of Elite when I played it in 1984 on the B&W Commodore, then very excited on the color Amiga version. Open world, amazing new idea at the time. Well, open world has been done, so that's not new, but I was really excited for this new version and Beta backed it. God, I made a mistake. It's truly beautiful, and I can't believe they put that much work into building ourI was a HUGE fan of Elite when I played it in 1984 on the B&W Commodore, then very excited on the color Amiga version. Open world, amazing new idea at the time. Well, open world has been done, so that's not new, but I was really excited for this new version and Beta backed it. God, I made a mistake. It's truly beautiful, and I can't believe they put that much work into building our galaxy, but I can't see it. I'm an adult now, I work, so I can play maybe 2-3 hours a week. As such, I just can't grind away flying back and forth trying to upgrade this little POS Sidewinder. How do I have a universe of possibility with a ship that can't haul, can't fight, can't jump? At least the original Elite gave you a Cobra which could do all of that relatively well from the start. This is just eye-gouging grinding because it's so flat. The stations, planets, and ships look phenomenal but one you land, you can't even get out of the seat. All trade is through a clunky hologram interface and it's not even hyperlinked well enough to click this and it takes you to nav page that style. No journal, so I have to write things down on paper, like where to find black markets or certain items, and the fetch quests are so bland... just text find this or take that, but without a journal I can't even cross reference where the last place I saw X commodity was (ulness I wrote it down physically). And trans-galactic flight planning? I can't type a location and say "plot route" unless it's within my fuel distance because they can't add "refuel here" waypoints, yet my simple $70 flight planning software I use for flying real planes can do it just fine. I have a hyper-space capable ship, but the computer can't add refuel waypoints? WTF? And how is it that we can jump ships FTL, but can't get market updates or at least general "this system trades these things" data without going there and seeing it after we land? Too much realism in one area, not enough in the other. I want to talk to an NPC!!!… Expand
  8. Mark1973
    Feb 5, 2015
    3
    No content yet. There are a few ships. The combat is dull and doing anything mildly interesting takes more money than it gives. To earn cash for the better features you have to grind, but they've just nerfed that as well.
  9. scabberwocky
    Feb 16, 2015
    3
    Joined up to leave a review... Have been playing since release late last year, and have had some fun - espescially at the beginning. Well not right at the beginning, because I had no idea what was going on, and the tutorial such as they are, are terrible.

    Pros: graphics are good, and the ship designs I like for the most part. The sound was good until the latest bug fixing patch which    Joined up to leave a review... Have been playing since release late last year, and have had some fun - espescially at the beginning. Well not right at the beginning, because I had no idea what was going on, and the tutorial such as they are, are terrible.

    Pros: graphics are good, and the ship designs I like for the most part. The sound was good until the latest bug fixing patch which seems to have broken it. Combat is a bit hit and miss, and often ends up drawn out. The scale of the thing is impressive on paper, but it's just pixels: you could triple the number of stars for no extra right?

    Cons: Let's not beat about the bush - it's a grind for the most part. Trading is quite boring fairly quickly, all commodities/cargo are just text labels. Mining is appalling. The persistent background simulation is pretty fake. There are loads of bugs, and as many are introduced with the patches as are fixed. In open play you find antisocial types ganking you for no good reason. Lastly, it is now boring. There's little incentive for me to log on.

    Conclusion: Good initially, becomes grindy and repetitive fairly rapidly. Limited long term appeal.    … Expand
  10. 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
  11. alenkacz
    Feb 23, 2015
    3
    I will not bore you with another lengthy review, as there are many. I bought into Elite in July of 2014 for $150, this will include all future updates and DLC. I'm very sorry to report this was a mistake on my part.
    I so wanted it to be a fun and exciting game but it is neither.
    I played the original Elite and probably every 4x, space combat sim since so I'm not new to the genre. The    I will not bore you with another lengthy review, as there are many. I bought into Elite in July of 2014 for $150, this will include all future updates and DLC. I'm very sorry to report this was a mistake on my part.
    I so wanted it to be a fun and exciting game but it is neither.
    I played the original Elite and probably every 4x, space combat sim since so I'm not new to the genre. The environment is beautiful there is no denying that, however its only skin deep. Once you've seen the five or six different types of space station the awe factor fades and your left with a universe that feels dead and nothing to do but look at the scenery. Running cargo missions to obtain a bigger ship to run more missions ect does get old. The combat is about the same with no real point to it. Your stuck in the cockpit with no interaction with anything else in the game, your not ever allowed to see the outside of your ship unless you go to Elites website to see the wonderful screen shots you can not take. As far as multiplayer goes, the decision to include 400,000,000,000 stars made the odds of ever seeing a non NPC player 1 in 8,000,000. assuming 50k players on a single server. Its basically the same game from the 80's with a bit of polish. Consumer's expect far more today than they did back then, a 1985 Cadillac may have been wonderful in its day but in 2015 even with shiny new paint its still woefully outdated.    … Expand
  12. abwatrboy
    Feb 23, 2015
    3
    First off I'd like to say all of the fanboys giving this game a perfect 10 are delusional. Also giving it a 0 is not right either.

    My review, I'm came into this game as a new comer to ED I've always been a space sim fan. I've played many including X3, eve online, and others. Where this game wins, Graphics are impressive to say the least. The sounds and sites are really    First off I'd like to say all of the fanboys giving this game a perfect 10 are delusional. Also giving it a 0 is not right either.

    My review,
    I'm came into this game as a new comer to ED I've always been a space sim fan. I've played many including X3, eve online, and others.

    Where this game wins,

    Graphics are impressive to say the least. The sounds and sites are really impressive. Combat is very exciting,and very well done. The flight mechanics are awawesome. You can fly as a highly maneuverable jet (not very realistic but very fun) or by turing the flight assistance off you can also have the experience of what an actual spaceship would fly like in space. So in the simple mechanics of the game. I would in fact score that as a perfect 10 of 10. Because they have absolutely nailed it. Home run.

    Where it fails,

    This is an very long list. I'll try to keep it as short as possible. As many others have gone into great detail. This game is very hard to figure out. I can almost guarantee the first few hrs of gameplay will be very frustrating. From having to figure out controls to googling simply how to actually get paid from a bounty.
    Saying that there is lots to do is almost a double edged sword. Yes you can spend countless hrs doing the same repetition that doesn't mean there's lots to do. Intact there's only 2 things to do shoot something or fly from point to point.

    Once you've figured out how the game works you will no doubt have some fun. Because there is a lot of excitement. There is some fun value here. I don't want to totally trash it. But it just doesn't have any content. Once the honeymoon phase ends. You start looking for something to do! You want to immerse yourself in the community. There really isn't one. The comms are spotty at best. There's no chat. There's no grouping (1.2 patch seems to have this is mind. But that's at least a month off still) you want to find somtionse interesting mission content. There isn't any. Missions range from kill 6 pirates, or something else. Pick up this bring it here. All of this "stuff" is supposedly going to change the influence of of the controlling factions. You're suppose to be able to actually influence economies. Cause economic booms, civil wars, etc and that would truly make for some interesting content. If it worked. You will still find posts on the forums today wondering if it even works. There's a huge group of player from launch that have had this single goal. With no luck. Their efforts have been in vain. The system is completely broken.

    There is no mission structure (or the previously a mentioned lack of influence) so you will be left grinding out trade missions/routes. Bounties and the only kill mission being. Kill anaconda. The only reason you do this isfor in game currency . So you can buy better ships and modules. Just so you can go back out and grind for more credits.

    The 400 billion systems is really a joke. Once you've travelled around a little you're going to realize. It's pretty much 4 or 5 systems over and over again. Exploration is extremely boring. Once you've seen one gas giant you've seen them all. And it's not even interesting. Point your ship at planet for 30 seconds scan complete. Take in for (very small amounts) of credits. There's nothing to do there's nothing to find. Except maybe take a screen shot for your wallpaper. Except you'll have to use a third party program for that. And it will have the ship hub in the sho. Because there isn't even an in game picture camera.

    There is no dount in my mind in 6months to a year this game will be awesome. But Frontier has a lot of work to do. There really isn't a game there. Not by today's standards.

    The price point of $60 is an insult. There isn't enough content there to justify $20 let alone $60. This game is little more than a very impressive technical demo.

    I do not recommend picking this game up at all. Check back on reviews in 6 months. Maybe it'll be on sale or have made drastic content upgrades.

    If they could at least fix the reputation/influence system that would be a great start.    … Expand
  13. beastlyfido
    Mar 23, 2015
    3
    If you are a die-hard Frontier or Elite fan(like me!) this might be worth the $60 just for the thrill of seeing Braben and team back in action. I'm a kickstarter, I was excited. I am sure this will be an excellent game in months but for now it is extremely (extremely) dull and buggy. For a new player or for a gift it has nowhere near the polish or game play you expect from a 2014If you are a die-hard Frontier or Elite fan(like me!) this might be worth the $60 just for the thrill of seeing Braben and team back in action. I'm a kickstarter, I was excited. I am sure this will be an excellent game in months but for now it is extremely (extremely) dull and buggy. For a new player or for a gift it has nowhere near the polish or game play you expect from a 2014 title.

    There are about 6 storyboards: trade, launch, supercruise, jump, dock, and combat. As of 1.2 several of these are still buggy and when they work they are still dull. Some would add exploration but all the systems are essentially the same "feel" even if generated procedurally, so that gets old quick.

    There are only a few station models, ship models, and mission types. It is a small game aspiring to be giant one.

    You are expected to grind like crazy to get anywhere. I expected that but this takes it to the extreme. I have been playing Federation missions since release and am still neutral. (6 weeks?) Many of the procedurally generated systems are so silly that you can spend 15 minutes in supercruise just to get from a jump point to a gas station.

    On the plus side the visuals are great when they are there, and the sound design is fantastic. You'll unfortunately spend most of your time watching low-frame rate star field simulations while trading and watching Netflix in another window for weeks in order to be able to properly do combat or exploration.

    Combat is trivial once you've fought a few times. Most non-NPC players simply hit the alt-f4 combo to get out of it because they are trying to trade. The combat rewards also don't scale well. Dying costs about $180k in a small fighter (you start with $1000), and beating a ship you shouldn't be able to beat gives you about $20k.

    I do think they have the potential for another classic here but for now it's mostly potential. The reliability of the system in America is also below par for a retail game.

    p.s. if you liked cruising around planets in Frontier, you can't interact with the planet surfaces at all...yet.    … Expand
  14. Premier84
    Apr 8, 2015
    3
    I originally wanted to give this game a 0 but it risks my review of not being credible. It cringes me that I actually have to give this game a 3.

    Here are the good parts of the game. It is beautiful! The details of the planets and the stations are incredible. It's huge. Being able to produce the game that has 1 to 1 scale is quite commendable. But really that's it. Might as well    I originally wanted to give this game a 0 but it risks my review of not being credible. It cringes me that I actually have to give this game a 3.

    Here are the good parts of the game. It is beautiful! The details of the planets and the stations are incredible. It's huge. Being able to produce the game that has 1 to 1 scale is quite commendable. But really that's it.

    Might as well market this game as a space simulator, where you fly endlessly, having absolutely nothing to do. You have 4 professions that you can pursue but it is completely lacks any depth. Bounty hunting is you looking at some Bulletin Board, clicking on the same mission over and over again to catch extremely weak pirates that fly towards you like mindless fish in a tiny stream that flows towards you. You do this over and over again, without any variety whatsoever, and the fans and Frontier calls this bounty hunting.

    Mining is completely garbage. I have never seen a single person enjoying mining, not even the hardcore fans. Basically, you shoot some laser at a rock, and you literally have to pick up all the tiny pieces by positioning yourself with the rock. It is completely ridiculous. It is 3301 and you'd think they would have invented a better to pick it up.

    Exploring is also completely bogus. All you do is fly into an instance (please note that all the instances look exactly the same, maybe it has different names and the number of planets and stars, but that's about it) click on a scanner button, and then you are done. That's "exploring". Fans hail this as something amazing but you have to understand majority of the hardcore fans are fans of the original Elite (in 1984) and they are now in their 40s and they have no idea what good games are suppose to be like.

    Trading is the another repetitive profession without any specific value. You go into a station buy some commodity and then sell at another. It is sad because this is the only way you can make money so everyone is pretty forced into it.

    And by now, you must be thinking that the game must have other features to it. But no, that's it. This is literally all you can do. There's no end-game and your actions don't really affect the background simulation and the background simulation don't affect you. So there's really no difference between playing this as an offline game or online.

    Also, how dare Frontier market this game as MMO? There is a limit to its instances (64 players). In reality, I have not seen more than 5 to 8 people in an instance.

    How dare Frontier market this game as a sandbox? It is definitely not a sandbox game. Your actions have no effect on the game, and the game has no effect on your play.

    They recently introduced a four player "co-op" missions but that's as much as MMO you are going to get.

    Finally, what's worse is the Frontier Development team. They do NOT listen to any of the suggestions made by players. Instead of spending their money on improving the game, they are spending it on expanding it to Xbox and Mac. They are literally taking money away from players with false advertisement, with words like MMO and Sandbox.

    If you mention this at all on the forums, you will get banned and will delete your posts. It is incredible. Stay away from this game and please do not support such companies.    … Expand
  15. Braddyapples
    May 12, 2015
    3
    The game is seriously boring. There are a lot of features in the game, but none of them are fleshed out very well. Only buy this game if you're looking for a huge time sink with pretty space visuals. That's about it.
  16. medwyn
    Jul 17, 2015
    3
    After 30 years this return of the classic title looks like a bunch of question marks for me.
    Its values in the extreme - beautiful and immersive graphics and sounds, great piloting features and ship management on one side and a chaotic mess on the other.
    Obviously this game fell into the same trap of the later years' games development trend: it was released very early without making it    After 30 years this return of the classic title looks like a bunch of question marks for me.
    Its values in the extreme - beautiful and immersive graphics and sounds, great piloting features and ship management on one side and a chaotic mess on the other.
    Obviously this game fell into the same trap of the later years' games development trend: it was released very early without making it satisfactory quality. This alienates me completely as I feel tricked for the price rather than satisfied.
    The more hours one puts into the ED universe flying around, the more glitches to be found. Depending on how the player is willing to counterbalance these problmes with "roleplaying" workarounds and other mind techniques, they are there embedded into the very texture of the game.
    After nearly 3 years of development it's still not clear for me what ED wants to be - it's more clear what it doesn't. The P2P system the whole engine is built on renders the possibilites of making a really consistent universe pretty limited (or I can say impossible). So the 400 billion stars represented as the full Milky Way galaxy becomes pretty 2-dimensional, it's like a repeated pattern of small bubbles reacing out to 30 light years distance.
    The release was rushed and it ended up in a seriously unfinished state where instead of game elements we got empty, buggy and non-functional placeholders. Persistency is non-existent, the economy background is static and insignificant, the NPCs are spawning and disappearing just for the player in the very instance, they are not going anywhere and can be farmed like chickens.

    We are now 8 months after this very questionable release and the backbone of the game is still missing but Frontier has been very busy cashing in more money for this quarterly-baked game-skeleton by porting it over to Mac and lately X-Box. The so awaited 1.3 is a meaningless grindfest, the incoming CQC is another firm step towards an unorganic arcade shooter gameplay.

    The community forums are toxic when it comes to crisicism, those rare and lengthy discussions with constructivism are fading away soon without any feedback from the devs.

    I gave 3/10 as a modified review now, big disappointment. I would like to see a great game where there are much more dimensions than just flying from point A to point B and increase a bank balance to buy another ship to do the same. Without proper and consequent interaction with each other and with the universe it's really flat no matter how beautiful it is. ED is an exhibition of stars but not a game.    … Expand
  17. BearStrangler
    May 23, 2015
    3
    The game is pure junk. Half hashed project, very unfriendly to users. Feels and looks bad. Repetitive. At a lower price point maybe, get this on sale.
  18. leopoldfrank
    Jul 9, 2015
    3
    This is possibly the most annoyed I've ever been with a game I've paid money for - the unrealised potential, the fact it feels like an early access game but was sold as a finished product, the annoying fanboys who patronisingly tell you "you don't get it".

    The ship mechanics are excellent and have the basis for a lot of fun however, the game really offers very little. You can do 4    This is possibly the most annoyed I've ever been with a game I've paid money for - the unrealised potential, the fact it feels like an early access game but was sold as a finished product, the annoying fanboys who patronisingly tell you "you don't get it".

    The ship mechanics are excellent and have the basis for a lot of fun however, the game really offers very little. You can do 4 things, all of which are heavily underdeveloped - mine (blast some space rock for a pitiful amount of coin), trade (fly unusable items from point A to point B), explore (fly around millions of identical looking systems) or fight stuff (grind procedural mobs or do bounty mission to kill some noob npc in nearby system). That pretty much raps up Elite's gameplay. All 4 things get tedious very quickly. Interaction with other players is minimal and connection with the gameworld is very thin.

    The game feels like an early access game but Frontier evidently think it's a finished game which makes me feel a little angry and like I've been ripped off. Something that annoys me even more than this is the game's fanboy community of people happy with the game how it is who constantly say annoying things like "the game doesn't hold you hand", "make your own story", "use your imagination". These all too easily pleased people who could happily while away the hours playing with their Star Wars figures, using their *imagination* are probably largely responsible for Frontier saying "that'll do" rather than giving us a more complete game with more depth.

    I've been generous and given it a 3 purely for the large potential and superb shell the game has. Just a pity it has no content, depth, interaction with other players or a connection to the gameworld.    … Expand
  19. Dan_
    Sep 7, 2015
    3
    Olvidaros de las promesas por cumplir y los DLC a un precio accesible. La política de Frontier es simplemente una bofetada a los jugadores que han apostado desde los comienzos por el juego y esperaban verlo crecer y desarrollarse. Además si eres hispanohablante suma un puntapié en la entrepierna, no se han molestado en traducirlo a nuestro idioma, han pasado la pelota a la coumunidad deOlvidaros de las promesas por cumplir y los DLC a un precio accesible. La política de Frontier es simplemente una bofetada a los jugadores que han apostado desde los comienzos por el juego y esperaban verlo crecer y desarrollarse. Además si eres hispanohablante suma un puntapié en la entrepierna, no se han molestado en traducirlo a nuestro idioma, han pasado la pelota a la coumunidad de hispanoparlantes (que era enviadiable... no sé si con la política de Frontier podrá mantenerla)… Expand
  20. Thunderflexx
    Oct 25, 2015
    3
    This game is not at all what I expected from the previews. I was after a game with cool space battles, where finding your enemy is relatively painless, tracking the enemy and getting a gun lock would make sense, then having the ability to actually kill an enemy youve spent all the time tracking, locking, and firing at. I get that this is a simulation, but like...youre in a **** spaceThis game is not at all what I expected from the previews. I was after a game with cool space battles, where finding your enemy is relatively painless, tracking the enemy and getting a gun lock would make sense, then having the ability to actually kill an enemy youve spent all the time tracking, locking, and firing at. I get that this is a simulation, but like...youre in a **** space ship that has hyper drive...and you have lasers that can only shoot straight, can only hit things 3 feet in front of your fricken face, and overheat after a very short amount of shots. Its lame as **** **** this game! If only I could get money back on a ****ty software puchase.… Expand
  21. zitrux
    Dec 27, 2015
    3
    frustrating game. ship controls is really akward and hard to master. Maybe game for some hardcore Space simulator fans but cant recommend for anyone else
  22. Jezior
    Jul 30, 2016
    3
    Elite sounds much better on paper then it is in real life. Massive up to the scale galaxy is empty and lacks any kind of activity, it is really hard to find a player, combat is unbelievably boring. There is only a grind to bigger shop over and over again. Only reason why it receives such a good scores is because there no competition for it at the time in space simulator genre. If you thinkElite sounds much better on paper then it is in real life. Massive up to the scale galaxy is empty and lacks any kind of activity, it is really hard to find a player, combat is unbelievably boring. There is only a grind to bigger shop over and over again. Only reason why it receives such a good scores is because there no competition for it at the time in space simulator genre. If you think about purchase wait for No Man Sky instead. It can be only better.
    What a waste of a fantastic concept. This game has nice moments but the fade really quickly in abyss of boredom.    … Expand
  23. Heydan
    Nov 4, 2018
    3
    The game has a strongly bigoted community paired with a staunchly Christian only narrative; but I do believe that there are a couple of open-minded people at the developer's studio. If you do not have an issue being prostylized to by Christans, banned for being a Jew, or can find the hand-full of people at the developer's studio that understand a galaxy might be diverse then its not thatThe game has a strongly bigoted community paired with a staunchly Christian only narrative; but I do believe that there are a couple of open-minded people at the developer's studio. If you do not have an issue being prostylized to by Christans, banned for being a Jew, or can find the hand-full of people at the developer's studio that understand a galaxy might be diverse then its not that bad of a game.

    On the technical side of things the game is quickly becoming dated despite the most recent patch. The developer has failed to meet it's targets or fulfill its backer promises. Although they are constantly overhauling the game to expand on things like mining and exploration they have not provided basic features which other games in the same genre were able to complete over a year ago such as the ability to walk around and landing on more than just non-atmospheric planets.

    All that said it does have some fleeting redeeming qualities and can be fun in short burst if you have friends to play with.    … Expand
  24. Xiphiqix
    Oct 20, 2020
    3
    Frontier Developments have not delivered what they promised. After years of stringing their community along, ultimately they created a litter box instead of a sandbox. Game breaking, poorly thought out, implemented systems and mechanic's have been introduced but never fixed. The company lacks development discipline and focus. We have heard the game has so much potential but it mostlyFrontier Developments have not delivered what they promised. After years of stringing their community along, ultimately they created a litter box instead of a sandbox. Game breaking, poorly thought out, implemented systems and mechanic's have been introduced but never fixed. The company lacks development discipline and focus. We have heard the game has so much potential but it mostly has grind with a complete lack of direction.… Expand
  25. Xanuviz
    Mar 23, 2023
    3
    I originally started playing this game just when it came out on steam, and I kind of fell in love with it initially, the potential of this game was amazing and I love space games and MMOs so this was a must buy for me. The developers never really achieved anything with the game over the years that it has been out, only adding few new things each major DLC which you have to buy to getI originally started playing this game just when it came out on steam, and I kind of fell in love with it initially, the potential of this game was amazing and I love space games and MMOs so this was a must buy for me. The developers never really achieved anything with the game over the years that it has been out, only adding few new things each major DLC which you have to buy to get access to them. The problem with this game is that it is too grindy, you would have to spend thousands of hours to get some of the better ships and grind out your ranks within this game to actually get anywhere. And the grind isn't even fun, it is extremely repetitive and becomes boring very quickly. Any new content that is released just adds a massive amount of grind into the game instead of some compelling and fun gameplay. And with the fiasco release of the Odyssey DLC the developers just completely cancelled any future console development for this game as well as cancelling that DLC for consoles. The game had a lot of potential but it was completely and entirely wasted by the developers and the game is just a dying waste of time right now.… Expand
  26. Hawkcircle
    Jan 13, 2015
    2
    I love space games. I was extremely disappointed to discover I don't like this one. While pretty, the learning curve is just too high. You also can lose everything in just a moment, whether Solo or in group mode. Bottom line, it's just not "fun" as a whole.
  27. Lorderan
    Dec 18, 2014
    2
    My god guys, don't even bother. You will need 3-4hrs fighting the "tutorial" let alone the bloody game, which it just dumps you in a hangar without any direction. Worst early game experience I have ever had. Low score because I'm tired of fighting the game to play it!!!
  28. mutatedwombat
    Dec 22, 2014
    2
    Disappointingly devoid of content, and still buggy at release. This is essentially a single player game that you cannot play offline. Multiplayer support is superficial and incomplete.
  29. Not_Casual
    May 7, 2015
    2
    There's a lot of stuff here that's neat, but to 'release' the game in it's current state is just a setup to be disappointed.
    The multiplayer has no grouping systems at all. No way to share missions, waypoints, or bounties. Defeats the purpose of working together. And pvp conflict is completely undermined by there being no penalty/countermeasures for death logging. About to kill someone?    There's a lot of stuff here that's neat, but to 'release' the game in it's current state is just a setup to be disappointed.
    The multiplayer has no grouping systems at all. No way to share missions, waypoints, or bounties. Defeats the purpose of working together. And pvp conflict is completely undermined by there being no penalty/countermeasures for death logging. About to kill someone? Blip, they just logged off so they didn't lose anything.
    For a 4 Billion star system galaxy there is little variety in populated areas, and most populated systems look/feel the same because every faction is using the same two or three space station models. There is no voice in the game. All things are text based unless you can voice with a friend on the lonely multiplayer. To top off the lack of variety, missions are usually "Haul this somewhere", "Kill this dude", "Kill -These- Dudes", and "Bring me Something". Even the old freelancer had double the variety of missions and the culture differences in people who settled in different areas gave great variety to the people you could meet.

    The only thing this game is currently good for, is the flight model, which is better than Star citizen's flying turret vomit comit mess; and the Accurate 1.1 scaling of the universe. It's a neat little star explorer simulator but that's all it has going for it right now.

    I'm really hoping they continue to add things. I hear they only released it because the publisher pressured them for a 'release' or they would pull the plug. I will continue to wait for the game to be the polished mmo space adventure that I was promised. And I will update this review as they add their little weekly patches.

    Update-
    After a few months, the wings update has allowed people to group, and that's just about the only noticeable improvement. I gave this game a lot of leeway with my previous score, but the insane lack of meaningful updates is continuing to cripple this seemingly already dead game. Death logging is still undermining the entire point of an open world setting. There is 0 risk because anyone can alt+f4 with no consequence whatsoever. Furthermore the ability to take the same ship between open world and single player is utterly mind boggling. Grind your dream ship without risk in single player and then log into open play to nuke everyone. And when you're done be sure to alt+f4 to avoid dying. To top it all off, I've been playing this since release, and aside from friends i've cooped with, not seen ANY OTHER PLAYERS.

    To sum it up, essentially everything this game promised to be is currently a lie. The only pleasure to be had in this is in the exploration. The ai is too dumb to provide any sort of combat challenge. Other players seem entirely absent, or exploit the game to undermine any pvp. And even when you do go out to explore eventually the billions of unnamed systems all start to seem alike save for the one or two with rare celestial bodies. Even then these are rare and you visit them once. Avoid this like the plague until its sold at about 10 dollars, or the game crippling multiplayer issues are resolved.    … Expand
  30. Budget_Security
    Dec 25, 2020
    2
    My first takeoff at the starting station went like this: The autopilot (you can't turn it off first time) stopped working before station exit, resulting in timeout and getting blown up by station defences, and then getting blamed despite having no control over ship. This was also happening to other players in the station. EPIC FAIL.

    Huge potential, ruined by interface and balancing    My first takeoff at the starting station went like this: The autopilot (you can't turn it off first time) stopped working before station exit, resulting in timeout and getting blown up by station defences, and then getting blamed despite having no control over ship. This was also happening to other players in the station. EPIC FAIL.

    Huge potential, ruined by interface and balancing flaws.
    Very bad interface and control schemes. The simplest of actions are made convoluted. Bad tutorials, so you have to spend hours looking at youtube community tutorials instead. This game seems to be optimised for HOTAS and VR, without enough consideration for mouse and keyboard. PvE NPC difficulty balancing is awful, and they cheat. PvP is also broken (engineering etc). I also ran into many serious bugs (my PC runs other games fine). Such a pity, as this game has great potential.    … Expand
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 »