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

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  1. Duanedibly
    Jan 28, 2015
    9
    I never played the original elite. I was old enough to though. I do have a DK2, so my review will be based of using that. This game is the absolute pinacle of my gaming experience. By far the game that whilst not playing, I have thought about the most.

    Using the DK2, I feel like I am a a starship pilot, I am fully emersed the 3d and graphics are gorgeous. The reason I scored it a 9    I never played the original elite. I was old enough to though. I do have a DK2, so my review will be based of using that. This game is the absolute pinacle of my gaming experience. By far the game that whilst not playing, I have thought about the most.

    Using the DK2, I feel like I am a a starship pilot, I am fully emersed the 3d and graphics are gorgeous.

    The reason I scored it a 9 is that there is of course room for improvement and this is an evolving game. Frontier still have a long way to go in terms of making the game a complete package.

    Right now, the penalty for dieing to pvp combat is far too expensive (1 death costs me around 2 hours to recoup the cost) and as has been mentioned, finding other players can be a little tedious...but thats because there are 400 billion systems in the galaxy and not that many players.

    I want to see a little bit more of the story unfold also. things are moving a little slow and large scale combat is hard to get into.    … Expand
  2. CptUndies
    Dec 16, 2014
    3
    tl;dr - A beautiful game which is not easy to learn, nor fun to play.

    I purchased Elite Dangerous at the beta stage and I was overwhelmingly disappointed. Having been a fan of the space sim genre since Wing Commander in the 90s, I had high hopes for this game. The game was obviously created to be best played on a $500+ throttle/joystick/pedals setup, not mouse/keyboard or even just a    tl;dr - A beautiful game which is not easy to learn, nor fun to play.

    I purchased Elite Dangerous at the beta stage and I was overwhelmingly disappointed. Having been a fan of the space sim genre since Wing Commander in the 90s, I had high hopes for this game. The game was obviously created to be best played on a $500+ throttle/joystick/pedals setup, not mouse/keyboard or even just a joystick. The flight model is based on aeroplanes and not what you'd actually expect a spaceship be.

    In addition, the game felt sterile and boring, and has a huge lack of built in help to learn. For me, removal of their promised ability to play offline even in single player was the final nail in its coffin.    … Expand
  3. ityeapgnome
    Jan 28, 2015
    10
    Fantastic game, and it's only going to get much better. If you're even remotely interested in space sim games, this is a must-buy. Frontier have done an amazing job. Goodbye real life, hello Elite.
  4. qhfhqfiaqe
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Marvelous, a fresh air into space sim gaming!
    As per 2.07 (last pre-launch update) it feels good, looks better and plays great. The foundation is very solid and it can get only better with the promised development after release that will continue to expand the base of the game while also working on major improvements
  5. razorthintan
    Jan 26, 2015
    10
    I normally would give this game at least a 8, because although most of the features you would expect are there, the mission system is just a starting point, it's still great fun to play and dogfights in PvP are just amazing. But because of all the stupid 0, it gets a 10.
  6. bukueOner
    Feb 13, 2015
    0
    This game was cool for the first few hours when all the planets and stars were new and exciting, but then you realize there's really not much to do. It felt like GTA: Vice City all over again. Tons of building everywhere and no doors open. It's all about this amazing universe that's meant to feel so alive, yet all you can do is scan, trade or kill. The instanced multiplayer is a joke.This game was cool for the first few hours when all the planets and stars were new and exciting, but then you realize there's really not much to do. It felt like GTA: Vice City all over again. Tons of building everywhere and no doors open. It's all about this amazing universe that's meant to feel so alive, yet all you can do is scan, trade or kill. The instanced multiplayer is a joke. There's basically no tools for players to create their own content. You can't even group yet. This game is a good time killer until something better comes out.… Expand
  7. ridercupy
    Jan 21, 2015
    10
    So looking forward to the wings expansion, and the first person and landings after that. So far it s been tremendous fan onboard of my ship. Really looking forward to be able to wak in it!
  8. aspDude
    Feb 17, 2015
    10
    Great graphics, better sound, second to none control, lots of variety for control options, this game is awesome.

    If you like space sims this is for you.

    And this is just the beginning.
  9. ollieclark
    Feb 18, 2015
    10
    Love this game! I like the way it doesn't lead you by the hand but basically dumps you in a random star system somewhere in the Milky Way and then, well, no real hints about what to do next! There's plenty to do but the game is not going to tell you what. It's your decision, your imagination is the only constraint.

    I don't really understand the complaints about lack of content. There's    Love this game! I like the way it doesn't lead you by the hand but basically dumps you in a random star system somewhere in the Milky Way and then, well, no real hints about what to do next! There's plenty to do but the game is not going to tell you what. It's your decision, your imagination is the only constraint.

    I don't really understand the complaints about lack of content. There's literally too much going on for me to get involved in all of it. Trading, bounty hunting, combat zones, running missions, exploration, mining, community goals. If you get bored of one thing, do something else.

    It's not a game for everyone - there's a very steep learning curve but persevere and it will richly reward you. Especially so if you dive into role playing a character rather than just playing the game. I can see myself still playing 10 years from now. Probably longer.    … Expand
  10. mcuser
    Dec 16, 2014
    3
    Great graphics and sound, boring gameplay. Once you've done the few things there are to do a few times you realise how shallow and empty it is. Released a year too early.
  11. Baalsmistress
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Perhaps the smoothest release of a large scale on-line game I've ever witnessed. The decision by Frontier to use Amazon cloud services for their server base is utterly justified by the total lack of overloading so common to release days.

    The game itself is on an epic scale, with over 100 billion star systems, containing over 400 billion stars to play in. You play a commander of a small    Perhaps the smoothest release of a large scale on-line game I've ever witnessed. The decision by Frontier to use Amazon cloud services for their server base is utterly justified by the total lack of overloading so common to release days.

    The game itself is on an epic scale, with over 100 billion star systems, containing over 400 billion stars to play in. You play a commander of a small craft, able to move smoothly between trading, bounty hunting, exploring, even piracy if you wish.

    Watching the game develop over the past several months, it's been noticeable how dedicated and competent Frontier have been in implementing new features and debugging existing systems. There's been missteps along the way, as with any project, but what has come out of the process is a solid game with a lot to offer, and a huge huge potential for expansion.

    If you are a fan of flight simulators and space games, don't miss this amazing update of the ultimate space trading game. Elite.    … Expand
  12. atlas97
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Wonderfull game, graphics and sound are top. Flying in a oculus DK2 is marvelous. Game is meant to be played with Virtual Reality, killed all other PC game for me. Frontier did a wonderfull job and plan to continue development.
    Hope you guys implement "wings" quicly and it'll be perfect.
    I plan to give it a 9 but seriously looking all the 0 for ne reason and brainless bashing made me    Wonderfull game, graphics and sound are top. Flying in a oculus DK2 is marvelous. Game is meant to be played with Virtual Reality, killed all other PC game for me. Frontier did a wonderfull job and plan to continue development.
    Hope you guys implement "wings" quicly and it'll be perfect.
    I plan to give it a 9 but seriously looking all the 0 for ne reason and brainless bashing made me change to 10 ^^    … Expand
  13. varietygamer
    Dec 18, 2014
    9
    Disclaimer: The rating refers to the foundations that this game sets, and is not reflective of the final content-which is yet to come.

    This is not the kind of game you can review on launch, and it was never meant to be. The development model has called for extensive player alpha and beta participation, and despite this being release version 1.0, that has not changed. Ultimately the    Disclaimer: The rating refers to the foundations that this game sets, and is not reflective of the final content-which is yet to come.

    This is not the kind of game you can review on launch, and it was never meant to be. The development model has called for extensive player alpha and beta participation, and despite this being release version 1.0, that has not changed. Ultimately the funding model is progressive, like Star Citizen it is to be released in stages, and this includes post-official 'launch'.

    What has changed post-release is the fact that we now have an extremely solid foundation for a PC Space Sim on a scale that is unprecedented. Visual and sound design are top notch. The simulation model is the best I've seen in the genre. From the various in-game systems one can see this was built to be expanded upon.

    Subsequent expansions will add;

    -Exploring ships and stations in 1st person, alongside associated interactions.
    -Planetary landings and exploration on full scale worlds, with proper atmospheric modelling.
    -Much more.

    If you want an idea of what Elite aims to be, give SpaceEngine a try. It is free. Now imagine a game built within that, and polished to a standard one would expect from a Space Sim.

    Enjoy.    … Expand
  14. 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
  15. fl3shy
    Dec 16, 2014
    9
    A great game if you love exploring, long for the space sim, and are looking for a good excuse to put your joystick to use. If the idea of cataloguing planets and stars to sell to interstellar cartographers excites you, you will probably enjoy E:D. If the idea of floating in space in a beautifully crafted hauler, lugging tonnes of metal to a dangerous pirate outpost excites you, you willA great game if you love exploring, long for the space sim, and are looking for a good excuse to put your joystick to use. If the idea of cataloguing planets and stars to sell to interstellar cartographers excites you, you will probably enjoy E:D. If the idea of floating in space in a beautifully crafted hauler, lugging tonnes of metal to a dangerous pirate outpost excites you, you will probably enjoy E:D.

    If you're looking for a twitchy, action packed, story driven space adventure, you will likely be disappointed.    … Expand
  16. KWAiRT
    Apr 3, 2015
    9
    Graphics
    -Beautiful detailed graphics with a strong sense of immersion
    -Massive galaxy to explore with epic 1 to 1 scale and perpetual motion including gravity. No skyboxes or backgrounds. What you see is the Milky way in all it's vast glory 100K LY across in any direction. -Detailed planets, star descriptions and information based on current scientific data -Beautiful starships    Graphics
    -Beautiful detailed graphics with a strong sense of immersion
    -Massive galaxy to explore with epic 1 to 1 scale and perpetual motion including gravity. No skyboxes or backgrounds. What you see is the Milky way in all it's vast glory 100K LY across in any direction.
    -Detailed planets, star descriptions and information based on current scientific data
    -Beautiful starships ranging from small fighters to capital ships that are fully animated with detailed interiors and lighting

    Engine
    -Stable 32-bit Cobra engine with internal 64-bit precision and procedural implementation
    -Excellent multicore CPU optimization and GPU usage
    -Comprehensive mouse + keyboard controls yield one if not the best implementation to date
    -Full support for gamepads, joysticks, HOTAS, trackers, voice activation
    -Best Rift support and implementation in a PC game to date that allows for optimal image quality and performance

    Sound
    -Lucas quality 5.1 audio by Jim Croft with amazing sound fx and OST
    -Built in VOIP for direct and group chat complete with it's own special fx
    -Every ship sounds different and everything is fully audible from the scraping of asteroids to buzzing of fighters flying by

    Gameplay
    -Play the way you want when you want
    -Combat, exploration, mining, smuggling, trading, and missions all give way to community faction based events and background story
    -Multiple factions and different government types for various star systems including minor factions and corporations background simulation
    -Amazing physics and collision detection give way to a flight model designed for balanced gameplay and superb control across any device
    -No fast travel with never before seen Supercruise travel mechanics using the Frame Shift Drive to accelerate to speeds from 30 Kps to FTL speeds while not subject to relativity
    -Good selection of ships and modules to experiment with on your ships effecting everything from mass to heat
    -Easy to learn hard to master but won't hold your hand gameplay with a massive sandbox to play in
    -Manual docking and full hands on spaceship control
    -No pay to win and bought items are purely cosmetic with several paid expansions in the works
    -No subscription fees

    Multiplayer
    -Massively multiplayer with the ability to play solo, group, and open game modes (Instances limited to 32 peers)
    -Solo and group modes are still connected to the metaverse allowing players to influence and join in on community events across the galaxy
    -Wing support is now in allowing up to 4 players to form a wing or group and stay connected while linking nav computers, dropping beacons, and sharing the fruits of their labor. Custom wing assist and targeting icons allow for excellent group functionality and teamwork.
    -Cross platform multiplayer will allow PC, Mac, XBONE, and PS4 players play together.

    NOTE
    The game continues to evolve with frequent updates and bug fixes including new content. 1.3 is in the works now which will bring a bunch of improvements to mining and some other changes with two new ships on the horizon. The Federal Corvette and the Imperial Courier and we already have two other new ships in the 1.2 update.

    CONS
    With offline being dropped there is no chance for mods to explore a more custom and personal version of the game. Of course this means online is also required (Solo play however only sends meta data and is all run on your local PC)
    The game could also use a more refined comprehensive tutorial to explain some of the finer details (the community is there to help though)
    Default controls are somewhat awkward without some customization
    Instancing issues can be a hassle at times due to some NAT restrictions
    p2p nature of the networking code can lead to poor host quality with no region locks or filters    … Expand
  17. Matnik
    Dec 20, 2014
    3
    Short review - This game is unfinished, and suffers greatly as a result. I'm also going to have to go by my memory of a pre-release version, as I'm one of many people who've been unable to play since launch due to the sheer number of bugs.

    I was a huge fan of Elite 2 back in the day, but I'm not going to just fervently defend this game based on misty-eyed nostalgia. At best, this is a    Short review - This game is unfinished, and suffers greatly as a result. I'm also going to have to go by my memory of a pre-release version, as I'm one of many people who've been unable to play since launch due to the sheer number of bugs.

    I was a huge fan of Elite 2 back in the day, but I'm not going to just fervently defend this game based on misty-eyed nostalgia. At best, this is a tech demo. The graphics are great, the soundtrack beautiful. Space is modelled well, in that it is vast - and almost entirely empty.

    The launch trailer is nothing like the experience of the game. If anything, I'd say this is probably the most accurate portrayal of the likely future of life in space. Obtain ship. Obtain cargo contracts. Ship cargo from system to system. There is combat, yes, but it's more shoe-horned in than feeling an integral part of the game.

    And right now, that's it folks. You go to a starport, either buy a contract or a cargo mission (or if you spend the credits, find out the best trade routes) and go. Earn money. Once you've earned enough, go and buy a bigger ship. Continue until you have the biggest ship you can get and earn credits into all eternity.

    The ship designs are great - but you'll rarely see your own ship in game, as the whole game takes place from inside the cockpit. This is by design, but ultimately makes you feel like you're watching a TV programme about space, whilst fumbling around the menu system. The menus work very well, which is great as this is where you'll spend most of your time.

    But the bugs. Oh, the bugs. I can't even log in. The forums are full of angry customers and no sign of the support team. It reflects very poorly on the company and the future of this title.

    It could be great, but it feels like a race with the likes of Star Citizen and No Man's Sky, and Elite Dangerous is off the line early and half-dressed, with no warmup.    … Expand
  18. doublescreeman
    Jan 27, 2015
    10
    The game is well designed and "moreish" in it's current state and certainly worth its full price title. Space sim games of this opennes and quality range were sorely missed from the market.
  19. wipeout2014
    Dec 30, 2014
    5
    If you buy this game, watch out. It has an extremely nasty little feature in it.

    If your spacecraft gets destroyed and you don't have enough money on you at that very moment for insurance or a loan, your spacecraft doesn't respawn. It's gone forever. Since some spacecraft may take weeks or months of work to buy -- depending on how you play -- this perhaps the most brutal gameplay    If you buy this game, watch out. It has an extremely nasty little feature in it.

    If your spacecraft gets destroyed and you don't have enough money on you at that very moment for insurance or a loan, your spacecraft doesn't respawn. It's gone forever.

    Since some spacecraft may take weeks or months of work to buy -- depending on how you play -- this perhaps the most brutal gameplay mechanic I've seen in decades of playing videogames.

    Potentially all your work is gone for failing to watch one number on one page of one of the many ship displays.

    There's no warning when you are in danger of losing your ship. And that number's importance is never explained.

    I have to wonder what the hell the developers were thinking to make this even possible.

    Players naturally want to fly their new ships the moment they have scraped together enough money to buy them. And if they do, this insurance feature will punish any mistake mercilessly.

    It's a good game overall, a bit empty at the moment and there's much that can and will be added and improved.

    But whatever you do, be aware of this ridiculous insurance feature.    … Expand
  20. Dinbar
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    The game I've been waiting for nearly 30 years. 400 Billion star systems and a full space sandbox to do what you want. Nothing on rails, so don't come expecting to be hand held. Amazing game and it can only get better with planetary landings, big game hunting. The scale of this game is beyond belief.
  21. salmonrushdie
    Jan 27, 2015
    10
    The only negative scores I see are from people who just miss a feature they just prefer. However, if a new player gets into the game based on the scores here (players or critics), it will totally work. The game is amazing.
  22. wonderingwhynot
    Jan 24, 2015
    9
    Combat and flight model in Elite really bring it home. It will never be an IL2 or DCS for obvious reasons but Elite is as best as it can get in space.
  23. tf65
    Mar 10, 2015
    1
    Nice graphics and sounds, Everything else is poor. Lacking content, just a test beta version really, released way too soon. Wait a year or two or three.
  24. Asianeye
    Jan 28, 2015
    10
    Just got in the Elite bandwagon and I am really happy with my purchase so far. Elite is a complex space simulator that will not help you much at start and that will let you experiment a bit until you "break out" of sorts. The rewards of keeping at it are great as upgrading and improving your ship is very exciting and fulfilling. Chasing pirates in resource extraction sites or beingJust got in the Elite bandwagon and I am really happy with my purchase so far. Elite is a complex space simulator that will not help you much at start and that will let you experiment a bit until you "break out" of sorts. The rewards of keeping at it are great as upgrading and improving your ship is very exciting and fulfilling. Chasing pirates in resource extraction sites or being interdicted while in SuperCruise will bring you amazing "highs" of activity in the middle of "relaxing" promenades among the beautifully recreated Milky Way. Highly Recommendable game.… Expand
  25. Nats
    Feb 13, 2015
    10
    Superb game sequel to the Elite(which I never played), Frontier: Elite II, and Frontier: First Encounters games.

    Things I love about this game - the sense of speed, the vastness of space, the audio, the combat, the ships and cockpits are very well designed, its a beautiful game and with promised expansions covering planetary landings, first person action, boarding ships etc this game is    Superb game sequel to the Elite(which I never played), Frontier: Elite II, and Frontier: First Encounters games.

    Things I love about this game - the sense of speed, the vastness of space, the audio, the combat, the ships and cockpits are very well designed, its a beautiful game and with promised expansions covering planetary landings, first person action, boarding ships etc this game is only going to get better over time.    … Expand
  26. Phallex
    Aug 7, 2015
    4
    I'd love to love this game. Unfortunately, once you've gotten used to cruising around and looking at stars, docking, dogfights etc it just becomes really boring. There's not really anything to drive you in game. Finding your teammates is very hard to do properly, and even if you do manage to meet up within the hour, you're stuck with the same problem...what shall we do? Shoot some moreI'd love to love this game. Unfortunately, once you've gotten used to cruising around and looking at stars, docking, dogfights etc it just becomes really boring. There's not really anything to drive you in game. Finding your teammates is very hard to do properly, and even if you do manage to meet up within the hour, you're stuck with the same problem...what shall we do? Shoot some more AI...er....ok....??

    If you're looking for a new X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter type game, hold your breath for Valkyrie, just maybe they'll pull it off.. Elite is just a beautiful simulation showing how big space really is, even when you have a really fast ship.    … Expand
  27. MadMaxx
    Apr 3, 2015
    4
    Beautiful game, horrible monotony. Awesome game to play for a week or two. Most users don't last much beyond that. I've played since December 2014, but I must admit I have to urge myself to log in, or even find a reason to log in and play. I've also brought many friends to the game who did not last more than one week.

    It seems even the old Star Wars Galaxies and older games had many    Beautiful game, horrible monotony. Awesome game to play for a week or two. Most users don't last much beyond that. I've played since December 2014, but I must admit I have to urge myself to log in, or even find a reason to log in and play. I've also brought many friends to the game who did not last more than one week.

    It seems even the old Star Wars Galaxies and older games had many more fun things to do. In this game, it's Trading, and Combat. Missions are broken to a large extent, and even if they worked fine, there is nothing to progress to other than a title. Content additions are very slow to be put into the game, and it ends up creating a continual revolving door of players.

    Things that were considered feature additions (multiplayer) should have been added back in beta, and the mission system should never have been released in this state. Even something as simple as adding more ships seems to take twice as long as any other 3D space sim I've ever played.

    In general, it's a fun game to play for a couple weeks between games, but that's about it.    … Expand
  28. 4squaredump
    Jan 24, 2015
    10
    Great real 3D experience with the Oculus Rift DK2. Probably the best game to try it with. The sheer size of the ships and level of detail in modelling every little thing in the cockpits, has really impressed me.

    Graphics in general have been really optimized and the game just "cruises" literally. Gameplay wise it has all elements required to succeed and multiplayer hopefully will    Great real 3D experience with the Oculus Rift DK2. Probably the best game to try it with. The sheer size of the ships and level of detail in modelling every little thing in the cockpits, has really impressed me.

    Graphics in general have been really optimized and the game just "cruises" literally.

    Gameplay wise it has all elements required to succeed and multiplayer hopefully will bring it all together.    … Expand
  29. Cuantarramera
    Jan 28, 2015
    10
    Best graphics, better sound, 4K ready and probably the best game out there to use Oculus Rift DK2. Full 1:1 scale galaxy with actual milky way known planets etc in. Combat is very engaging and the balance between ships, weapons and flight model is the best out there. Immersion and freedom in this sandbox galaxy is unrivalled.
  30. mojave15
    Jan 24, 2015
    10
    Best space sim in recent memory! Covers all the basic's well trading/piracy/bounty hunting/exploring etc. It's got a fair learning curve and I would say a decent joystick is almost a necessity.

    Takes some time to learn but once you've got the basics down it can be quite forgiving.
  31. roberttrufant
    Jan 25, 2015
    10
    Frontier is doing an outstanding job with this title. It is such a breath of fresh air. Been waiting for it for years, and I am definitely not disappointed. And for those are complaining about it being incomplete, it's understood that it's not complete yet. Isn't supposed to be. You can't rush art. Rock on, Frontier, you're doing fantastic :-) Been playing computer games since 1981,Frontier is doing an outstanding job with this title. It is such a breath of fresh air. Been waiting for it for years, and I am definitely not disappointed. And for those are complaining about it being incomplete, it's understood that it's not complete yet. Isn't supposed to be. You can't rush art. Rock on, Frontier, you're doing fantastic :-) Been playing computer games since 1981, and I'm telling you guys that you are spot on. Spot On.… Expand
  32. Lock
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Awesome game guys! It s worth every pound so far! PvP, trading. exploring, nice flight model - it all here. Elite is back and it shines like never before. Cya in space CMDR's.
  33. brasd
    Dec 21, 2014
    0
    Virtually unplayable. This game literally expects you to google how to play the game. It is literally impossible to do anything otherwise, unless you expect to search the entire universe for a specific form of cargo. And as of multiplayer? Well, there's no server browser, so in order to play with a friend, I am not joking, you have to restart the game over and over until you are in theVirtually unplayable. This game literally expects you to google how to play the game. It is literally impossible to do anything otherwise, unless you expect to search the entire universe for a specific form of cargo. And as of multiplayer? Well, there's no server browser, so in order to play with a friend, I am not joking, you have to restart the game over and over until you are in the same server. A broken, unplayable, mess.… Expand
  34. lordmanwe
    Jan 26, 2015
    10
    In an ideal world, I'd have given this maybe a 8, but there are so many completely mental 0's that I can't bring myself to do it.
    Keeping this short, the positive reviews are spot on. The 0's are probably from people demonstrating extreme narrow minded cognitive bias in my opinion.
  35. Michael_J_Wall
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Try looking at ED as a game not just a space simulator. It’s a massive game but we all have a role in this game, after long careful thought I came to the conclusion that the point of this amazingly beautiful open sandbox space exploration, combat & trading game is to become one of the Elite and become a famous space pilot in your own right.
    Most people will probably start by Trading; this    Try looking at ED as a game not just a space simulator. It’s a massive game but we all have a role in this game, after long careful thought I came to the conclusion that the point of this amazingly beautiful open sandbox space exploration, combat & trading game is to become one of the Elite and become a famous space pilot in your own right.
    Most people will probably start by Trading; this is the safest way to make money which will allow you to upgrade your ship to the very highest specs in order that you might have a chance should you get involved in combat with another ship.
    This however in my opinion is putting off the real game, forget flight simulators this is space and the manoeuvrability of your space ship is simply beyond comprehension of most players. Try to think out of the box, your ship is capable of the most fantastic combat manoeuvres and what you really need to be doing as soon as your able is practicing these breath-taking manoeuvres so that you are able to become Elite & feared by all who encounter you.
    A lot of people are upset about losing single player off line but who the hell in this day & age wants to play a game on their own?
    Get out there practice, and see if you can take on a real Space Pilot, I guarantee that you will feel an overwhelming adrenalin kick like no other when you’re in combat with another human player.

    If you see me out there say hi I’m CMDR SS_KONIGSTIGER    … Expand
  36. architectbloke
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    I've played the limited tutorials for 2 weeks now but that is nothing to the full game. The first time I launched out of a space-station I was in awe of the fact that I had 400 billion star systems to explore. It is mind boggling to think of the vastness of this game and even from the very start the options of missions that you can undertake far outstrips any space game I've played before.I've played the limited tutorials for 2 weeks now but that is nothing to the full game. The first time I launched out of a space-station I was in awe of the fact that I had 400 billion star systems to explore. It is mind boggling to think of the vastness of this game and even from the very start the options of missions that you can undertake far outstrips any space game I've played before. You could easily spend an hour just looking in detail at everything before you take that first flight outside.

    This is a vast game and is not to be taken lightly so if you are after a quick shoot em up in space this is not for you, but if you want to invest time and patience in building a career and forming virtual in game and real alliances with other players of months and years then this will give in bucket loads.
    The developers have pushed the game engine to new heights with 16K screen support (I don't even think that's available yet!) and full 3D immersion to try and make this game as future proof as possible, yet still it works on old machines, and even though it needs to be online to keep the universe updated in real time, its possible to play this connected on a laptop using a mobile phone as your internet receiver.
    Its that online all the time that has caused a lot of controversy but it is still possible to play a solo game. Your universe will just continue to develop, expand and change in real time as the online community explore, develop new and change existing factions and cause this game to grow. This allows for players to drop in and out, meet and play with new people or even old friends - something which is available in many other games.

    The changing dynamics of the universe (which games like Eve have also managed) is something that gives this game that extra over some other MMO's where a lot of what is seen as changing is simply scripted add on by the developer. Not that the developer has finished yet. There are a lot of extra's that are to be released in the future including the ability to get up out of your seat and walk around your ship.

    The game play is hard,even for a veteran of the original like myself , but this is meant to be an investment and I can see myself easily spending 100+ hours and only having a few kills to my name.
    Absolutely fantastic!    … Expand
  37. Coffeecradle
    Jan 29, 2015
    10
    This game won't be to everyone's taste. It's a huge, beautiful and hard game world that Frontier have put together, and it's also a sandbox onto which we draw our own actions, rather than having very specific hero story lines. For me? It rocks.
  38. Surrealis
    Feb 13, 2015
    10
    This is a truly excellent game if you approach it with the correct expectations. If you're looking for Freespace, Wing Commander, or one of those games, that is not what Elite is, nor what it was back in 1984. What you get with Elite: Dangerous is basically a modern adaptation of the 1984 Elite, with some new tweaks. From here, the development team has been expanding their reach, lookingThis is a truly excellent game if you approach it with the correct expectations. If you're looking for Freespace, Wing Commander, or one of those games, that is not what Elite is, nor what it was back in 1984. What you get with Elite: Dangerous is basically a modern adaptation of the 1984 Elite, with some new tweaks. From here, the development team has been expanding their reach, looking to push Elite beyond what the game originally was, into new things.

    As the game stands now, you are dropped into a 1-1 scale replica of the galaxy, with a ship and some credits. You can find your way however you want, bounty hunting, trading, or exploring.

    Many have complained the game has a lack of content, and in the traditional sense, this is absolutely true. This game doesn't give you a linear storyline to progress through, or something structured to experience. This is more akin to Star Wars Galaxies. You create your character, and you start off outside of a starport with a pistol, a dagger, a pair of pants, and a melon. Good luck. It is up to you to find your own way, to decide what you want to do. If you are someone that enjoys that, you will find content in this game.

    The political aspects of the game merge beautifully with the economic. So there are 3 major factions: The Alliance, the Federation, and the Empire. Each have different laws which govern aspects of space stations. Tobacco is a resource that may be illegal in the Federation, but not in the Empire. So lets say you're doing a Tobacco trade run on Empire border space. Other players can go to the Empire system, start to kill traders, police officers, and do things to build civil unrest. This helps to trigger a civil war in the system, so it ceases to be Empire, and switches to Federation post-Civil War. When this happens, now thew law states you can't sell tobacco there, so the trade route has been changed.

    This is a game about emergent gameplay. Players can impact the way that different powers grow in the colonized area of space. You are capable of flipping systems, of fighting in civil wars.

    Now, that's what the game is. What the game is not:

    Eve. You are not a corporation leader. You are not building a business. You are not a crafter of items which you then sell on the market. You are a freelancer. You have your ship, and all of the Milky Way. That's what you are. You are free to trade other people's resources, trade between what systems you want, but you are not a creator of those resources.

    Immediate satisfaction. This game is not one that gives you immediate satisfaction. You start out in a crummy ship, and the entire point is to just build yourself up over time. Do missions, earn money, buy better ship parts, do more things, get more money, and so on. Unless you are bounty hunting or fighting in combat, you will not need to pay 100% attention. This is a game that goes very well with audiobooks, netflix, podcasts, things like that. It is easy to fly through space while watching TV, listening to podcasts, or catching up on some books. Exploration and Trading as professions are just active enough to help get by some of the boredom that can set in when you're *just* watching netflix, listening to a podcast, while doing nothing else. It is one thing to sit and listen to a book, it is another to fly through space while listening to an audiobook. However, again, when bounty hunting, or fighting in wars, however, you will want to have significantly more attention paid to the game.

    Star Citizen. This game is not Star Citizen. Star Citizen is far more active, has significantly less scale, and is working on releasing with a FPS segment. Elite is a Sandbox. Star Citizen is going after something different than that. Star Citizen looks like it will be a great game, just as Elite: Dangerous is. The point is, these games are doing two very different things.

    Ultimately, watch some videos, watch people play it, and see if it looks fun to you. I have clocked over 600 hours in this game at this point, and for the price, that is incredibly good. Further, they are releasing more content for free, and with no sub, you do not need to fear leaving the game for a bit, letting some patches go through, and then returning. People have asked me how they monetize the game: Skins, in the future they will have expansion packs (similar to Eve, WoW, most other MMOs). For the time being, the game has sold better than they expected, and were able to report to their investors that they made more than expected, in the highest tier. They are set for development funds for the time being. The game is off to a great start.

    Enjoy!    … Expand
  39. 2chill
    Apr 3, 2015
    4
    Frontier Developments have spread themselves too thinly with just the PC release. With impending Mac and console versions on the horizon I can see the already sketchy support for the PC version becoming diluted further.

    The game has improved since release, with there being almost weekly updates or patches. However, with each update the game's FPS takes a dramatic hit - especially if you    Frontier Developments have spread themselves too thinly with just the PC release. With impending Mac and console versions on the horizon I can see the already sketchy support for the PC version becoming diluted further.

    The game has improved since release, with there being almost weekly updates or patches. However, with each update the game's FPS takes a dramatic hit - especially if you are playing on a lower spec system.

    Stutter, stutter, stutter.... = unplayable.

    I really wanted this game to be the one I played for the next few years (like many of us did with the original back in the 80's). This is not going to be so, as after a couple of months I am already playing it less and less. Even with the inclusion of new content, Frontier Developments are far from filling the massive void they have created.    … Expand
  40. ballsofsteel
    Jan 27, 2015
    9
    Elite Dangerous is a good game. It feeds off everyone´s sandbox soul. Giving you the whole Milky Way to explore. The Factions battle all around and you can decide how best to help... or not.
  41. Much
    Dec 20, 2014
    0
    Not MMO as promised, more like MSO - massively single-player online. It is very lonely, boring and bad game. The graphics looks good, the gameplay sucks. But seriously, how hard can it be to make a nice graphic to a space sim when there is not much of a content, it's not a Skyrim.

    The game is broken by design and it will never have a good multi-player. You can forget about clan wars and    Not MMO as promised, more like MSO - massively single-player online. It is very lonely, boring and bad game. The graphics looks good, the gameplay sucks. But seriously, how hard can it be to make a nice graphic to a space sim when there is not much of a content, it's not a Skyrim.

    The game is broken by design and it will never have a good multi-player. You can forget about clan wars and pvp, since people can just switch to solo online play or be in a different instance. It does not even have co-op missions or any common multiplayer-features, e.g. chat.
    It is nothing like Freelancer ore EVE, the gameplay is similar to Truck Simulator.

    Broken promises, arrogant community consisted of zealots from 30 years old Elite game, bad game: 0/10. This game is so bad, I had to write my first review ever.    … Expand
  42. resprepa
    Jan 30, 2015
    10
    Deep and complex fully open sandbox space sim, bets played with a few friendsin your squadron. Elite wont hold your hand but the rewards of adapting to the true sandbox experience are enormous.
  43. TekDragon
    Apr 5, 2015
    0
    Extremely disappointed in Frontier for **** on their Kickstarter backers with an inferior product. While others get to enjoy the game in the Steam environment they've cultivated for a decade or more, with an easy to access game library, friends list, and amazing community - those of us who backed have to manage our game through the website of some no-name UK company.

    Had I known this    Extremely disappointed in Frontier for **** on their Kickstarter backers with an inferior product. While others get to enjoy the game in the Steam environment they've cultivated for a decade or more, with an easy to access game library, friends list, and amazing community - those of us who backed have to manage our game through the website of some no-name UK company.

    Had I known this was how Frontier would treat their backers, I would never have supported Elite: Dangerous.    … Expand
  44. fu8276
    Apr 8, 2015
    0
    Hard to know where to start with this game. The few things that are good about it are overwhelmed by the bad. This game is nowhere near the state that deserves a full price release. It is not even fit for beta. In empty shell.
  45. sou_ka
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Game is fantastic and only getting better over time, but you might have to have an IQ above 75 to find it enjoyable. If you're a CoDbunny 12 year old with ADHD, this isn't the game for you--but if you can sit down in a game that doesn't hold your hand, stare out into the vast universe, and chart your own course, then you'll have an excellent time.
  46. Orbwealer
    Jan 29, 2015
    10
    Gameplay: 10/10 The gameplay is really good especially in combat, flight model feels great and ship is adjustable depending on the needs and the style we want to play. Over time we will experience better control of the ship and flight strategies (fly Assist Assist On or Off) is also available.
  47. Eldryr
    Jan 22, 2015
    10
    Elite! Elite! Elite! nuff said!

    One of the greatest games is back and they did it good, very good!
    The Galaxy is yours with all freedom with all excitement
  48. King_Hrothgar
    Jul 4, 2015
    2
    I initially gave this a 6/10 when it was released as I thought it had a lot of potential despite shallow initial game play. I no longer believe it has any potential. The reason for this is the series of updates made to it over the last 7 months. The updates themselves aren't spectacularly bad, they just don't fix the core problem of shallow game play. The developers don't seem to realizeI initially gave this a 6/10 when it was released as I thought it had a lot of potential despite shallow initial game play. I no longer believe it has any potential. The reason for this is the series of updates made to it over the last 7 months. The updates themselves aren't spectacularly bad, they just don't fix the core problem of shallow game play. The developers don't seem to realize this is a problem. Going into specifics, here's the break down:

    Combat: The ships are slow and not very nimble. This makes combat fairly slow paced compared to other flying games. Whether you look at something arcade-ish such as War Thunder or the hardest of the hardcore, such as DCS or IL2, the game is just slow and overly easy. Most weapons are turreted, thus removing aiming and when combined with low speed and little maneuvering, there just isn't much to it. It isn't tactical or strategic either, so there really isn't anything going for it.

    Trading is equally simplified. The items a player can trade do not serve any in game purpose other than being trade goods. Trading useful items such as ships, modules and ammo is not possible except at a loss. Additionally, items cannot be traded between players.

    Exploration is basically just a timer when all is said and done. To to exploration, jump to a system that's "unexplored" and fire your scanner. 5 seconds later, point your ship at each object in the system one at a time for 10-30 seconds to get a detailed scan. That's it, the end.

    The various other professions aren't any deeper. The end result is a pretty game that could have been amazing if the developers hadn't been living under a rock for the last 30 years. But they were, and so it's ultimately just a cross between Asteroids and Pac Man. And to make it worse they decided the players are too dumb for that so they simplified it.    … Expand
  49. MPCPRO
    Dec 16, 2014
    4
    Has potential, I enjoy the graphics and the great sound design but as many other people write there is a lack of gameplay elements. It feels really empty and it's really hard playing with other friends which forces people mostly to just solo out on their own. I hope with the future expansions the game might live up to its potential, but at the moment it is just an empty shell.
  50. Shiro_
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Excellent Game. Very playable, I don't see any of the problems that people talk about. I've played it for a few months and have watched it grow. Unfinished, yes, but over time more will come on line. Is this a game you can pick up in 5 mins, nope not a chance but it is for me a truly great game.
  51. SteveM
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    I've played every Elite since the original and have out over 200 hours into the beta and gamma - I've bought a HOTAS, a new headset and VoiceAttack. I've bought and built an EDTracker (plus a new soldering iron and various other gubbins to build it)

    I'm STILL as excited as a kid at Christmas and have been playing the release build since the minute it was available. Suffice to say, I    I've played every Elite since the original and have out over 200 hours into the beta and gamma - I've bought a HOTAS, a new headset and VoiceAttack. I've bought and built an EDTracker (plus a new soldering iron and various other gubbins to build it)

    I'm STILL as excited as a kid at Christmas and have been playing the release build since the minute it was available. Suffice to say, I love it.

    To the negative reviews complaining about lack of content - there is a lot more content than the original game and at least as much as I recall from Frontier/FFE and it's a lot more stable than either of those.    … Expand
  52. Ravenhurst
    Jan 29, 2015
    10
    I just love Elite. It is indeed the best thing since sliced bread. I am (was really) a superfanboy of Star Citizen and X Rebirth but I have seen the light. X Rebirth is just a pale shadow and an abomination of the X series not worth of the name. StarCitizen is just a crappy pay-to-win monstruosity that will faile upon arrival (or probably even before). Elite in the other hand... ahhh...I just love Elite. It is indeed the best thing since sliced bread. I am (was really) a superfanboy of Star Citizen and X Rebirth but I have seen the light. X Rebirth is just a pale shadow and an abomination of the X series not worth of the name. StarCitizen is just a crappy pay-to-win monstruosity that will faile upon arrival (or probably even before). Elite in the other hand... ahhh... Elite... I can spend hours on end in this technological marvel. My vote is for Elite.… Expand
  53. StrongHarm
    Feb 16, 2015
    10
    Breath taking space simulator, especially with Oculus Rift! Runs very smooth and the interface is revolutionary. Those negative reviews you see are people who are angry because they invested in Star Citizen... I just fail to see how giving bogus reviews of Elite could make them feel any better.. hmm.. people are interesting.
  54. drunkenhero73
    Jan 25, 2015
    10
    Last night I was flying around a RES and I managed to kill two anacondas, netting myself 143,000 in bounties to redeem at a federation station. I was intoxicated with pride... And the Jack Daniels I consumed. So after my moment of shining glory, I spotted a cobra. 18,000 bounty. My time to shine! Which in reality probably sounded like "Mhii tymto shne! " Anyway, I forgot to mention thatLast night I was flying around a RES and I managed to kill two anacondas, netting myself 143,000 in bounties to redeem at a federation station. I was intoxicated with pride... And the Jack Daniels I consumed. So after my moment of shining glory, I spotted a cobra. 18,000 bounty. My time to shine! Which in reality probably sounded like "Mhii tymto shne! " Anyway, I forgot to mention that after my previous battles my eagle was down to 27%, but **** it" I said. "Im the best! I rocked those anacondas, and this piece of **** cant hurt me! Ill kill him and head back." I engaged the cobra. After intially draining his shields with my laser, I opened fire with my multicanons reducing his hull to a mere 43%. However, I failed to realize that in the exchange, my shields had been taken down, and my hull was damn near swiss cheese. I went in for the second pass. "43% - 36% - 22%. **** yea! I got him! Just two more seconds!" Boom. Dead. Not the cobra. Me. Dead. ... It took a minute to register what happend...... I stood up, left the room, and swore like the drunken pirate I was. "Noooooooo! ****ing 150,000 credits! Why! Fuuuck that was dumb!" After I finished throwing a tantrum I told myself "No more of this game, you're going to buy back your ship and call it a night." I bought my ship back.. And proceeded to play for two more hours. Elite Dangerous : 10/10… Expand
  55. SuperConductor
    Jan 30, 2015
    10
    The game needs work and in my opinion was released a bit early, as there are a few bugs right now. It's also lacking some delayed content. Having said that, what is there is excellent.
  56. Yzaak
    Mar 7, 2015
    10
    The more i'm playing it the more i'm loving it.
    i think it is a very unique approach to gaming, which might not be for everyone. But there are so many games out there that are all the same that it's a relief to see something that dares to break with traditions.
  57. Dirtbox
    Dec 16, 2014
    5
    Looks beautiful and sounds incredible and it's a marvelous technical achievement with a lot of familiar favourites, but as it currently stands, there isn't a lot of game, and what there is is unforgiving to an extreme and what little content the game has to offer is artificially obscured behind titanic levels of grind. Making money, which is apparently central to progressing in the game,Looks beautiful and sounds incredible and it's a marvelous technical achievement with a lot of familiar favourites, but as it currently stands, there isn't a lot of game, and what there is is unforgiving to an extreme and what little content the game has to offer is artificially obscured behind titanic levels of grind. Making money, which is apparently central to progressing in the game, is incredibly hard when you're starting out and all your hard earned credits can be dashed with a single unfortunate incident.

    The social aspect of the always online universe is nil, you may see other commanders, but if you bought the game to play with friends then you're often out of luck, you will start life many, many light years from anyone you know and there is bizarrely no way to reach them.    … Expand
  58. d4edalus99
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    this game as it stands is mind bogglingly epic and very much daunting for the newbie. there is no hand holding. this is a game in the vein of the pre 2000 era. this is a difficult but rewarding game . the more you put into it, the more you get out. the potential expansion leaves me hopeful that this will be the stuff of legend in a matter of years
  59. CustomSettings
    Jan 30, 2015
    10
    A rally excellent restoration of a classic. There is an honesty about the manner in which this game has been done over the last two years, in fact too much honesty sometimes which is why there is much emotion around it...
  60. Ozimandeus
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Let me put this as simply as I can, this is the game every Elite Fan has been waiting for 30 long years. No other game comes close to this. Miss it at your peril... this is as good as video gaming gets. Buy it now.
  61. neverlookback
    Jan 30, 2015
    9
    I have been waiting 20 odd years since Elite II for this and its magnificent. It will only get much better with more content, Ignore the refund whiners, read press critic reviews, watch the youtube videos and judge for yourself.
  62. twentygigsmad
    Jan 31, 2015
    10
    I could never revert back to any other old space game. I used to play Star Conflict before I found out about Elite. This game is just too good, especially for those with Oculus. It can only get better from here.
  63. furyunchained
    Jan 31, 2015
    10
    No doubt the best simulation combat combat game out there. Its really a brilliant game if you are capable of playing it :p do you dare?. This is a game like a lot of older games were not everyone has the brain power required to play it. It doesn't spoon feed anything, you learn or die indeed.
  64. lolgan
    Dec 16, 2014
    0
    Terrible customer support/service.

    This game started as a Kickstarter project. If you were one of the faithful that backed this game and Offline play was a deciding factor in backing it, then you probably experienced the amazingly shocking customer support/service. Basically the devs did a bait and switch and a few weeks before release they decide to let everyone know that Offline play    Terrible customer support/service.

    This game started as a Kickstarter project. If you were one of the faithful that backed this game and Offline play was a deciding factor in backing it, then you probably experienced the amazingly shocking customer support/service. Basically the devs did a bait and switch and a few weeks before release they decide to let everyone know that Offline play is too hard to implement. So basically this game is now purely an MMO. If you asked for a refund you most likely got denied or offered a small fraction of the money you gave in good faith. There is a solo mode, but an always on internet connection is required (DRM? you decide).

    There was also the revelation that they may implement in-game advertising, which reinforces the need for constantly being online. Also micro-transcations. Yeah that's right, buy your ships awesome skins! Awwww yeah! The stuff that matters (which could have been free btw. Oh wait, no stuff that. We gotta milk the customers right? heheheh). Actually since there is no monthly subscription fee I guess for this MMO to be viable they need to fund the servers through micro-transactions and in-game advertising.

    Judging by the way their customer support/service, you are going to hope you do not have issues with this MMO.    … Expand
  65. armepersonelle
    Jan 30, 2015
    10
    Had Elite as a present in Christmas eve. Never played the old Elite or the otehr games in the saga... Suffice to say I pulled a few all nighters and havent played other game in my PC almost since after that...!
  66. Dismissivebstrd
    Jan 30, 2015
    10
    I've played a lot of space games over the years the original Elite sadly not being one of them, I started playing Elite Dangerous in the late open Beta and have played at least several hundred hours watching the game evolve into something special. So far so good.
  67. taxicarder
    Jan 31, 2015
    10
    Pirate!! Kill! Hauler! Kill! Station! Oups! Trading! Cool! Silent Running and lurking! Yeah! No seriously, tis iss the real **** sandbox. Get it or you ll regret it.
  68. 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
  69. tummerjumper
    Dec 16, 2014
    1
    Not the game your looking for, which is such as shame. Combat etc is entertaining for a while and it looks pretty but sadly that's about it.

    Would have been great to have a true follow up to the great original but for whatever reason I feel they have taken too much on in making it an MMO. Not to mention the customer support from Frontier is dire, makes me wonder how they are going to    Not the game your looking for, which is such as shame. Combat etc is entertaining for a while and it looks pretty but sadly that's about it.

    Would have been great to have a true follow up to the great original but for whatever reason I feel they have taken too much on in making it an MMO.

    Not to mention the customer support from Frontier is dire, makes me wonder how they are going to handle all that goes along with an MMO.    … Expand
  70. BEKTOP
    Jan 1, 2016
    10
    3rd review update:

    Now it's been more than a year and I can see (with much certainty) where things are going with Elite Dangerous. It is still the best (by vast margin) space flight/combat simulation ever made in terms of it's flight model and amazing feeling of freedom of control over your ship and graphics and sounds. Addition of CQC (close quarter combat) brought that advantage up    3rd review update:

    Now it's been more than a year and I can see (with much certainty) where things are going with Elite Dangerous. It is still the best (by vast margin) space flight/combat simulation ever made in terms of it's flight model and amazing feeling of freedom of control over your ship and graphics and sounds.

    Addition of CQC (close quarter combat) brought that advantage up front and made best of it - CQC is the pinnacle of what I'm talking about here - it adds tactics to space combat (objects to take cover behind and inside, rock-paper-scissors weapon/defense choice (which can be changed during match by a number of custom made setups). Faster, nimbler smaller fighter ships.

    "Flight assist off" mode is still the best and only way to properly experience the joy and freedom of space flight (and don't listen to those who tell you to only use it situationally - when you need to turn around fast and such - simply always keep it turned off, then you'll get to feel it). If you start learning it from the beginning you'll just need a few weeks to master it and each step will give you lots of rewards and fun. Don't skip it. Really it's worth it.

    Now to problems:

    Combat vs NPCs in the main game is predictably bland and boring (as in every single computer game, so nothing to worry about). PVP in main game is unforgivably bland, too long and boring (compared to fun CQC fights it's even more pronounced) - by the very end of the year and months of countless complain threads devs finally pretended to address it, but only added some superficial changes - PVP is still in same state, now we just have a bit of freedom of choice on what modules to put on before engaging in bland, boring and too long fights. My previous review on combat was mostly based on fun duels I had before devs ruined PVP with SCBs (shield potions) and duels I had to specifically arrange, by asking people not to use SCBs - I was under impression that thing will get fixed in near future seeing how many players complained about it.

    Which takes me to one thing I've understood about Elite Dangerous development by now - if you see that something in the game is completely wrong - it will not be changed. Also there are things that gradually getting worse - graphics get toned down every single update and devs do not acknowledge it.

    And there's a lot of those things in the game. At the beginning whenever I saw a placeholder like exploration mechanics ; retarded missions (most of which are broken in one way or another) ; utterly broken background simulation (all those politics to take over systems, me being part of a small faction, economics simulation - it all either static or doesn't work or non existent) ; POI (signal sources) mechanics ; Super-Cruise flight mode.
    There's much more big and small placeholders in this game and when all of them are taken together - the only part of this game that doesn't feel less than half-baked is flight mechanics and CQC combat.

    So after a year this game is still a big promise and nothing changed, no game mechanics element was addressed (if only very superficially) to point where we can say it's not a placeholder thingie, but a strong and fun gameplay element.

    I won't pay Frontier for their another big promise - Horizons. I'm fed up with their promises already and I can dream on how this game could be if/when they fix it completely free - there's no point of paying for it.

    But what they made with flight model is something I like so much that I still play the game (CQC part). So still a 10 from me - if only for a small (but insanely important) part of this game.

    2nd review update:

    Why I'm still giving E:D a 10? - it offers the best space combat simulation (multiplayer and solo) ever made. Especially good are PVP duels or 4x4 fights and all configurations in between - like 3x1; 2x4. (if you want to properly feel it - use "no-assist" piloting mode where you can control all acceleration vectors your ship is capable of). It's easy enough to find a good match for your skill and fighting is so great that your hands will be shaking from excitement while you try to keep your opponent inside your reticle. It's never getting old. Don't forget that this game offers very good in-game voice communication - they apply same radio filter to voice they use in action movies and it adds a lot to game atmosphere.

    This game is a promise. Right now it only shows parts of game mechanics, but they are so good that can pass as a great game by themselves (some things are crude placeholders though, like missions, or mining, or exploration but devs are working on it).

    Galaxy is beautiful and vast, sounds are wonderful, flight simulation is great, especially docking and asteroid field fighting. You actually feel like you're piloting a spaceship.

    We are at the beginning of a battle on who will dominate colonized space there and peoples actions already have tangible effects on galaxy and game story developments    … Expand
  71. bazookoscircus
    Dec 16, 2014
    6
    OBJECTIVE REVIEW

    Most of the reviews on here will be either 10/10 from hardcore fans, or angry 0/10 from people who have suffered at the hands of Frontier's terrible customer service and suspicious motives for ditching offline play. I'd say looking at the middle-ground reviews will probably be more accurate. 1. Gameplay Currently the Gameplay is very similar to that of Elite II -    OBJECTIVE REVIEW

    Most of the reviews on here will be either 10/10 from hardcore fans, or angry 0/10 from people who have suffered at the hands of Frontier's terrible customer service and suspicious motives for ditching offline play. I'd say looking at the middle-ground reviews will probably be more accurate.

    1. Gameplay

    Currently the Gameplay is very similar to that of Elite II - Frontier. Much of the gametime will be spent doing very little flying around solar systems. This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing: it is after all a SPACE SIMULATOR and space is big. Really big. It can't all be Star Wars dogfights. With Nav Beacons & Unidentified Signal Sources you can still get into plenty of combat if that's your thing. the controls are somewhere between Newtonian Physics and Shoot-em-up gamer style - a decent compromise.

    However, the missions and space stations are, quite simply, boring. There feels like very little life around the stations, each one looking pretty much exactly the same. And you'd think in all of space exploration there would be more than a half-dozen different types of space station and 20 or so different spaceships. Missions feel deeply anonymous and repetitive.

    2. Content

    It very much feels the game has been rushed to release (ironically one of the big problems with FEII - first Enoucnters) and as a result, it feels like there is a lot missing. a LOT. As mentioned above, missions / spacestations etc. are repetitive and repetitive and repetitive. Planetary landing is still out. There's also not much visual variety in the planets & stars, nor does it contain any stellar objects aside from planets / belts / stars (where are the comets? asteroids? whay are there so few moons?)

    3. Graphics & Sound design.

    The graphics are as one would expect of a modern space game - decent but not exceptional - at around the same visual level as X-3, although there is still a lot left to be desired on the variety of stellar objects. Sound design is probably the games current strongest feature - the rattling of a Cobra Mk III feels like the pod-racers in Phantom Menace. Superb.

    4. Offline / online

    the big debate. Many people backed the game on the promise of an offline mode, where the game could be paused & saved. One month before release it was revealed this had been shelved, the reasons given seeming suspicious. Most believe it was a financially motivated change (to enforce further purchases / micro-transactions). Either way, the companies abyssmal PR handling of the matter, and lack of refunds or communication left an extremely soured relationship with many previous fans & backers.

    5. Overview / TLDR

    Feels rushed out & lacking content, but what's there so far looks promising. Could be an excellent game once fully developed. The lack of offline mode is still a suspicious move that feels financially motivated. Looking forward to updates & DLC, maybe in another 6-12 months this could be something special. Right now, it's just a skeleton. 6/10    … Expand
  72. hamburgermittes
    Dec 16, 2014
    1
    This game ditched an offline mode for an online only MMO variant. Fine. What is not fine is the multiplayer features are incomplete and mostly none existent. You cannot easily play with friends, and in the open play rarely come across other players. The net code is buggy and laggy and for an MMO an instance limit of less than 32 players is abysmal (though I've never seen more than 2-3 in aThis game ditched an offline mode for an online only MMO variant. Fine. What is not fine is the multiplayer features are incomplete and mostly none existent. You cannot easily play with friends, and in the open play rarely come across other players. The net code is buggy and laggy and for an MMO an instance limit of less than 32 players is abysmal (though I've never seen more than 2-3 in a single instance). The rest of the game is as equally empty in that features are bare bones and incomplete with incredibly repetitive and boring play. This game is not yet ready and requires many many months more development if it stands any chance of being a success. The fan boys are out in force today though so we'll see where this review ends up.… Expand
  73. Weaverloop
    Jan 26, 2015
    10
    I bought into the hype from the reviews and I am happy to report the game really lives up to it.
    This game is already amazing and there is so much more to come (planetary landings and first person)
  74. paLodio
    Jan 30, 2015
    10
    The Mily Way galaxy is made at scale of 1:1, approaching and flying by those stellar formations, black holes, rings, volcanic planets, ice planets, sulphuric surface planets etc etc..is just awesome.
  75. Suckit
    Mar 29, 2015
    4
    However, the game falls very short in a number of areas that were frankly disappointing and frustrating. The game is a wreck when it comes to immersion! The 3 major factions Empire, Federation, and Alliance are simply text based descriptions. Other than a text based description of these, there's no 'literary characterization' of these factions. In the movie Jaws, the chick who dies at theHowever, the game falls very short in a number of areas that were frankly disappointing and frustrating. The game is a wreck when it comes to immersion! The 3 major factions Empire, Federation, and Alliance are simply text based descriptions. Other than a text based description of these, there's no 'literary characterization' of these factions. In the movie Jaws, the chick who dies at the beginning from the Shark? We probably don't even remember their name because no literary characterization was made with the person, as opposed to the main characters in the movie. If people establish a relationship with a character or get to know them, they care more. The factions are just lame text based descriptions of one another: No cinematics, no audio interactions from the AI from these factions, no personalization that makes a Federation player feel different from an Empire and so on... As far as I'm concerned, the 3 factions are simply the same thing that are simply rebranded with a different name, a few different ships, and a few differences in trade. 400billion star systems that are just recycled with various minor factions. It's just regurgitated art. Even in games like Privateer, you could interact with the AI and message them and see a visual of them. Hell, if you accidently shoot an ally ship in combat, there's no warning message like, 'Hey watch your fire man!" Instead, your status blandly changes to 'wanted' and then every friendly ship starts firing on you. Also where's the interaction with other players?
    BORING. The missions are formulaic, bland, and create problems for a player starting out. Combat strike missions assasinating a target usually consist of 150k credits but are almost always an anaconda, so...say a player wants to take these missions, even in an upgraded viper it's pretty much a death mission. Missions like kill bounty hunters, or strike traders, often have consequences of becoming wanted in the system and having all the system security after you, so there's no point to accepting these missions even though they appear, and sometimes they are offered by the controling system faction which makes no sense when they'll make you a wanted target. But, many of these missions consist of searching around the system going to random "unidenifiable signal source" points...randomly searching around for these to find either your strike target, your black box, your rebel plans, insert purplenerpleberry A. Advance in rank: Okay, you take a mission sponsored by the Empire which you do essentially for free to take 4 illegal cargo items be it slaves, or combat stabilizers, etc...doesn't really matter just insert item A, B, or C here. So, the next step is finding a station where you can buy this crap, and you have to go through the galaxy map and try to sort through gov't types as well as system economy to find that item. Combat stabilizers is in High Tech econ system, and then you need to find an anarchy, independent, or dictatorship gov't in order to have a chance at buying the illegal item. So you set out for the item with a limited timeframe and this system you want for the item could be 50ly away after spending 25minutes jumping from system to system and playing the Elite Dangerous waiting game, you get to the station and find that it's not sold at that station, doesn't have a commodity market, or they're out of the item. Furthermore, the 3d map grid system becomes annoying to use because of the scale of the systems and Z axis to try to find systems around you isn't always user intuitive, you could spend 15minutes simply looking around the nearby stars zooming and out moving around on the x, y, and z axis to find what you're looking for. But anyway, players complete this stuff looking for 'more' in the game only to find just rinse and repeat. So, essentially there's no motivation to continue playing the game because once you complete a mission you get simply a change in text showing you're now allied or friendly with Purplenurple A.
    There isn't enough variety in the types of weapons with pros and cons. Mainly consists of either beam, pulse, or burst phrases in whatever will fit onto your ships hardpoint that do damage against the shields, and then multicannons to do more damage against armor. We need more of a variety of combat visuals. The use of gimbal weapons in the game that 'autotrack' as opposed to non gimbal is pointless from a balance perspective. It is pretty much always advisable to go gimbal because you will hit 100% of the time and the damage from a non-gimbal isn't significant enough to justify use. Another oddity is that although there are classes of modules with grades, it appears that no matter what ship you buy, you can never fully equip it due to power restrictions...
    This game has an ' Indie feel' but is asking a triple-A price point at 60$...but (feels beta).    … Expand
  76. Siggi
    Dec 16, 2014
    2
    The game claims a great deal of functionality that exists only by virtue of a player using his imagination. That's to say that the gameplay is, in reality, very shallow while pretending to be deep. In addition to that fact, while the game is incredibly pretty in the graphics department it is incredibly buggy in play with a lot of stuff working very poorly or not working at all.
    One might    The game claims a great deal of functionality that exists only by virtue of a player using his imagination. That's to say that the gameplay is, in reality, very shallow while pretending to be deep. In addition to that fact, while the game is incredibly pretty in the graphics department it is incredibly buggy in play with a lot of stuff working very poorly or not working at all.
    One might say FD can be trusted to fix all these issues given enough time after release, but after the despicable way they have handled the issue of refunds to those who are legally entitled to them I would not trust FD not to dump the game and walk away from it very soon after today. And on that basis I have to say this game should be avoided.    … Expand
  77. DannyTalent
    Jan 31, 2015
    9
    Gorgeous, fun and very -VERY- slow paced.
    To enjoy Elite, I believe, you have to be a very patient person. You want action? You'll get action, but of course after 40 hours of grinding trade in order to get a somewhat decent ship.
    Life's hard, so deal with it, Elite is hard. Not for everyone. Gorgeous graphics, but it can get a Little... Repetitive, I suppose. Not a problem for me,    Gorgeous, fun and very -VERY- slow paced.
    To enjoy Elite, I believe, you have to be a very patient person. You want action? You'll get action, but of course after 40 hours of grinding trade in order to get a somewhat decent ship.
    Life's hard, so deal with it, Elite is hard.
    Not for everyone. Gorgeous graphics, but it can get a Little... Repetitive, I suppose. Not a problem for me, though it may be for you.

    git gud    … Expand
  78. GnatsChuff
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Elite offered so much, and flat out lied. it conned its backers, repeatedly. Additionally with a poorly executed system of reputation and a faulty trade system coupled with a typical PR response of "Get over it" I would advise not investing money in this game
  79. galildoughty
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Gameplay is rock solid. The audio is amazing. There combined in such a way that makes the game immersive and fun. Your ship does what you want it to. You can do whatever you want to. Be a pirate? Hunt pirates for there bounty and ill gotten goods? Become a trader? Mine some precious metals and cash in? Can't wait to see what they release for this beast next.
  80. Hornybeast
    Dec 16, 2014
    10
    Who would have thought it was possible to launch a AAA title and it actually work on day one?!!

    words can't express the beauty of this game, so just go check out youtube then buy it
  81. chutoy
    Dec 16, 2014
    3
    A missed opportunity to build upon a great title from the past. In the mid 1980's everyone I knew who owned a BBC computer owned a copy of elite, it was a revolutionary title and I wasted weeks during the school holidays lost in space tangling with vipers and Thargoids.

    Frontier Developments have decided to use the same "Elite" name but not offer the same type of game-play, as with so    A missed opportunity to build upon a great title from the past. In the mid 1980's everyone I knew who owned a BBC computer owned a copy of elite, it was a revolutionary title and I wasted weeks during the school holidays lost in space tangling with vipers and Thargoids.

    Frontier Developments have decided to use the same "Elite" name but not offer the same type of game-play, as with so many other companies they appear to have been lured by the short term questionable rewards of on-line only, while encouraging players to spend money on micro transactions and expansions.

    It seems decisions are being made to maximise profits and that leaves questions open as to the long term future of a game that promises features, such as off-line play, only to cut them later with no warning.

    The original game was played on a BBC micro computer, this new version makes the BBC news website due to features being binned. This is the skeleton of an old great game, so many cut or lacking features and I feel sad that I was ever excited to see it being developed again.    … Expand
  82. WhatsaUsername
    Mar 20, 2015
    0
    A very, very boring flight simulator disguised by pretty graphics to make people believe its a real game. At first you'll be impressed by how nice everything looks and how cool it is to fly around in your ship, but then you'll realise that theres absolutely nothing to do but grind the same 3 tasks over and over again ad nauseam.

    I'll say one thing for the developers, they've really    A very, very boring flight simulator disguised by pretty graphics to make people believe its a real game. At first you'll be impressed by how nice everything looks and how cool it is to fly around in your ship, but then you'll realise that theres absolutely nothing to do but grind the same 3 tasks over and over again ad nauseam.

    I'll say one thing for the developers, they've really captured the feeling of empty, lifeless space very well. Too well. I think its a stretch to call this a game - more like a proof of concept for something better (like maybe Star Citizen?).    … Expand
  83. Xelluse
    Apr 20, 2016
    4
    4 and just cos of great Physics release.
    Gameplay interesting on start, but nothing special, boring and very repetitive in late game.
    Graphics not much better than in EVE. Very shiny, feels wet and looks like Korean MMO more, good for old space games. Nice light effects. Game is stable, but will overlock even good gaming PC. Maybe someone like it - design looks like in scifi movies    4 and just cos of great Physics release.
    Gameplay interesting on start, but nothing special, boring and very repetitive in late game.
    Graphics not much better than in EVE. Very shiny, feels wet and looks like Korean MMO more, good for old space games.
    Nice light effects.
    Game is stable, but will overlock even good gaming PC.
    Maybe someone like it - design looks like in scifi movies from 60s, not bad, but was expecting something realistic, especially for that high system requirements.
    I never played Elite before and after this game 100% will not do that in future, In my opinion game is good to purchase just on huge sales.    … Expand
  84. nachopunchk
    Jan 21, 2015
    10
    A great game and, with time, potentially an amazing one. Lots need to be done but this was to be a rolling release. Even so I havent played any other game yet since release. 10 all around.
  85. Vaestmannaeyjar
    Dec 16, 2014
    3
    As it now stands, Elite Dangerous is a game shell. Flying is nice, graphics are very good. Everything else is borked. Trading is buggd to the teeth, mining is just a minigame where you pewpew at asteroids and have to manually fetch hundreds of asteroid bits. Exploration is just pushing a button and flybys on planets.
    Moreso, Frontier Developments have shown during beta that they aren't    As it now stands, Elite Dangerous is a game shell. Flying is nice, graphics are very good. Everything else is borked. Trading is buggd to the teeth, mining is just a minigame where you pewpew at asteroids and have to manually fetch hundreds of asteroid bits. Exploration is just pushing a button and flybys on planets.
    Moreso, Frontier Developments have shown during beta that they aren't fast to asnwer issues. Game will probably be a blast. In 3 years. Be back then.    … Expand
  86. 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
  87. Monkeymagoo
    Feb 2, 2015
    9
    It's not finished, it can be quite repetitive and it's extremely annoying when you get shot to pieces and lose all the bounties you've been meaning to cash in, but I can't stop playing it. I only get about an hour in the evening to play but when I do, I really feel like I'm sitting in my ship's cockpit surrounded by a whole galaxy of star systems to explore. I'm only doing basic bountyIt's not finished, it can be quite repetitive and it's extremely annoying when you get shot to pieces and lose all the bounties you've been meaning to cash in, but I can't stop playing it. I only get about an hour in the evening to play but when I do, I really feel like I'm sitting in my ship's cockpit surrounded by a whole galaxy of star systems to explore. I'm only doing basic bounty hunting at the moment but the combat is heart-stopping especially when you've pitted yourself against someone of similar ability, you're both down to 10% hull and they're pummelling you with everything they've got and the glass in your cockpit starts cracking! It looks and sounds gorgeous. It's not perfect and you certainly wont get instant gratification from this game, but it's the only game I want to play right now. I'm usually ready for a rest after an hour or so, but five minutes later I'm already thinking of jumping back in.… Expand
  88. martapp
    Dec 16, 2014
    1
    Game is launching with many of the promised features missing, including one that will never be present - offline play. Even if you are playing solo, you must be connected to their servers at all times. Multi-player interactions are minimal - no chat etc.
    Company support is non-existant for any one with payment issues. Graphics are very good, but the core game is very empty. Avoid    Game is launching with many of the promised features missing, including one that will never be present - offline play. Even if you are playing solo, you must be connected to their servers at all times. Multi-player interactions are minimal - no chat etc.
    Company support is non-existant for any one with payment issues. Graphics are very good, but the core game is very empty. Avoid completely if you have fond memories of the predecessors.    … Expand
  89. numbertenofsix
    Feb 1, 2015
    10
    It's not a game for everybody. But it's actually the game for me. It has held my interest and imagination all the way since I picked it up on release over Christmas; within 30 minutes after playing it, I know I'll still be playing it this time next year.
  90. Johnman
    Dec 16, 2014
    4
    Not a good game right now. Pretty graphics, great sound design, and barely any gameplay. You will exhaust all it's possibilities in one day.

    Multiplayer interaction is close to nil despite always online DRM.

    It's a game made for old people who hasn't played anything but Farmville since 1984. They consider it a "hardcore space sim". It's sad what a waste of potential this game is.
  91. tman123
    Mar 25, 2015
    2
    Well, as a Kickstarter backer i followed all the process from jan 14 to release in dec 14, now after playing since Gamma there are a couple of reasons why the game is NOT worth buying until its finished:

    - Not more than 1/3rd of the promised Features are implemented (Ships, Backgroundsimulation, Fuel-Types, NPC-Wings, Crew etc.) - The Features that are implemented are working on a very    Well, as a Kickstarter backer i followed all the process from jan 14 to release in dec 14, now after playing since Gamma there are a couple of reasons why the game is NOT worth buying until its finished:

    - Not more than 1/3rd of the promised Features are implemented (Ships, Backgroundsimulation, Fuel-Types, NPC-Wings, Crew etc.)
    - The Features that are implemented are working on a very very Basic Level - theres no depth in none of the 3 main parts (exploring, trading, fighting), and also no depth in any of the missions
    - theres absolutely no dynamic universe at the Moment. every single Action has to be done by developers which means theres no Chance to control things for the playerbase
    - the community, especially the english and german ones, are basically rude, the official english Forum is oversaturated by fanboys and the Moderators in both communities are extremely biased
    - bugs in almost every core-feature (Wings, Trading, Exploring)
    - cheaters everywhere (in open Play)

    Well - some plus´ses for the game: Great Sound (best part of the game, especially with cinema-Setup), good graphics and a very performant engine. Players are leaving the game and thats not a good sign.

    Just check all the Newsletters from Frontier against the ingame Content. They are lying everywhere. Also the Support is a joke.

    Dont buy it until its done.

    This game Needs a year or two until its ready for the market.    … Expand
  92. alexnode
    Jan 20, 2015
    6
    Really steep learning curve, feels a bit unfinished in certain areas, some commodities have wrong descriptions, monotonous algorithm to generate the universe, icy planets everywhere. The core universe feels ok. Planet textures a bit flat. Great potential though but needs more love from the developers. Too hard and slow since there is not enough fun apart from buying better ship to doReally steep learning curve, feels a bit unfinished in certain areas, some commodities have wrong descriptions, monotonous algorithm to generate the universe, icy planets everywhere. The core universe feels ok. Planet textures a bit flat. Great potential though but needs more love from the developers. Too hard and slow since there is not enough fun apart from buying better ship to do things more quickly. Wish they could add a bit more content...Nevertheless it is a must have and a great experience ...… Expand
  93. zerobane
    Apr 4, 2015
    1
    An ocean with a depth of a puddle is probably the easiest way to sum it up...

    Spent another couple hours in game(as suggested); after writing the first review; decided to re-write. I do see the valid point that there is definitely a potential of a great game; its just not there yet. Still would not buy again, at least not until it undergoes a major overhaul. Unless you like playing    An ocean with a depth of a puddle is probably the easiest way to sum it up...

    Spent another couple hours in game(as suggested); after writing the first review; decided to re-write. I do see the valid point that there is definitely a potential of a great game; its just not there yet.

    Still would not buy again, at least not until it undergoes a major overhaul. Unless you like playing games with lots of grinding around a single objective; an open sandbox .

    Pro's
    1. Excellent graphics
    2. Decent controls; if a little frustrating at first
    3. Immense universe with endless possibility
    4. UI was awesome when I used my occulus rift with; one of the best OR experiences yet.
    5. Good support for hotas setup

    Cons:
    1. Complete lack of content is stunning
    2. missions are tedious and boring; rinse and repeat. Seems like they are 3 or 4 templates they just re-use over and over again. The term; doing a grind comes to mind.
    3. It takes hours and many youtube vidoes to get the basic mechanics down. Even to fly a simple mission and make it back.
    4. Game has 0 soul; looks like the only reason to do anything is to get more money and a bigger ship.
    5. Shallow and boring; there is just not much to do at this point.
    6. The galaxy feels empty; 0 human interaction; just lost and alone as you start your adventure. (system wide comms or alliance chat would go a long way)
    7. mission design and implementation feels very demo'y with a bare minimum scaffolding buried under there UI's.
    8. Many of the UI's are very unintuitive; need to constantly look-up command via keyboard map or youtube; VERY simple visual cue's on UI would fix all of this.

    Advice to DEVs; stop everything and start developing story, characters and content! And most important; a decent intro/tutorial with some story!

    Overall it feels like a great blank canvas; just waiting for a masterpiece. The real question is will it ever get there...

    Too many of these games just keep making more ships, bigger and badder weapons and better game engines; while never focusing any of the sprints on metas or story.    … Expand
  94. Beardsmear
    Dec 16, 2014
    5
    ED has great potential. But I have to base my review on the released version and so far this is just a fraction of a complete game. This grindfest lacks a lot in every part that would provide long term motivation. This game lacks an offline mode which was promised beforehand but the multiplayer part does not have really, well "multiplay" so far.
  95. Musashi
    Dec 29, 2014
    6
    - Good graphics and sound.
    - Great sense of scale and wonder at the galaxy.
    - Good spaceship and station models. - OK spaceship cusomisation abilities. - Combat is generally fun, but gets boring after a while against NPCs. - Flight model is OK, but arcadey. Does the job without impressing. It was much better in Beta 1. Multiplayer is appallingly bad, with game-breaking network    - Good graphics and sound.
    - Great sense of scale and wonder at the galaxy.
    - Good spaceship and station models.
    - OK spaceship cusomisation abilities.
    - Combat is generally fun, but gets boring after a while against NPCs.
    - Flight model is OK, but arcadey. Does the job without impressing. It was much better in Beta 1.

    Multiplayer is appallingly bad, with game-breaking network problems. Again, this used to be fine in Beta 1 and Beta 3, so something has gone very wrong for Gamma and Release.

    Overall, the game is something of a shell at the moment, with nothing to keep interest in the longer term. Gameplay features are implemented in a barebones manner, and a lot of potential is yet to be realised.    … Expand
  96. indi01
    Dec 17, 2014
    6
    My opinion:
    To me the biggest problem with this game coincides with its biggest selling point: its pursuit of realism.
    On the one hand it's cool to see the entire map of the milky way, but after a few instants my thoughts were "What's the point of all those stars, I'll never be able to explore them all". I'm not even sure it's possible, since I tried to venture in the dark and couldn't    My opinion:
    To me the biggest problem with this game coincides with its biggest selling point: its pursuit of realism.
    On the one hand it's cool to see the entire map of the milky way, but after a few instants my thoughts were "What's the point of all those stars, I'll never be able to explore them all". I'm not even sure it's possible, since I tried to venture in the dark and couldn't find any star to scoop...
    It's also great to experience the sheer size of stars, planets, and to have like "realistic" dockings, but after a while that becomes tedious, a chore, to lose 15, 30 minutes, even hours, just to fly between systems and dock. Also understanding how the UI works is a nightmare, and that's one of the most important thing to attract players!
    So it's all too slow-paced, you will spend most of the time just flying through systems. Combat is cool I have to say, it requires skill, but again, it's rare to pick up a fight and you spend more time "searching" for opponents than actually fighting.
    I have hopes for the (paid) expansions, planetary landings etc, but honestly I don't think it's possible to get outstanding results out of procedural generation of 1:1 scale planets, due to the limits of (current) computational power.
    So in essence a fantastic space simulator, a meh game so far.    … Expand
  97. allan_treebeard
    Jan 11, 2015
    6
    An outstanding achievement, but not my cup of tea. Elite: Dangerous asks a lot of you, you need to put in a lot of time to get anywhere and the learning curve is steep. Elite gives you freedom, but it is freedom without direction and many may literally become lost in space (sorry couldn't resist) as they wonder what to do and where to go. If you put the time into this game and enjoy theAn outstanding achievement, but not my cup of tea. Elite: Dangerous asks a lot of you, you need to put in a lot of time to get anywhere and the learning curve is steep. Elite gives you freedom, but it is freedom without direction and many may literally become lost in space (sorry couldn't resist) as they wonder what to do and where to go. If you put the time into this game and enjoy the undiluted freedom it offers, i'm sure it would be an amazing experience. But not for me....… Expand
  98. sfajardo
    Mar 5, 2015
    2
    Just read the most helpful posts, they said everything, stay away of this game. They're now developing a xbox one version, yet, the PC version is incomplete and full of bugs.
  99. Moriarte
    Jan 27, 2015
    6
    An impressive, almost infinite galaxy is at your fingertips. Browse through the map and myriads of systems have something to keep one engaged for months. There is a system with crime lord threatening the inhabitants, a naval base for the Federation, a system producing rare goods, which get more expensive the further out you deliver them. Bouncing around populated space, from one starAn impressive, almost infinite galaxy is at your fingertips. Browse through the map and myriads of systems have something to keep one engaged for months. There is a system with crime lord threatening the inhabitants, a naval base for the Federation, a system producing rare goods, which get more expensive the further out you deliver them. Bouncing around populated space, from one star system to another, from federated space to that of the empire, or the alliance, filling the fuel tank directly from stars, doing random missions here and there, increasing reputation, bounty hunting and mining are all truly a magnificent experience, by the way of the graphics and the sound specifically.

    Slowly upgrading the ship from lowly sidewinder to majestic imperial clipper was my path as a pilot, since release, took me a month, and i never regretted a single minute of it. My build was incredibly stable, "unexpected error" situations happened only twice during that month. Unbelievable for a game that just released, if you ask me, considering i logged about a hundred hours.

    The combat is a compromise between Newton's physics and "fighter jets in space", it's solid and will definitely have longevity. As much as NFS 5: Porsche 2000 got it right about it's driving experience, the Elite got it right about space fighting. The choice of weaponry and outfitting modules is interesting and requires, at times, hours of contemplation: how to strike a good balance between weight, defence, offence and whatever your opponent might have? That is the question. An interesting and engaging one.

    The only downside i will note in this section: lack of choice for fighter space ships. Basically, there is Viper and Cobra at entry level, below one million credits. The next great ship is the imperial clipper, which costs 50 mil in fighter configuration and the one after that, the Python, is beyond a hundred. That is weeks and weeks of grinding. I grinding one may never want to choose, and, hence, one never gets a Python, as bounty hunter’s/explorer’s/miner’s life pays 1/100th of what the trading does, and trading isn’t for everyone.

    After the initial month of shock, awe and pure enjoyment, many players, including myself, attempted to get down to the screws and bolts of the underlying influence system, which is supposed to drive the economy and political system, only to find out there is no elephant in that dark room. The NPCs, roaming around in great numbers are not tied to the background simulation system. That miner? He isn’t really mining. That bounty hunter? He isn’t cashing in his bounties. That trader? He isn’t really trading. The actual work is done by the background simulation system with NPC’s pretending it’s them, who are doing it. Disappointing. Why is it disappointing? Because the player or the group of them can hardly influence the galaxy around them in a direct and logical way - by interaction with NPCs and other players. Example: one can completely blockade the station, cutting off potential supply chains, but supply won’t stop. In short, the meta-game is bogus.

    Every star system in Elite has factions. Every faction gains or loses political influence inside the system, depending on whether the trade happens with them, missions are accomplished in their favour and due to other minor interferences. Every faction has potential to become a ruler in the system and even to expand beyond, to other systems, depending on player/NPC interactions. Factions are driven into “states”: civil war, expansion, etcetera. The result of states is either seizure of power within a system or actual expansion. But how are they driven into these states? No one knows that. Two large groups of players are still, to this day, trying to figure out the way the system is supposed to work, but to no success. The consensus is: it’s either broken or incredibly difficult to figure out, as Frontier is unwilling to share the intricacies (or bugs) of the whole “influence” design. Some are even convinced the whole thing is not worth the effort of figuring it out as the players’ efforts are too detached from the works of the system.

    Elite Dangerous is the old school space arcade, where the player is expected to use his or her imagination heavily to engage in galactic struggle. With beautiful and engaging gameplay at the surface, the inner works are flawed, limited and, perhaps, are a result of Frontier’s wrong choice in vision and direction. The game experience is worth well beyond 50$ it’s priced at, but, at this stage, the potential of it joining the ranks of greatest space sims of all time is yet to be seen, and may be years away in development.

    6/10, yet definitely a buy.    … Expand
  100. 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
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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

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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.
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  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.
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