EVE Online

 PC
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 350 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 236 out of 350
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 350
  3. Negative: 92 out of 350
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  1. cirrocolo
    Aug 10, 2015
    5
    I played it for many years and it is decent. It comes with a subscription fee which makes it less attractive for casual play. The lack of safe space is also a negative thing, especially when it has an industrial side which is really impressive. If on the other hand you can find a good group of people to play with it can be a lot of fun.
  2. Pershonkey
    Jun 9, 2015
    6
    Eve Online is an incredible game. A mind-blowingly, awe-inspiringly spectacular game.There is no other game out there that can match Eve in terms of its sheer scale. You can do pretty much anything, from running a massive mining corporation to participating in fleet battles between hundreds of players, to exploring the depths of space for artifacts. The website is filled with stories ofEve Online is an incredible game. A mind-blowingly, awe-inspiringly spectacular game.There is no other game out there that can match Eve in terms of its sheer scale. You can do pretty much anything, from running a massive mining corporation to participating in fleet battles between hundreds of players, to exploring the depths of space for artifacts. The website is filled with stories of huge incursions and important power-players struggling for dominance in a galaxy-sized battlefield.

    Too bad you won't experience any of it.

    While Eve is a big game, you won't discover anything new or do anything important. Initially released in 2003, pretty much anyone who's anything in New Eden has been playing for quite a few years. Now, a dozen years later, everything in the game has been done and done again by those who spend their entire lives in a chair facing a computer screen.

    Now, nobody in their right mind would expect to make the front page in an MMO during their first month of play. However, the game has become so hollow, with such a massive investment of time to do anything even remotely interesting (often measured in months of real-life time) that a newcomer has absolutely no chance of doing anything on-par with those who've been playing for a few years. The seemingly massive scale is betrayed very quickly when you realize that you are just a meaningless speck of dust in a cold and unforgiving universe. Normally this would be okay. But in Eve, you will still be that same speck of dust a month later. And a month after that.

    There are other problems, like an unusually hostile community, but these can pretty much be overlooked if you're a sufficiently think-skinned person. That doesn't change the fact that there is virtually no room for progression without giving away a few years of your life to a meaningless grind. If you decide to get it now, good luck. Don't expect any satisfaction.

    In the end, if you're looking for a game to have even a little bit of fun and relaxation, then Eve is not your game. If you're looking for a neverending grind where the "scale" is merely a facade that only the best of the best can enjoy, then give Eve a try. After all, there's always the free trial. if you manage to accomplish anything in that timeframe, feel free to call me up and tell me how.

    Is Eve fun? Yes. But all the fun's been had already.

    Is Eve a good game? Undoubtedly. But it's already been played to completion. There are better options out there.    … Expand
  3. El_Burrito
    Dec 5, 2010
    5
    Pros: Free content upgrades about every 6 months, a lot of gameplay potential if you can find it, good graphical quality for ship models and stations (however the backgrounds and most of the effects are still very lacking).

    Cons: Terrible community, terrible tutorials (there are jokes about how the game has a high learning curve, how ever this is only because the tutorials are rubbish and    Pros: Free content upgrades about every 6 months, a lot of gameplay potential if you can find it, good graphical quality for ship models and stations (however the backgrounds and most of the effects are still very lacking).

    Cons: Terrible community, terrible tutorials (there are jokes about how the game has a high learning curve, how ever this is only because the tutorials are rubbish and 99% of the community are too retarded to help), boring game mechanics, scams.

    There is a point where having it possible to do scams in a game adds a new depth to the game, but when every single contract, market offer and person is trying to scam you, it gets old incredibly fast.

    The game is a sandbox, which would be good if there was a lot to do, but really there isn't. There aren't really any goals even hinted at. You can set yourself goals but chances are you'll quit the game before you achieve them. You can pretty much either go into Industry, Missioning or PvP, but they all play out pretty much the same. Lock onto target, activate modules, wait, then repeat or warp out.

    You would think that a game set in space would feel huge and open, but EVE Online is possibly the most claustrophobic game I have ever played, when warping between things, it feels like you're in a small room crammed in with a load of other people.

    Over all the game is worth a try, because 300,000 people can't be wrong, the game can be fun. How ever most PvP results in who ever has the bigger blob wins, industry is all about who can sit around in a belt wasting all day, while they make as small a profit as possible thanks to macro miners ruining prices of minerals and products. Missioning results in you asking for a room full of NPCs, warping to the room full of NPCs, killing all the NPCs in the most mind numbing combat any game has ever made and then warping back and asking for a new mission.
    The game really needs more focus. I just don't understand why anyone would really want to play EVE "Spreadsheets" Online all day, with pretty much you're only reward being more ISK, or a destroyed ship.    … Expand
  4. Tukka
    May 18, 2011
    5
    My primary problem with this game lies with its antiquated user interface. The font is horrible and cannot be scaled up except in chat windows. The inevitable result for me is discomfort and eyestrain whenever I try to play this game. For me, this is a complete deal-breaker.

    Apart from that, the game is highly intimidating. PvP is a huge focus of the game (really, almost everything in the    My primary problem with this game lies with its antiquated user interface. The font is horrible and cannot be scaled up except in chat windows. The inevitable result for me is discomfort and eyestrain whenever I try to play this game. For me, this is a complete deal-breaker.

    Apart from that, the game is highly intimidating. PvP is a huge focus of the game (really, almost everything in the game has a PvP element, even if its an indirect one) and there are a lot of trolls, scammers and people who will generally just do anything they can to get ahead. Very little in the way of clear-cut goals are presented to you, so to maintain interest in this game, you need to develop a passion for it and be very self-motivated (or else, play with someone who is strongly motivated and will bring you along for the ride). There are lots of roles you can fill in EVE, but finding your place can be very difficult. You can't really play through the tutorials and the PvE missions (which get boring fast) the game puts before you and be a competent contributing member to a group of pilots, especially in PvP. You need to receive training from a player-run corporation or else take your lumps and lose a lot of ships (probably both) before you're any good. And that means you'll be flying cheap little frigates or maybe cruisers with cheap fittings for a few months. This will try your patience.

    Another problem with finding a role to play in EVE is that the game heavily rewards skill specialization, and skills in this game are earned passively. If you want to be a battleship pilot, that's great, but to be an effective battleship pilot, you need a lot more than just the skills necessary to actually fly a battleship. You also need the respective support skills that will allow you to fit the right array of modules, and reasonably high level of skills in using those modules effectively. If you want to fly a covert ops frigate for performing reconnaissance, you need different suite of abilities that have a limited amount of overlap with the skills necessary for performing other roles. Manufacturing or research require a different host of abilities. So while you may be tempted to try on many different hats and spread your skills around, the more you do so, the longer it will be before you achieve mastery in any one thing.

    What this game does offer is a player-driven world/sandbox that is unlike anything offered by any other MMO.    … Expand
  5. Kurtz
    Dec 22, 2011
    7
    As a space and sci-fi fan I like this game. It has depth, progression and is an extremely diverse MMO. The constant development of expansions makes this game better and better. One does ask the question though "why the hell am I playing this" while they are waiting for the next mining cycle. Then they quit. I quit and played about 3 or 4 times. I won't be going back unless it goes FTP
  6. kickdacatt
    Aug 31, 2011
    6
    It might be me, but I played this game for a month and really loved it when I started, but then found that the game play become soooo monotonous that I couldn't stick with it. It's a great game and genre but only more a short period of time, then it just becomes a pretty tedious game.
  7. R_O360
    Dec 26, 2011
    7
    As a EVE Online veteran of 4 years I can say that EVE is probably the most 'hardcore' and difficult MMO on the market. It is a high quality game at a low price, with no fee for the client and FREE seasonal expansions. The PvP in this game is spectacular with a good group of pilots and since it is a true sandbox game, the possibilities really are limitless.
  8. Cazliostro
    Jul 6, 2012
    6
    I have played EVE off and on since it came out 8 years ago, about 5-6 months total. Just recently logged in again to see the changes.

    THE GOOD: excellent dev support - constant high quality updates. Massive universe, 5,000+ star systems, well modeled planet / moon systems. Immersive gameworld - lots to discover. Interesting game mechanics. Complex interactions between ship systems means    I have played EVE off and on since it came out 8 years ago, about 5-6 months total. Just recently logged in again to see the changes.

    THE GOOD: excellent dev support - constant high quality updates. Massive universe, 5,000+ star systems, well modeled planet / moon systems. Immersive gameworld - lots to discover. Interesting game mechanics. Complex interactions between ship systems means lots of quality OCD time for detail-oriented strategy gamers. Combat is an intricate dance of range, speed and damage types vs. defense types. Game rewards planning and quick thinking.

    The experience of being a new player in EVE is akin to being in in a Firefly class ship in the Star Wars universe, although instead of two sides there are hundreds. You can live a desperate life on the raggedy edge of space or join a corporation as low scout on the totem pole. Both roles are fun for awhile but you will spend most of your time in either case trying not to get destroyed. Run, Forrest, run!

    THE BAD: You will never be awesome. Skills train in real time - unless you can time travel back to 2004 you will always suck. A skilled player with several years of skill-time can blow your battleship to flinders using his escape pod. It's like fighting vampires.

    Unrealistic physics model. No Newtonian movement system. Cut power and you coast to a stop. No gravity. No science in the fiction - Okay, so call it science-fantasy instead - but it lacks appeal there as well. Ships flip around on their central point instead of using maneuver jets or making graceful Star Trek turns. Battleships should not flip around like frigates. Combat ranges reduce everything to blips - you can't see your enemy - not interesting.

    Unappealing ship models. Badly designed. Asymmetrical in a bad, ugly way. No freedom of design - only fittings (and there are usually only a few ways to fit a given ship properly) - confusing ship names instead of classes. (Quick! What's a Rapier class? A Tengu? A Prophecy? What's attacking you? Too late, you're dead).

    CONCLUSION: If you are a fan of the epic space opera genre and a hardcore strategy game fan you owe it to yourself to play EVE for a couple of months. It is worth the money. It is also a tantalizing look at things to come. Someday there is going to be a game on this scale (or larger) with much better game mechanics.    … Expand
  9. Thylbanus
    Mar 4, 2015
    7
    On hell of a solid space game. It's very cerebral and convoluted. Much of the learning curve has been leveled out, but it is still one of the highest in the industry. You should know that this is a true SANDBOX. You have to have to be a proactive person to enjoy the game. You need to set goals for yourself. Outside of a few overarching story lines, the content is pretty much up toOn hell of a solid space game. It's very cerebral and convoluted. Much of the learning curve has been leveled out, but it is still one of the highest in the industry. You should know that this is a true SANDBOX. You have to have to be a proactive person to enjoy the game. You need to set goals for yourself. Outside of a few overarching story lines, the content is pretty much up to you as a gamer. I have had some great times playing, many times I was just doing something risky and ended up in the right place at the right time.

    This is a game where making friends is also a must. Just like the MMOs of old, you will need friends to venture out of the safe areas of "High Sec." (High Security) You MIGHT get lucky, but most of the time, you will just get ganked by a rat (short for: pirate) who is "gate camping" (waiting at jump points frequently used by noobs to short cut a long journey). There are two acronyms in EVE you will run into:

    NBSI (Not Blue, Shoot It) - Blue color tags represent allies or friends. In other words shoot anyone you don't know. (for fun, name your first few ships: 0000FF. The HTML code for blue. Having a ganker laugh may be all the time you need to get away)
    HTFU (Harden The [guess o.O] Up) - You need a thick skin to play the game. It's not for the timid or solo player.

    If you are looking for an in the cockpit view, this is not the game. There are a few new ones coming out that will scratch that itch. This is has frequently, with good cause, been called Spreadsheet Wars. This is an external view with simple 300-1000 poly count ships. The skinning and tessellation have done WONDERS and it looks just like a recently released game, especially with the last update: Kronos. It's keeping up with the times and after 11 years they have to be doing something right.    … Expand
  10. JoeT.
    May 26, 2003
    6
    Very good, but still quite buggy.
  11. rtfm4r
    Jul 18, 2016
    7
    Kind of game you love or hate. Best thing to do is try it. Free trial: http://secure.eveonline.com/trial/?invc=9746da98-b438-44a8-bf8d-06fed2a603a3&action=buddy
  12. CoreGamer1408
    Jul 8, 2022
    6
    Tried it when it dropped free to play. Looks pretty enough for a space game. The point and clicky controls with 3rd person view doesn't really do it for me. While the combat effects are vastly underwhelming. I do like the space ship models for sure. I think I prefer cockpit/controller in Elite Dangerous or the first person/joystick immersion of X3 titles. Eve is not for me for sure. ThanksTried it when it dropped free to play. Looks pretty enough for a space game. The point and clicky controls with 3rd person view doesn't really do it for me. While the combat effects are vastly underwhelming. I do like the space ship models for sure. I think I prefer cockpit/controller in Elite Dangerous or the first person/joystick immersion of X3 titles. Eve is not for me for sure. Thanks for letting me try if for free finally though developers.

    I called myself Dr Dead Meat for joke thinking I'd suck and die even on the tutorial. Then the story is scripted to kill my character (the irony) in the tutorial. For the game to recloned my character later. Kind of done with that with all that clone marlarky due to Borderlands 1-3 & presequel NewU mechanics and all that. So wasn't feeling it character wise ethier.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Most Discussed PC Game of 2003
3
#3 Most Shared PC Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 22
  3. Negative: 3 out of 22
  1. Edge Magazine
    80
    As expectations are put aside and the game is explored for its own merits, it begins to provide a vast sense of potential that few games can muster. [June 2003, p.97]
  2. Next Level Gaming
    88
    A game of epic proportions.
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  3. Armchair Empire
    80
    An enjoyable game. It emphasizes teamwork and really gives a lot of character tweaking to sink one’s teeth into, but you really need to be patient individual to deal with the mining aspect of the game.
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