Everspace 2 Preview
In Everspace 2 you play as Adam, a plucky clone that finds himself wanted and out on his own with a grumpy rogue officer. I’d be remiss to not mention that the story in Everspace 2 is mostly just… there. It doesn’t do much, it’s not going to make you care deeply about its characters or their plight, but there are moments that still surprised me. These are often dialog moments between characters that are more self-aware. The animated comic style of its cutscenes, too, don’t really have the gravitas but for the most part, none of this detracts from Everspace 2’s other shining qualities.
Much of Everspace 2 is spent traversing the galaxy for loot, solving space puzzles with your ship, or dropping down to beautiful worlds to find a McGuffin. And all of it feels great and looks even better.
Unlike other space flyers like Elite: Dangerous, Everspace 2 is a far cry from a space sim. And it takes that difference and wears it proudly on its shoulder. Your ship is snappy and quick to respond. This lets dog fights feel fast and kinetic. You can blast shields or armor, pending your weapons’ preference, and your ship comes with skills you’d find in more of an action RPG than an aerial space romp. For example, your ship comes equipped with an ultimate ability that you can unleash to turn the tide.
If you’re not blasting enemies with glee in this space shooter, you are looting. Gear is aplenty in Everspace 2’s large open areas. You can find materials for crafting, money to buy upgrades, and completely new parts for your ship that replaces armor, shields, guns, and secondary weapons.
There’s even a full customization system under the hood, allowing you to mess with the colors of your ship and place stylized emblems to warn off potential space pirates.
Space Diablo
I don’t want to be hyperbolic when I say it’s almost like a Diablo in space. But that’s basically what they’re going for and it works. To break up the loot chase, you’ll also find puzzles that require you to use your ship in various ways. Some puzzles have you towing objects, shooting up generators, or even redirecting mining lasers to unlock secrets.
A lot of this is never forced because Everspace 2 takes all of this content and lets you tackle it however you see fit. Main missions drive the story forward when you want to, and areas that you haven’t explored yet are clearly marked for you to travel at warp speed off the beaten path. It becomes quite a happy loop of combat, exploration, and acquiring bigger and better equipment to smoke enemies with.
It’s still Early Access and parts of the game aren’t quite there or as fully cooked. But what I’ve sampled in my hours with it so far is that I’m excited to see the rest of it. They’re also some plans to add complexity for those that need it along with HOTAS support.
Sometimes you just need to shoot and loot in space and now is a perfect time to jump into Everspace 2.
*** Early Access code provided for preview ***
