So, first off, this was the game I was looking forward to for the past few years. I went to a midnight release when it came out, and played for a few hours the first night.
After playing for over 10 hours now, I have seen enough to make a confident conclusion on the over all quality of the game.
First off, I do enjoy the games concept. It's kind of a childhood dream to be able to explore space, and this game does give me that.... kind of. Comparing the trailers to what the game is currently a week after release is very different. It feels as if I have a shell of the version I saw. Like the trailers were just built for a wow factor?
The game is still fun as it is. So what is the game currently? The easiest way for me to describe is what my friend calls it.
This is a Space Simulation.
How is this a space simulator?
The game is built only on exploring planets to find materials to craft. This is the main mechanic of the game. As you progress you can upgrade to better things that are in a loose tier system. The materials are used for upgrades that fall into 3 things; exo-suit, ship, and fuel. You can also sell things for money. Money can be used to buy ships or buy other materials you don't want to go farm.
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PROS
-The trading mechanic is handy, as certain star systems have a high value of materials verses others.
-Beautiful visuals (besides things popping in of pixels when going from space to planet, and the grass is 2D.)
-interesting simulation.
-Story line (Atlas) is interesting (if you like reading text)
-I've always wanted a game like this--Childhood dream achieved.
-addicting to get lost in a virtual world
-ship models are beautiful and have huge varieties
CONS (or just things that are a let down)
-Animals are random and not unique
-buildings literally are all the same. Maybe 5 they are generated from
- no online meeting up with friends
- lots of exploits to cheat or cheese the game
- repeating mechanics (material farming, word knowledge, money acquiring, space travel)
-random glitches can be game breaking.
-servers are constantly down
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I do enjoy this game, and I am addicted to playing it. Yet, I can't say there aren't things missing. I enjoy farming and the excitement of randomly finding a planet that has a huge supply of rare material. I enjoy exploring the planets and scanning life. Yet, I know at some point this will bore me to tears. The most disappointing thing is everything starts to look the same. Animals and plants pretty much all look the same at a certain point. With the game being randomly generated, there is a limited amount that can be made. Creatures look ridiculous. They are not fitted for the planets they are on, as the trailers showed. Buildings and space stations all look the same no matter where you go, once again only a few types.
If you're hoping to find huge crashed ships, flying with AI or friends, find amazing unique animals, explore cities, see unique aliens, have dialog, be a space pirate, then this is NOT the game for you.
I'm on the rush of a new game so far, and once again, I am enjoying this game. I do appreciate what the developers have done, but I let the hype and trailers steer me in a direction I didn't expect to go. I was hoping the more I explored the more changes or differences in the universe I would see. That was not true....
This game is kind of like thinking you're going to Kings Island, but you've been tricked into going to Holiday World. Sure, you're going to have fun, but you'll feel slightly empty because you wanted something a little better. It's good enough you don't hate your choice, but longing for something less empty.
7 out of 10.