Everspace 2 Gameplay, Credit: Rockfish Games
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Everspace 2 the RPG space shooter is available to play on Xbox Game Pass. The initial trailer, and description looked like fun so I thought it would great to playthrough it all for you, and share my thoughts for those of you that may be interested in this title. In my review of Everspace 2, I will be talking about the gameplay and some of the game’s many RPG elements. At the end of this review, I’ll give you my final verdict and let you know if I think Everspace 2 is good or not.
Let’s start the review, by diving into my initial gameplay impressions.
How Was It?
Everspace 2’s gameplay was very slow at the start. The controls took a bit of getting used to, and I could tell that this game was built for PC players at first. With that being said, there are several configurations you can choose from at the start of the game so I recommend to choose the one you think will fit you the best.
Once I got a handle on the controls, it did take a bit more time to get the hang of piloting my ship, and shooting. It really just felt like my ship needed to be much more agile than it was, but as I progressed I was able to upgrade my ship overtime, and this led to a much more enjoyable gameplay experience.
If you’ve played similar style games, you may know that this type of game always gets better as you progress throughout the missions, upgrade your components, and gain new abilities.
Abilities
The abilities really helped to enhance my gameplay experience. Now you will have to be strategic on when and how you use them, as some are better spent when facing a huge swarm of enemy ships.
As you progress, you’ll increase in level and can improve and gain new abilities. All of which will make the combat much more fun for you.
Weapons
There are a variety of weapons you can use and upgrade! Some of my personal favorites were the homing missiles and pulse laser. Almost every weapon has a much more powerful variant that you can discover during combat or while exploring space and planets. Overtime these can be upgraded, or you may purchase new ones from the many vendors you’ll come across during your exploration.
This game isn’t necessarily challenging, but I did like that this game has many different difficulty choices. So if you like your combat to be much tougher you have that option or you can choose to lower the difficulty and focus on the game’s story. Although I wouldn’t really recommend it as I did find much of the story to be quite boring, and that’s primarily due to all it being told through bland and uninteresting dialogue.
Space Exploration
Everspace 2 does a really good job at handling space exploration. You can pick a location on the map you’d like to explore and can you use your ship’s jump drive to navigate there. You have the option to change your trajectory if you change your mind or want to explore a different location instead.
Each planet and location really feels unique, and you can tell that the developers really worked to give you a sense of a much larger world. Each location has resources that you’ll want to mine as these will help you upgrade your abilities, and you’ll meet many interesting characters and learn a little bit more about the world and story during your exploration.
RPG Elements
When I play RPG-style games like this I am a completionist. I want to fully explore every area and level up prior to tackling the next mission or objective, and there is a ton to explore in this game, so much so that I had to forgo some of it to get through more of this game for this review. So if you’re looking for the next game you can get lost in, Everspace 2 might just feel that need for you. My only complaint on the exploration side is the colors of all of the item drops. The color scheme of most of the items can be difficult to see in the game’s space setting, so it would have been nice for all of these to be a different color such as green or blue. But that is just a small complaint I have.
You’ll want to spend the time to explore and complete many of the side missions to earn loot, and currency that you spend on upgrades and purchasing new ships. Each ship has its own strengths and weaknesses, and you will spend the entire game in your ship so it’s important to make sure you spend the time and resources on improving it.
Final Verdict
Everspace 2 is an enjoyable game. If you have played the first one and are looking for a title in a space setting you can get lost in before Starfield makes its debut then I highly recommend giving this game a try. If you play on Xbox it’s a new addition to Xbox Game Pass so you do not have to worry about an initial up front investment to begin enjoying it.
I’m giving Everspace 2 a rating of 7 out of 10. It is a fun game, but I feel like it’s held back from becoming more by its story and a few of the gameplay elements.
Now it’s time to hear from you. Have you played Everspace 2? If so, what are your thoughts, let me know by leaving a comment down below.
