Elite: Dangerous review

Reviewed on: PS4

So, have you ever traveled through space? Ever dreamed of it? Taking a spaceship and setting off across the Milky Way aimlessly, almost to infinity and beyond? How about being a space pirate? A merchant, the true trucker of the galaxies. Space Uber?! That’s a new one, isn’t it? What do you think of being able to carry passengers to predefined destinations or follow a route showing sightseeing spots and then return to the home base? These are some of the possibilities Elite: Dangerous offers to those who venture across the Milky Way. Who knows, maybe being a miner is in your plans! Best of all, you can do one, some or all of these things at the same time. But wait a moment! I was attacked by another player or an “NPC” pirate, I won’t stand for that! Now I will hunt them all down, I will become a Bounty Hunter, a space bounty hunter, and peace will reign in the systems where I patrol. There are so many possibilities, so much immersion, but everything has a price.

Elite: Dangerous is not a simple game: it’s not one of those games where you simply get in and fly your ship. You have to learn to control your ship, learn to equip it, learn what each piece of equipment is for, learn to navigate the galactic map, learn to plot a route, understand how space stations work. Luckily YouTube speeds up and greatly eases this understanding, and especially the game’s friendly community, so if you decide to set off across the Milky Way, be prepared to dedicate yourself a bit, especially at the beginning, to seeking this knowledge.

So now we know the game’s possibilities and know a little about its learning curve, that is, you will struggle at the start to understand how it works, but it will be extremely pleasurable to explore this universe, understanding its mechanics. The game is constantly evolving, with more and more content and possibilities always being added, all with the calm and care a simulator requires. In the next patch, due this February, we will have the chance to get Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br) language support on consoles too, so if language is a barrier for you to board the game, or having that option is a convenience you consider welcome, it is one more reason to feel invited to embark on this journey.

The game’s visuals are dazzling, especially the lighting. The ships are very well thought out, the space stations are incredible, the sound is very exciting, together with a very well produced soundtrack. Besides being set in the Milky Way, which by itself would already be reason enough to appreciate it, it has a rich and unique universe created to populate all this space with legends, factions, wars and all kinds of stories that will entertain you and keep your curiosity. A rich and constantly changing universe, where the community of players directly influences the course of the legends that populate Elite: Dangerous.

All this without mentioning the Thargoids. Wait, haven’t I mentioned the Thargoids yet, an enemy alien race that recently appeared in the game and has been attacking human bases? Unfortunately the information about them is “classified” and only Elite: Dangerous commanders can access it. You are being summoned to become a commander in this universe and pilot your space transport to the farthest reaches of the Milky Way.

Final score: 9.0

PlayStation 4 version