Developer: ROCKFISH Games
Publisher: ROCKFISH Games
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Everspace – Review
In an ever-expanding universe, it’s fair to say that pretty much every single person alive has a different take on what space looks like beyond our galaxy. This makes playing a game about space one of the most interesting things to enjoy, because it is yet another take on our vastly unknown universe. This being said, ROCKFISH Games came out with their take on a space game, called Everspace, after being backed on Kickstarter with an impressive $420,252. After being released on Steam, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the game is now out on the Switch as well. So without further ado, let’s go explore Everspace!
Story
Everspace starts out with a somewhat confusing cutscene. Your character, Adam Roslin, tells an unnamed character (or the player, this isn’t really made clear) about how he remembers having a dream where he has a dispute with what seem to be important people. They restrained him and injected him with an unknown serum. The next thing he remembers is escaping and flying off in a spacecraft.
Your objective is to find answers to what happened to Adam. You do this by flying around space, fighting enemies known as Outlaws and collecting resources and credits in order to power up and repair your ship, to ultimately make your way to the end of the system, where you will find a jumpgate that sends you off towards the next system. With every jumpgate comes a new fragment of Adam’s memory.
The sheer vastness of the zones you can fly around exploring may stand in the way of progressing in the story of the game. However, this doesn’t mean the story isn’t enticing. There are a few twists that make the story very interesting and engaging, and every time you discover a new memory, it leaves you wanting to know more about Adam’s backstory.
Graphics
The graphics of Everspace are stunning. There are many different zones and systems you will find yourself in, and every zone has its own hazards to avoid. In one zone you will find yourself flying through asteroid fields, then when entering the next you’ll lay you eyes upon many ice masses, there to wander around space forever. Fly around and you may notice massive planets, each of which seems to have its own ecosystem and history.
The in-game cutscenes are very stylistic. Rather than being animated, they’re more like slideshows of pictures with little animation to amplify for example someone hitting the table with their fists. This choice of style is distinct and sets the tone of the game rather well.
Sound
The music of Everspace has elements of metal music with some electronic influences. It resembles the music of games like PlanetSide 2 and even the Metroid Prime series, without having too many similarities. The music really suits the gameplay, and helps elevate the experience to bigger heights. It gets very tense throughout the entire game, whether you’re browsing through the menu or flying amongst meteoroids shooting enemy scouts and drones, which, even though it matches really well with the feel of the game, can get a little repetitive if you spend a long time upgrading your ship.
The sound design in the game is really well executed. From the guns you use, to generally every sound you come across when flying around space works. However, the voice acting in the game leaves room for improvement. Starting in the first cutscene (which is the first thing you see when booting up the game), the voice acting seems a little inanimate. Despite this, it tells the story pretty well and brings across the story nicely.
Gameplay
Everspace is a single-player rogue-like space shooter. You can play the game in either first person or third person, and you can change between these perspectives at your own free will. The objective of the game is to find answers to the questions Adam Roslin, the main character, has. He doesn’t remember a lot, and flying around through the galaxy may help him remember his life. In doing so, you will come across many different kinds of zones, with many kinds of resources and characters, which are either allies or enemies. If they’re enemies, they will engage in combat with you. You can also engage in combat with allies, but this will set them all off and cause them to chase you around and shoot at you. Everything you do in this game is your own choice, which means the story and gameplay are very non-linear and it’s completely up to you to decide how the game plays out.
After the tutorial, you’re free to travel where you want and explore as much as your heart desires. By exploring, you may find resources which you can then either salvage or use to repair your ship or update your weapons. The exploration element to this game is incredibly cool. In some zones, you are attacked by enemy forces right away, whereas in other cases you see ally forces battling enemy forces, and you decide to either help them out or let them thin out the herd while you go exploring.
There will be many times where you will be battling Outlaw forces, and they end up severely damaging your ship or weaponry. This naturally means you have to repair your ship, and this requires resources like nanobots. You find these resources by flying around zones, mining ores and crystals, and even trading with the mining federation known as Grady & Brunt Prospects, or G&B for short.
If Outlaws manage to destroy your ship, you will be sent back to the hangar. There you can upgrade your ship by spending your credits. When you finish doing that, you launch your ship back into space and into a new system, where you have to start at the beginning and have to make an entire new way to the next jumpgate.
There are two game-modes to choose from: you can play a regular run of Everspace, in which you can play at one of three difficulties, which are Easy (“cling to your life”), Normal (“the way you’re meant to die”), and Hard (“better off dead”). When you play on the Easy difficulty you will receive 25% less credits, whereas when you play on the Hard difficulty you will receive 25% more credits. Then there is the Hardcore mode, which puts you into a Hard game of Everspace with only one life and the pure basics.
Conclusion
Everspace is an incredibly fun, thrilling and visually gorgeous game that will keep players want to explore every zone to get a better ship, stronger weapons and simultaneously help Adam Roslin retrieve his memories. The game may have its issues, and although these might put some players off, they don’t generally stand in your way of enjoying this game to its fullest. Exploring space in a unique way makes Everspace an incredible and interesting game.
Everspace - Review,
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