Everspace 2, a singleplayer open world sci-fi action looter shooter, has a focus on deep exploration and classic RPG elements. A sequel to the first game that takes a different turn, evolving from a roguelike to a more open-ended experience, akin to western-rpgs but in space.
I got my hands on the game’s prototype version, which was provided a few months after it got its successful public funding campaign on Kickstarter back in late 2019. This gave me a taste of the new changes from the first game that they announced would be implemented in the sequel, but not all of them unfortunately. For example, like not having the ability to visit and check out other planets. Although, this will be made available in an update or during its Steam Early Access release.
Even with the prototype version, in comparison to the original release of the first game, the changes they made are a happy welcome. From visual upgrades to a much finer sense of world cohesion, to the different types of enemies you encounter in different situations, to how you traverse from one planetary system to another (and at some point, from one star system to another) completing missions as they pop up, these changes improve the game tremendously.
Speaking of missions, I do hope they’re more.. interesting. From what I experienced, you go from one location to another either fixing a leak or a solar panel, as well as defending an area from enemies, with character dialogue to add flavor to them. That’s fine and all but I do hope they add even more variety like stealth missions, sabotage, espionage, faction wars perhaps, etc. From what I read about the game, some of those seem to be in development, which is great!
It was also nice to fly around and control different types of ships, and ship classes, as well as customize them with different weapons and abilities. All in all, taking into consideration the changes they made to the game (present in the prototype or still in development), it seems evident that its final release will be worthy of being a sequel to an already established, great game.
Also, if they ever make Everspace 3, I’d be excited to see what they’d be able to create and expand upon if they started using the announced Unreal Engine 5 (Since UE4 is being used for the sequel), where we’d probably see some very high (movie-like) quality asteroids to mine or crash into, because that’s what’s important to point out!
Check out the Everspace 2’s Steam page to learn more information about it.
