SNEAK PEEK: Everspace 2

The galaxy shows a lot of promise once more

Overview

Everspace 2 is the sequel of the original Everspace, an action-packed roguelike, space shooter based around exploration and a campaign that will guide you through the galaxy in search of new friends… and new foes.

Back in the Cockpit

Those who played Everspace will feel right at home with this sequel, as it doesn’t revolutionize any aspect of the first game, but rather it expands and improves them. The points where the Everspace 2 feels more different when comparing it to its predecessor are the heavier reliance on story and exploration: for starters, the game allows to freely explore the star system you’re in, leaving the level-like division of the first game and embracing a more open-world style gameplay.

The removal of the perma-death mechanic further increases the freedom left to the player. In addition to this, the game has a more RPG-styled approach when looking at ships and their equipment, which will surely please those who like to build the perfect setup and customize their experience.

Diablo, between the Stars

While retaining the fast, spaceship-style shooting of the first game, Everspace 2 expanded its gameplay with different pieces of equipment, which are dropped and managed in a Diablo-style. Weapons have now different tiers of rarity, which not only affects their stats, but can give them different effects and bonuses. Each weapon and piece of equipment has a lot of different statistics, which makes for a complex and deep system.

Equipment also affects the abilities you have at your disposal, a powerful EMP blast and a weapon overdrive system in my case, which proved very useful in a number of situations, especially while overwhelmed by enemies.

The Brightest of Stars

Everspace 2, like its predecessor, boasts an awesome graphical compartment: ships, environments and effects like explosions all look stunning. Planets and stars are something you’ll often stop and contemplate at, eventually taking a screenshot to share with your friends. Drifting between asteroids with your ship, while manoeuvring to take down the enemies can be extremely rewarding not only because of the gameplay, but as an experience that no space shooter gave me in quite a while.

Verdict The Jury Are Satisfied With The Evidence

Overall, I can’t wait for the Early Access release of this game: this prototype version was exactly what I was looking for and was above my expectations. Everspace 2 is going to be a more-than-worthy successor, something that the fans of the first installment really shouldn’t miss.