EVE Online

Game overview

EVE Online is a legendary space simulation MMO that first launched in 2003. The game puts players in a compelling visual game world that's all about conquering space for your race, corporation and faction. With almost two decades worth of content and updates, EVE Online offers PvE and PvP that's unique in the genre, where both solo players and large guilds can carve our their own fun and history through huge battles where everything is at stake, in addition to exploration, economy, crafting and more. While it's an intricately complex game to get into for new players, the time investment pays off in the long run if you have an end goal in mind. The game is free to play and its microtransactions aren't that intrusive. Overall, it's still a household MMO title and worth playing even today.

➔ Main points:

• Deep and immersive space sandbox simulator
• Offers plenty of content for all types of players
• Can be enjoyed for free without pay walls
• Graphics are decent for a 17 year old game

Full review

An Introduction To New Eden

EVE Online launched 17 years ago, and is considered to be a pioneer in the space simulator genre for MMOs. Today, the game is entirely free to play and have inspired many modern titles like Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen to name a few. But what exactly is EVE Online? Simply put, you get a chance to a pilot, commandeering your ship in space adventures that entails combat, espionage, exploration and more for profit, and if you're really lucky, you'll make history by participating in huge-battles that often ends up in the news because so much is at stake.

While the game is dated, its many updates over the years has drastically improved its new player experience, which means the tutorial does a good job of showing you the basics. Upon starting, players get to customize their avatars purely for cosmetic reasons, before being give a chance to join a faction and race. Note that players can eventually fly any type of ship, as that comes down to progression later in game so the opening choices won't matter too much. Once that's done, it's time to decide how you'll grow your character. Do you want to be a corporate shill pilot who takes on PvE seek and destroy missions to cleanse the sector of pirates and enemy players? Or do you want to explore deep space for crafting materials to make ships and ISK credits (in-game currency)? Both will require plenty of time investment before you reap the rewards.

How Gameplay Works

To put it simply, the game will be unlike anything you've experienced in any MMO. Everything from the control scheme, camera controls and UI navigation will be different and somewhat complex especially for new players. You'll be doing plenty of clicking to get your ship somewhere and it's something you'll need to get used to quickly. The opening few hours are all about orientation to New Eden, so you'll be doing some space combat, crafting and more. Your ship itself is a complex beast broken down into multiple aspects you'll need to master. This includes manually orbiting around targets before firing, upgrading ship components, keeping your cargo safe and much more. It's overwhelming at first, but spend more time playing around and you'll get this exciting tingly feeling that you're actually experiencing space as a pilot, and that's pretty fun.

Once the tutorial missions are over, this is where most newcomers get lost. What do I do now? This is when EVE Online turns into a sandbox MMO. You'll need to make some choices based on what your play-style is. Are you a solo player or do you want to take part in massive space battles with other players and large corporations (guilds)? To be competent at either, you'll again need to grasp something important in the form of EVE Online's pilot progression. Pilots can level up a multitude of skills that benefits every core activity or element in-game. This includes crafting, ship mastery, gunner and more, and these take real world hours to train. Therefore, the time investment will be deep and can feel grindy. But will the end-result be worth the wait?

Carving Your History In Space

If you've stuck with the grind, then the pay-off can absolutely blow you away. Because it's a sandbox, players will need to make and find their own fun and this is where the game shines. For solo players, it's usually the small wins that matter. Escaping a gank in deep-space and living to tell the tale for instance, is considered as a milestone. Or for large guilds, having a player embed themselves in a rival guild, work their way to the top only to sabotage the fleet and cause a huge war, where thousands of dollars worth of ships and cargo are lost. These are the type of stories that are remembered for years and years, even if they don't happen all that often. But getting to that point is what most new players are concerned about, because it is a slow process to build your own economy and skill as pilot.

Criticisms and Downsides

When those big story moments happen, they're absolutely incredible. But far too often, it's the in-between that makes the game feel somewhat empty and dull. The learning curve and skill ceiling is incredibly high, which means new players are constantly at a disadvantage when running into skill rival players and pirates in-space. There's a disparity among the playerbase and it punishes those who don't opt to be social right from the beginning, clinging unto their large corporations for support.

Another point of contention is the use of in-game transactions. Currently, players can pay for skill injections and other benefits to make the progression process go by quicker, which while does help newcomers, it doesn't really sit well with existing players who argue that it negates any form of skill and experience required for players to master when it comes to engaging in real combat later on.

Is EVE Online Worth Playing?

In conclusion, there's nothing like EVE Online in the MMO market. The fact that its been 17 years since launch and it is still running is a testament to the developers, player community and EVE's core gameplay. It's a lot of work to put in the hours and shifts day-after-day just to get somewhere competent, but the end result is often worth it. The entire game is free to play which is a huge plus, and even the graphics aren't that bad by today's standard. Overall, EVE Online is definitely worth playing if you need a space simulator MMO.

Ready to enter the world of EVE Online? Click here to play now!

---

Review summary

1. An Introduction To New Eden
2. How Gameplay Works
3. Carving Your History In Space
4. Criticisms and Downsides
5. Is EVE Online Worth Playing?