After about 5 hours of game time, I can say with certainty that I'd experienced all this game has to offer.

We live in a time where live service is the norm when it comes to multiplayer games. A game must fundamentally be built around 'xp bar progression' akin to the MMO's of yore. To a casual observer on the cusp of making a purchase, player retention is seen as the measurement of success. Well? Do I see this game becoming a success?

Yes.

I see this game being a new staple in the armoire of the average gamer. The gameplay is fun enough to warrant both long single play sessions as well as many small play sessions over a certain length of time. In that regard, I can liken it to Destiny 2.

However, unlike Destiny 2, the roll-out in content for this game is different. There is an overall galactic map with planets that need to be conquered. Each successful mission made by the game's community will increase the planetary influence by 0.00010%. That may not sound like much, but with 150,000+ players fighting aliens on a planet, it can go up quite quickly. In fact, we conquered Heeth (a snowy planet like Star Wars' Hoth) within a matter of 2 and a half days.

As players continue to conquer planets, the developers can influence the game's story. They can introduce buffs and debuffs that can overall change the tide of the war. Depending on the outcome, the game's writer (the Game Master), will curate a story to fit the events happening in the game world.

Elite Dangerous had a system like this and it was great. It truly felt like you were making a difference in the game world. Now, let's say this feature didn't exist in the game; would it still be worth playing?

It'd definitely feel a bit more repetitive. There are only a handful of MMO-like mission styles (kill x eggs, deliver y to z, etc.) Other than unlocks in the player hub (a large space frigate owned by the multiplayer session owner), there isn't much else to do. Game areas are procedurally generated to keep content fresh, but you're not able to go out and explore the larger game world.

Thankfully, the gameplay more than makes up for it. It is challenging. In many cases, you cannot 'shut your brain off' and play this game because you need to be attuned to both what you're doing as well as what your teammates are doing. Friendly fire is always enabled, so you cannot call in an airstrike against enemies slaughtering one of your team mates as you'll risk killing your other squad mates trying to get in there and help him.

There are more points that I love about this game, and perhaps I shall make a YouTube channel dedicated to reviewing these kinds of games, but just know that I give this title a 10/10. It does its thing better than most games in its genre.

After about 5 hours of game time, I can say with certainty that I'd experienced all this game has to offer. We live in a time where live service is the norm when it comes to multiplayer games. A game must fundamentally be built around 'xp bar progression' akin to the MMO's of yore. To a casual observer on the cusp of making a purchase, player retention is seen as the measurement of success. Well? Do I see this game becoming a success? Yes. I see this game being a new staple in the armoire of the average gamer. The gameplay is fun enough to warrant both long single play sessions as well as many small play sessions over a certain length of time. In that regard, I can liken it to Destiny 2. However, unlike Destiny 2, the roll-out in content for this game is different. There is an overall galactic map with planets that need to be conquered. Each successful mission made by the game's community will increase the planetary influence by 0.00010%. That may not sound like much, but with 150,000+ players fighting aliens on a planet, it can go up quite quickly. In fact, we conquered Heeth (a snowy planet like Star Wars' Hoth) within a matter of 2 and a half days. As players continue to conquer planets, the developers can influence the game's story. They can introduce buffs and debuffs that can overall change the tide of the war. Depending on the outcome, the game's writer (the Game Master), will curate a story to fit the events happening in the game world. Elite Dangerous had a system like this and it was great. It truly felt like you were making a difference in the game world. Now, let's say this feature didn't exist in the game; would it still be worth playing? It'd definitely feel a bit more repetitive. There are only a handful of MMO-like mission styles (kill x eggs, deliver y to z, etc.) Other than unlocks in the player hub (a large space frigate owned by the multiplayer session owner), there isn't much else to do. Game areas are procedurally generated to keep content fresh, but you're not able to go out and explore the larger game world. Thankfully, the gameplay more than makes up for it. It is challenging. In many cases, you cannot 'shut your brain off' and play this game because you need to be attuned to both what you're doing as well as what your teammates are doing. Friendly fire is always enabled, so you cannot call in an airstrike against enemies slaughtering one of your team mates as you'll risk killing your other squad mates trying to get in there and help him. There are more points that I love about this game, and perhaps I shall make a YouTube channel dedicated to reviewing these kinds of games, but just know that I give this title a 10/10. It does its thing better than most games in its genre.