Pros: Player driven economy, detailed and deep features, free for all PVP system, beautiful graphics
Cons: Very complex, combat doesn’t feel action focused, traveling can take a long time
Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 10
Performance: 9
Overall: 8.5
We recently got the chance to play EVE Online from CCP Games, a game that was first released in 2003 and now as of this month [Nov 2016] has opened up the game to be free to play with its Ascension Expansion. Now from a personal aspect I, as the writer of the article you are reading, have obviously been well aware of EVE Online for the length of time it has been around having an MMORPG gaming background dating back two decades. However, EVE always had a reputation of having a steep learning curve to get into, it was unavailable to play without a subscription and frankly it always sounded like it was a bit too much effort to get into the game so it was one that just went by me. Now that I get the chance to play it, more importantly I have to play it because of work and having to make this article, but it is a game I was actually looking forward to playing as it is one that I might otherwise have never given a chance.
Jumping into the game for the first time we got to choose from one of four different factions that have evolved from the initial colonists that arrived in New Eden from Earth millennia ago, with little to go on with any of them we went with the Gallente Federation and promptly made our character. Generally your choice of faction is little more than fluff and aesthetics, providing a different look to your character creation depending on who you choose; for a free to play account it actually means a lot more than that…
The premise of the free to play business model is now a two tiered “Clone State”, as players take on the role of Capsuleers, pilots who have their bodies cloned each time they die, depending on what type of clone you are in New Eden grants you certain privileges, i.e. there’s a story behind why there are free to play “Alpha Clones” and the more prestigious (read: subscriber) and looked after “Omega Clones”. Alpha Clones have near full access to the game with nearly all the content accessible, there are restrictions to what skills you can learn and limitations to how quickly you learn them, there is an extra 2% tax when crafting, you are unable to login with multiple characters. The available ships are probably the most dramatic difference and the biggest restriction; players can only access 21 from the 326 available player ships that exist in game, these ships are basic industrial (mining/crafting/cargo) ships as well as combat vessels up to Cruiser size. Now 21 ships doesn’t seem that bad, however, for Alpha Clones there is the added feat that we can only fly ships and use tech from our own faction, and with four available factions that 21 ships and near endless customization options suddenly gets very restrictive.
Faction chosen we were thrust into the game in the brand new tutorial made for the expected influx of new players, her we found ourselves in the midst of the scene of a battle, ship wreckages scattered around the area it is here that our story began as we scouted the wreckage and found a survivor, a pretty important scientist with lots of intel on the Drifters who attacked the fleet. The questline then follows our character as the central protagonist and hero of the Empire as we learn more information on the Drifters and the location of their hive, a series of encounters and a mini-game feature where we got to hack a terminal by guessing nodes to find the right access point (which worked like a game of Minesweeper), leading to a final naval fleet showdown against the enemy. The story was involved, the fully voiced NPCs and on board AI were interesting, the graphics of the game are unbelievably stunning, but we will say that the pace is extremely slow. When engaging in protracted combat, being walked through the controls and basic functions, travelling from place to place, listening to the walls of dialogue from the quest-givers, the fairly simple tutorial lasted around three hours in total. The game doesn’t feel fast, but there is something about it that really gripped us and the sauntering pace didn’t feel like a grind at all, the amount of features that the tutorial skirts around gives you a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg and you can tell that there is so much more to the game.
The beauty of the free to play model is that most of this can be experienced; players can get involved in mining, crafting, transporting, pirating, Faction Wars and more, the limitations only really start to be felt when you’ve been playing for a long time and want to start experiencing the game to its fullest; at which point a cash investment through subscription isn’t that bad as the trial version gives you a solid idea of everything that it on offer. What makes EVE Online even more appealing is its subscription model, which has always been play, where players can either buy PLEX, an in-game item that will shift an account from Alpha Clone status to Omega Clone when used. PLEX is purchased with real cash, as any subscription would be, but as an in-game item it can also be traded for ISK in-game currency, allowing players to essentially purchase ISK for cash. As well as this players that want to subscribe to the game but don’t want to pay cash can still earn ISK in-game and pay for their subscription and buying PLEX with it.
The shift to a free to play option is definitely a welcomed addition to the game and can only bolster the already staggering number of players that login daily. Whilst the restrictions don’t seem like much the reality is that after a while it just isn’t that viable to keep playing on an Alpha account and it acts more like an indefinite trial than a true free to play option, at least for anyone wanting to commit a lot of time to it. That said, combined with the PLEX system and players earning ISK to pay for their subscription, the free to play account does at least allow you to acquire enough ISK to get PLEX every once in a while and feel the benefit of subscription, though anything gained that is not available to Alpha Clones will be locked out when the subscription runs out. The game is slow, steady and thoughtful; and from what we’ve read, heard and briefly experienced definitely feels like it has an unexplored depth that we can’t wait to unearth ourselves as we carry on our journey!
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