When you think of a space-sim, Star Citizen is probably the one that comes to mind the quickest. It is not, however, the only extremely promising one in development, and I’d go as far to say that I’m a little more excited for Elite Dangerous. Unlike Star Citizen though, Elite Dangerous has a release date. One not too far into the future either.
The extremely pretty space-sim from Frontier Developments will land on PC exclusively come December 16th, keeping the promise of a 2014 launch. The game has been through various alphas and betas, allowing backers and contributors to get some time in with the game early. I’ve stayed away because I’m not too sold on the idea of playing an unfinished product, so this release date pleases me quite a bit. The game could also come to Xbox One and PS4 in the future.
Elite Dangerous will retail for $60 once it’s launched, but if you’re really sure you’ll be playing then you can nab the cheaper, more value packed Mercenary Edition. It comes with the game, an Eagle fighter ship docked in a secondary location in the game, and an exclusive pack of ship paint jobs. Not only that, but it’s a whole $10 cheaper. Definitely a pre-order incentive you should be looking at.
If you’re not up to speed on Elite Dangerous and don’t really understand why I’m so damned excited for it, then start off with the game’s E3 trailer below. From there you’ll welcome to lose all your productivity for the day by crawling through thousands of gameplay videos. I’ve been on that journey one too many times already.
Last Updated: November 10, 2014
Skyblue
November 10, 2014 at 13:58
Gawd, been a long time since I was so tempted to pre-order a game. Probably directly linked to how long ago we got a decent space combat sim. Here’s looking at you Freespace 2.
Brady miaau
November 10, 2014 at 14:01
freelance? I thought that was quite fun, if not the same level of combat as Freespace 2 (different games)
Skyblue
November 10, 2014 at 14:02
I said Freespace 2 but I did play Freelancer as well.
Skyblue
November 10, 2014 at 14:15
Freelancer fucked up invert players for months after we stopped playing it. Also used to run it at LAN’s with mates running escorts, it was a great game.
Scrippsjhon
May 19, 2015 at 16:11
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see this her SEE MORE DETAIL
sananmahar
May 23, 2015 at 15:38
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Captain JJ the valiant
November 10, 2014 at 14:02
Best I did recently was Galaxy of Fire HD. Meh
Skyblue
November 10, 2014 at 14:05
I actually remember seeing that a while back but I don’t do App gaming unless it’s Grabatron because that game is amazeballs 😉
Captain JJ the valiant
November 10, 2014 at 14:11
It was on pc. I don’t do app gaming at all.
It just got a bit repetitive, that’s the biggest issue.
Skyblue
November 10, 2014 at 14:12
Never knew that but sounds like I never missed much.
Captain JJ the valiant
November 10, 2014 at 14:13
You didn’t. I got it as part of a humble bundle, that’s the only reason why I have it. It’s not bad, and I don’t mind a bit of repetition, but if you have to keep doing things and only ten hours later manage to afford something nice, then it gets old fast.
Captain JJ the valiant
November 10, 2014 at 14:00
So it seems Christmas is on December 16th this year.
Galbedir
November 10, 2014 at 14:05
While Star Citizen looks pretty cool. I’ve played both, and Elite Dangerous just has a far better polish to it. The sound in Elite is freakin incredible, and the controls feel alot more solid. The Dev team on Elite are also incredible, meeting deadlines and keeping new content streaming in.
Skyblue
November 10, 2014 at 14:11
That sounds very cool bud (refresh)
Skyblue
November 10, 2014 at 14:16
soz (refresh)
Disqus can be so broken sometimes…
Ken
November 10, 2014 at 16:18
Meeting deadlines? You know the game was supposed to released back in March, right?
R6ex
November 11, 2014 at 03:46
Well, at least its still a 2014 release.
Ken
November 11, 2014 at 05:46
Lol, by a hair.
Ryan
November 11, 2014 at 02:30
Also keep in mind that Elite is far closer to be finished. That kinda helps make it more polished. “This beta is far more polished than this pre-alpha!” 😉
RustedFaith
November 11, 2014 at 09:32
I fully agree, Elite Dangerous is my filler until StarCitizen gets released.
The thing is if you play elite after playing StarCitizen the flying physics just sucks in elite. It feels like you are flying a static box around in space comapred to StarCitizen newtonion physics model.
Much more polish in ELite yes but what they are doing in StarCitizen is something thats never been done before so expect delays and longer dev process as its much more complex than following a tried and tested flight sim formula.
Elite dangerous flight model are based around world war 1 and 2 dog fighting where StarCItizen actually simulates what it would really be like when you fly in space, The physics model in StarCitizen are just breathtaking.
Both great games so far.
I just got my anaconda in elite and its a beast of a ship. Now just to make enough money for decent guns.
SlasherZA
November 10, 2014 at 14:50
Get this game people – Not a big single player / campaign base, but OMW is it pretty and big and complex. Be warned – if you get this you will really want a Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS x or better very soon. I was in on the beta from the start, as well as have the lifetime DLC. The world is huge, but oh so awesome to fly in.
Also has Oculus Rift support (imagine flying through an asteroid belt in VR, its pretty I tell you).
Also confirmed is a future expansion for FPS walkaround on planets (better approach than Star Citizen in doing it as DLC instead of just shifting release dates out more and more.).
Sageville
November 10, 2014 at 15:32
I’ve been looking at this title from a distance, admittedly the cost put me off from looking earlier.
It’s about gorram time we see a space sim comeback. I’ll be getting this one on day one.
Btw, is it just a SP title?
Wyzak
November 10, 2014 at 15:44
No it has a persistent universe much like SC, as well as SP.
Bobby
November 11, 2014 at 03:47
don’t compare its PU to Star Citizens, completely different animals there
Wyzak
November 11, 2014 at 08:41
“much like”. If you want to contribute, please provide us with an explanation of what is different between them then.
Bobby
November 11, 2014 at 17:40
other than the fact SC PU is hand crafted and not procedurally generated (E:D uses 160k ‘known stars’ data to hand wave the PG when it seems reasonable)? can it get any more different? 64 bit double precision engine (cryengine being remade by CIG) allowing for million plus kilometer systems fully habitable by every player in the game through the use of instancing (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f2IM0JAAzA, note battle instances are ‘transparent’). ownership of nodes of production in the PU. inclusion of community generated ships and gear (one has already been completed) in the PU.
some huge differences
Wyzak
November 11, 2014 at 21:32
Thank you, that’s a much better explanation.
Also another difference. Elite Dangerous is almost complete, Star citizen still needs years of work. Still haven’t been able to play a co-op vanduul swarm even though it’s been in for weeks now.
SlasherZA
November 10, 2014 at 20:27
You can SP it, but its basically MP on an empty server for the most part – it does generate tons of AI players in SP / MP world in any event, so you will never be ‘truly alone’.
It is massive. MMO isn’t even descriptive enough of the size of this game. It is very daunting to get into due to the plephora of buttons you need to learn / memorize, but really good fun once you do. There are printout and suggested layouts all over as well that helps make it a bit easier.
Sageville
November 11, 2014 at 09:51
i’m there like a bear
R6ex
November 11, 2014 at 03:51
Got myself the Saitek X-52 instead of Thrustmaster HOTAS X … more buttons. Sure beats playing with either the Xbox controller or Keyboard/mouse. Be warned that if you’re like me, new to space sim, Elite & Wing Commander type of flying game, we’ll be facing a steep learning curve!
SlasherZA
November 11, 2014 at 07:25
Saitek is good as well – got the Thrustmaster at a great price though.
There are really more than enough buttons on either one – Elite allows for ‘combo’ buttons, which works very well if you have a button to hold that translates to all ‘landing’ buttons, one to swap to ‘general flight / harvesting’ and have attack mode as the default button configs.
It is definitely playable with a KB/Mouse or controller as well – I still think I am more accurate on the mouse than with the stick, its just not as ‘fun’.
Beta doesn’t end in Nov as some report, it just becomes closed down to all who already own it – no new access sold.
R6ex
November 11, 2014 at 07:41
Yup. For the value and features offered on the HOTAS X, nothing else comes close. Read the following to see why the HOTAS X is the mid-range value leader: http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-pc-joysticks/
Wyzak
November 10, 2014 at 15:44
Can’t wait for this bad boy.
R6ex
November 11, 2014 at 03:54
You can always get into the Beta first. Glad I bought the Beta – gave me time to get my gear (X-52 … for others, even TrackIR & VoiceAttack), set it up, familiarize myself with the controls and be fully ready on Dec. 16 at launch! Note that Beta ends Nov. 22 though.
Wyzak
November 11, 2014 at 08:42
Yeah, but I’ve got enough to play to keep me busy till the 16th of Dec.
Mark Treloar
November 10, 2014 at 16:55
Hmmmm, last Elite released with so many bugs they had a BBS setup to deploy patches. It was the beginning of the end for quality control.
ollieclark
November 11, 2014 at 03:04
That’s why they Kickstarted this one instead of going through a publisher.
FFE was rushed out by the publisher and Frontier Developments didn’t want a publisher doing the same to this.
Nojan
November 10, 2014 at 18:07
elite is not PC exclusive, do your research before posting
R6ex
November 11, 2014 at 03:55
well, its “exclusive” on PC for now … until Mac gets it next March.
Nojan
November 11, 2014 at 04:07
and it’s coming to the consoles too
Sir Rants A Lot is a DADDY
November 10, 2014 at 20:41
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RustedFaith
November 11, 2014 at 09:30
Brilliant game been playing since Alpha. If you like Decent Freespace then you will love this game.
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