Elite Dangerous is bringing back space simulators this week in a big way. There’s a good reason why it’s being held up against the highly regarded Star Citizen, with some stellar visuals, authentic space sim gameplay and the fact that it’s actually finished making it highly attractive. It’s too bad you’ll never actually play the game like this launch trailer though.
To be fair, it is Frontier’s first trailer without any actual gameplay, so no one can really say they’re trying to play trickster here. Ahead of tomorrow’s release, they’ve launched this explosive CGI trailer, packed with enough zero gravity dogfights to blow your panties through a black hole.
Paints a pretty picture, right? While that may be the stuff of space sim dreams, Elite: Dangerous’ actual gameplay isn’t exactly that fast paced. It is, after all, an MMO Space Simulator, meaning in amongst the dogfights there’s going to be a lot of lonely flying, a lot of empty space travel and a lot of port docking.
Not the most riveting stuff if all you’ve seen of the game is the trailer above, but trust me there’s still plenty to be excited about. That’s even harder to believe if you take a look at the fan-made “Honest” Launch Trailer below, which shows you what you’re really going to be doing in Elite: Dangerous. But if you’re like me and have been following the game for a while, then you probably have your order locked in for tomorrow.
So who’s joining me?
Last Updated: December 15, 2014
Raptor Rants A Lot
December 15, 2014 at 11:35
I don’t buy anything at launch. Will wait a month or 2 before making that choice
Admiral Chief BellatorMachina
December 15, 2014 at 11:39
1 year for me
BacchusZA
December 15, 2014 at 13:30
As much as I backed this, have been playing since Beta 1.0, and I’m keen to see what changes at releae tomorrow, waiting a year to see how things develop isn’t a bad plan. By then they’ll have added in extra content, things like proper group mechanics, and wiped all the bugs and niggles. And may even be ready to launch the first of the expansions by then, the “get up and wander around your ships and space stations” side of things.
I’m quite happy to play it as it is now, but this is a game that still needs development and features to be added really. Right now it’s great. If it’s developed properly? It’ll be utterly amazeballingly brilliant.
Wyzak
December 15, 2014 at 13:15
Risky, it might be F2P already by then 😛
Raptor Rants A Lot
December 15, 2014 at 13:26
Even better 🙂
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 15, 2014 at 11:40
lol @ added honesty trailer. “Faker than Top Gear”.
This is a wait-and-see. I’d like to see a few reviews first. And not reviews by backers.
Captain JJ glitterati fantasti
December 15, 2014 at 11:42
More fake than Top Gear?
So that trailer in the article was probably of another game then.
RustedFaith
December 15, 2014 at 15:24
Backer here and I can say its mediocre at best. Only reason I got it is to fill the gap untill Star Citizen is out.
The only way I can describe it is this feels like a indie title while Star Citizen feels like a AAA title.
Backer of both games btw.
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 15, 2014 at 15:38
I kinda like the look of the HUD. What I’m interested in is what it’s like after 10 hours or so of playing. Because the bulk of the game is procedural right?
RustedFaith
December 15, 2014 at 17:29
So far I can only see it in astroid belts and th end product is quite amazing to say the least. But other than that I can say that I picked it up much in the main hubs. I think once you explore more it will come into play much more.
Admiral Chief BellatorMachina
December 15, 2014 at 11:41
UNREALISTIC!!! In space, no sounds are heard!
😛
Sageville
December 15, 2014 at 11:48
Listen…..hear that?
….. the sound of every Space Sim fan simulaneously giving you the finger…..
Admiral Chief BellatorMachina
December 15, 2014 at 11:56
Huehuehue
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 15, 2014 at 11:49
I guess that’s why you hate Star Wars. 😉
Admiral Chief BellatorMachina
December 15, 2014 at 11:56
Pew pew pew
Captain JJ glitterati fantasti
December 15, 2014 at 11:56
I don’t want that kind of negative talk today
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 15, 2014 at 11:57
huehuehue too late. Check the movies later ;P
SargonTheGreatPandaOfAkkad
December 15, 2014 at 12:22
But pilots are not in space. They’re in a future-space-Ferrari cockpit where a computer simulates all pew-pew-pews for emotional and cognitive support.
Captain JJ glitterati fantasti
December 15, 2014 at 12:29
I think it’s probably a GWM cockpit.
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
December 15, 2014 at 11:42
Glad I went with Star Citizen in the end, but at the same time still cautiously optimistic.
Sageville
December 15, 2014 at 11:46
Both!
Star Citizen is like a year away, I’m getting both….
Mandom (Umar)
December 15, 2014 at 11:43
PC games….ammirte
Sageville
December 15, 2014 at 11:45
I’m there like a bear.
As a die-hard space sim fan, this is basically the first decent sim in a decade. I’ve pre-ordered this, just worried about how big the download is.
I have managed my expectations of this game, I know none of that Cinematic trailer is actual gameplay, but I’d love that for a game in the future.
Still, 400 billion stars that one can travel to, amazing stuff.
I hope all that procedural stuff is sprinkled with loads of discoverable wrecks and secret stuff, love that sort of thing.
Anyways I’ll be in orbit once the game is installed. Sooo excited!
BacchusZA
December 15, 2014 at 13:25
Don’t worry, for the scope of the game, it’s a small download. Last I checked it was “a few GB”, like 5GB maybe? It’s never taken me more than an hour or 2 to download and install whenever they’ve done a version update.
Sageville
December 15, 2014 at 15:16
Phew thanks, lately every full game I’ve bought digitally has been 40gb plus.
I hope this games gets the genre going again.
SargonTheGreatPandaOfAkkad
December 15, 2014 at 12:20
You know someone is upset when they say “faker than Top Gear”. 😛
But in all seriousness… I’m so much closer to throwing my game at Star Citizen now.
Xcalibersa
December 15, 2014 at 12:36
Almost as bad as the trailers for eve
Graeme Selvan
December 15, 2014 at 12:58
You best be playing Alien Sandy!
Cracky da Patch
December 15, 2014 at 13:11
WOW…. lol love the honesty version hahaha No thanks, i would rather play original Freelancer before this hahaha (which btw did have proper dynamics). Hmmmm, perhaps its time for Microsoft to climb into a Freelancer 2 project as well, give EVE some run for its money =D
Wyzak
December 15, 2014 at 13:16
In other news: a lot of fans will only find out on launch day that the promised offline-mode has been cut from the game and it is now an MMO.
Baz
December 15, 2014 at 17:31
No they won’t – because if they where a fan they would already know the offline-mode isn’t in it. And if they aren’t a fan and decide to purchase the game anyway then they wouldn’t even know the offline mode wasnt even supposed to be in anyway.
Wyzak
December 15, 2014 at 20:28
They haven’t quite been that forthcoming with the information. There are still people finding out about it daily and some people have been waiting for more than a month for replies to their refund requests.
Axon1988
December 15, 2014 at 14:05
I promise you I really want to. But I cannot afford that current price tag. So I’ll wait till later.
SlasherZA
December 15, 2014 at 14:08
I’m there – just waiting for the darn daily maintenance to be over and the launch to be done before I go back into the void – couldn’t be bothered to update daily and then have ‘servers down for maintenance’ message when trying to play. My Tflight HOTAS is sitting there building up dust damnit.
Cracky da Patch
December 15, 2014 at 20:19
Strangely, went looking for something else re: Freelancer and alike games, turns out this is a hot new release, the lead being the same dude who created freelancer lol ironic…. “Star Citizen”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyQU-AfAgno
Perhaps worth a look?
Asgaurd64 .
December 21, 2014 at 22:24
Dont buy Elite dangerous, if you even mention its not the game that they promised on there forums they lock your thread. they also conveniently deleted over 800 threads complaining about lack of features in the gamma forum. smacks of Communism if you ask me.