So anyone tried the free week of Star Citizen? It's been about 3 years since I had a play but decided to download and fire it up this weekend. I was pleasantly surprised but at the same time a little disappointed for the time and money spent. I am not a fan boy of either game and consider myself a lover of space games. I am a life time member of Elite but refuse to pay the money that Chris Roberts is asking based on internet reviews and sources.
Though I do believe the game is in a much better state than many Youtubers would let you believe.
Personally I feel that the game is Space Engineers mixed with Wing Commander but what you end up with is a really weird Planetside 2 in space that doesn't quite know where its going or what it is yet. Once the game launches and populates I really think Planetside 2 in space is where is going to end up just on a larger scale. Elite certainly has a more diverse background sim... I actually feel Star Citizen is going to be a combat oriented space game and they'll be less miners, explorers and traders than in Elite Dangerous influencing the galaxy.
Main Game:
Firstly the main game looks good and seems to run very nicely on my GTX1080 I personally prefer the Elite Dangerous engine and graphics though the running around stations to find my ship feels a lot like the platform starter mode in Space Engineers. It's so nice being able to run around stations visit shops and get a feel for what the inside of a station or your ship looks like. With other players this adds a bit of life to the situation for some reason the views don't wow me like Elite Dangerous.
UI help and tutorial is completely lacking so it took me a while to workout where my ship was and opening doors means holding a button to go into an interactive mode.
Space legs I feel is a natural progression for Elite Dangerous one day but not yet. Elite Dangerous destroys Star Citizen in terms of things to do once you take off and start flying around. It's the better space ship sim for sure!
Nothing Star Citizen does in space is up to Elite standard and the cockpit and flight model feels like a copy and paste from Wing Commander. Some people will like this as it's far easier to learn. That said navigating your cockpit takes less time to learn. When you go back to Elite Dangerous you do realise the game seems to buried in text and menus much more, which some of the new update does correct with scenarios, new ui and content.
Shooter mode:
I've no idea if this is available in the main game yet as I've not played enough but as a standalone its a tech demo or basic first person shooter. I would say Call of Duty with a sci fi skin! It feels to be like Alien vs Predator but without the xenos and preds, literally just space marines shooting each others with guns. As there are no destructible environments, classes or interactive objects it's basic deathmatch. Recoil was simple to master as they isn't really any, at least it's not dominated by snipers. I guess this mode is there to basically show you what boarding ships and shooting others in stations could be like. I think the main thing to take from this is it looks alright, works well but without a variation of game play modes and different maps would become stale quickly. It works well it does what it says on the tin but it's basic. My worry is they'll opt to make every station or outpost look the same so they don't have to create multiple maps... maybe someone else who has played longer can expanded on this.
Spacey shooter mode:
Not much to say but think Elite Dangerous in a RES site or planet ring but using Wing Commander mechanics.
Easier to learn than Elite Dangerous but as a sim not as good. If you prefer arcade less skilled combat and easier flight mechanics then this is good. Makes you realise how much engineers and customisation in Elite spices up ship combat.
Anyway not a bad game but not mind blowing but I can certainly see potential in the game. I feel though its more appealing to a wider market because it'll be more of a first person space shooter than an actual space sim.
Things like combat, territory and expansion are going to be more like Planetside 2.
Though I do believe the game is in a much better state than many Youtubers would let you believe.
Personally I feel that the game is Space Engineers mixed with Wing Commander but what you end up with is a really weird Planetside 2 in space that doesn't quite know where its going or what it is yet. Once the game launches and populates I really think Planetside 2 in space is where is going to end up just on a larger scale. Elite certainly has a more diverse background sim... I actually feel Star Citizen is going to be a combat oriented space game and they'll be less miners, explorers and traders than in Elite Dangerous influencing the galaxy.
Main Game:
Firstly the main game looks good and seems to run very nicely on my GTX1080 I personally prefer the Elite Dangerous engine and graphics though the running around stations to find my ship feels a lot like the platform starter mode in Space Engineers. It's so nice being able to run around stations visit shops and get a feel for what the inside of a station or your ship looks like. With other players this adds a bit of life to the situation for some reason the views don't wow me like Elite Dangerous.
UI help and tutorial is completely lacking so it took me a while to workout where my ship was and opening doors means holding a button to go into an interactive mode.
Space legs I feel is a natural progression for Elite Dangerous one day but not yet. Elite Dangerous destroys Star Citizen in terms of things to do once you take off and start flying around. It's the better space ship sim for sure!
Nothing Star Citizen does in space is up to Elite standard and the cockpit and flight model feels like a copy and paste from Wing Commander. Some people will like this as it's far easier to learn. That said navigating your cockpit takes less time to learn. When you go back to Elite Dangerous you do realise the game seems to buried in text and menus much more, which some of the new update does correct with scenarios, new ui and content.
Shooter mode:
I've no idea if this is available in the main game yet as I've not played enough but as a standalone its a tech demo or basic first person shooter. I would say Call of Duty with a sci fi skin! It feels to be like Alien vs Predator but without the xenos and preds, literally just space marines shooting each others with guns. As there are no destructible environments, classes or interactive objects it's basic deathmatch. Recoil was simple to master as they isn't really any, at least it's not dominated by snipers. I guess this mode is there to basically show you what boarding ships and shooting others in stations could be like. I think the main thing to take from this is it looks alright, works well but without a variation of game play modes and different maps would become stale quickly. It works well it does what it says on the tin but it's basic. My worry is they'll opt to make every station or outpost look the same so they don't have to create multiple maps... maybe someone else who has played longer can expanded on this.
Spacey shooter mode:
Not much to say but think Elite Dangerous in a RES site or planet ring but using Wing Commander mechanics.
Easier to learn than Elite Dangerous but as a sim not as good. If you prefer arcade less skilled combat and easier flight mechanics then this is good. Makes you realise how much engineers and customisation in Elite spices up ship combat.
Anyway not a bad game but not mind blowing but I can certainly see potential in the game. I feel though its more appealing to a wider market because it'll be more of a first person space shooter than an actual space sim.
Things like combat, territory and expansion are going to be more like Planetside 2.
