Everspace 2 Kickstarter
Introduction
Today I am featuring an interesting kick starter project that I randomly came across on Instagram the other evening (Its normally half naked people in fairness). I thought that the project was interesting enough to feature here and it looks a great follow on from the original game which I played mostly on Xbox One. The original Everspace was a really fun space themed rogue - lite which featured intense battles moving from one sector to the next, building your gear and abilities as you progressed. The game focused on intense dogfights and fast intuitive combat. Although a story was included it was certainly not the highlight of the game. Now the developers have launched the sequel on Kick starter with some intriguing price points to get into the game. I will kick this off with a bit about the developers and game in their own words. This will be followed with my take on the project and value proposition.
About Developer - ROCKFISH Games
We are an independent games studio based in Hamburg, Germany which specializes in high-quality 3D action games for PC and console, based on Unreal Engine 4. In 2014, ROCKFISH Games was founded by mobile games veterans Michael Schade and Christian Lohr, who have been joint entrepreneurs in the 3D graphics space for over 25 years.
Description
EVERSPACE 2 is a fast-paced single-player space shooter with deep exploration, tons of loot, classic RPG elements for PC (Windows, Mac, Linux) and console (PS4 and XB1). Set in a persistent open world, it is driven by a captivating sci-fi story, picking up shortly after the events of the predecessor. An approximately 20-hour-long campaign and various side missions will lead you into the endgame. Prepare yourself to beat the most vicious encounters, and master difficult challenges which will reward you with that juicy epic loot! Check out the trailer below!
My Take
The game has a really interesting premise and is based upon player skill, a refreshing change to a lot of modern games. The ability to manoeuvre precisely while attempting to aim and hit your targets being a core element. They also talk about improving the AI which will help boost the challenge of the game and provide for a more immersive experience overall. Everspace 2 has a bigger team and as a result a much larger ambition than the first title. This should help to improve upon one of the weaknesses of the first game, the story line! More money and a larger team will allow a proper story to be played out in the game and this will create a more immersive and interesting experience.
The game will feature an improved story and more perks and ship upgrades that made the first game so enjoyable. The main focus in the 2nd game is to expand upon the loot and in their words deliver "a much deeper loot system". This should give the game a longer lifespan relative to the first game. Importantly they have dropped the rogue-lite element so now players can keep hold of their precious gear between runs! They have offset this by providing new high risk areas that can provide Epic loot but are very difficult to navigate safely.
The developers are very open that the first game was a commercial success and also address why they are doing another Kickstarter project. The tiers are reasonable and I am definitely considering investing at one of the lower levels to secure myself a copy at release or potential access to the Beta. This starts at 30 euro and also includes your name in the game credits and regular monthly updates on the game as it progresses. With the standard price of a game far exceeding this in today's market I see this as a reasonable proposition for any avid gamer. The tiers range from 5 to 8500 euro so there is plenty of options to get involved at a price point that works for you (if its 8500 you probably are very rich!). Overall I think this is a good opportunity to get on board with an interesting project that has good potential to be a success. However as with any project of this nature there is always a risk that it is not realised and I do encourage you to exercise care and do your own research. In this case I do think that is not going to be the case. I am sure the team using the experience from the first game and its success can pull it off!
Thanks for reading
Check out their Kickstarter Here
Lrev