Eve Online is the type of game that most people will either love or hate. It clearly caters to a niche market. Demanding a lot of thinking and patience, I can imagine it sending many people running, but those requirements are also what draw many people to it.
General overview
Set in space, this sci-fi MMO will take you from the darkest and most dangerous reaches of space, to policed high-security sectors. In true sandbox style, players are left to their own whims after a short yet informative tutorial. They are free but not limited to embark in combat, piracy, mining, industry and even scamming – a path often frowned upon and a punishable offence in most other MMO’s.
The world is truly massive, and holds equal amount of opportunity for the resourceful. As wars wage and corporations rise and fall, everyone shares one common goal – domination.
Sign up and Installation
CCP have made it easy for potential players to try out the game before buying it, which suggests that they are perfectly confident in their product. 14-day trials are available freely on their website, with extended 21-day invites available as invitations from existing subscribed players. The client is a comfortable size at 1.95 GB, and it, as well as the patch of around 250 MB in size, is available for local download from various sources.
In-depth overview
Firstly, it is important to note that characters train their skills in real-time as opposed to gaining experience for engaging in combat. This is a huge advantage for casual players, who may not have the time to play for hours on end. However, it does mean that there is a rift between established players and new players. Right from the start, in order to maximize the advantages you gain from such a system, you’ll want to decide on which profession you would like to adopt and do some research into what skills you’ll have to train accordingly.
Players play as a character, but one that they never see in the 3D form. Unless your vessel gets destroyed and you’re left with the protective pod in which your character is housed, you’ll see your ship the very large majority of the time. You cannot leave your ship (for now), so everything you experience will be from 3rd person perspective in space.
It is truly up to the player to decide in which direction they will go, and there is a lot to do in Eve. Should you crave the excitement and added risk of combat (since no one is ever truly safe in Eve), then pirate or bounty hunting is for you. Should you, on the other hand, enjoy taking the relaxed route whilst watching the ISK (in-game currency) pile up, high-security mining may very well be your calling. Of course, miners could venture into the dangerous parts of space where high risk and high reward is the name of the game. There are paths for the diplomats and businessmen among us too, truly catering for everyone.
Each and every profession has one thing in common – the demand for intelligence. The smart are rewarded for intelligent thinking and research, whilst the stupid are picked off by the former. Eve revolves around numbers and statistics and it is up to you to turn those numbers around to your advantage. In fact, the game is so economically-oriented that real world economists monitor the in-game economy and a democratic board consisting of players and developers alike vote on important gameplay changes accordingly.
Adding yet more depth, the amount of items available for purchase, sale, reward or manufacturing is truly staggering. Everything seems to have its own unique use and scouting possible gaps in the market and catering to them is where success lies.
Storyline
Eve does allow players to play through a storyline via the Agents system, which is pretty much like any normal quest system in other MMO’s. You do, however, get to choose the type of missions you would like to embark on, and you can fit this to your profession of choice. For example, should you be a miner, you would naturally choose to do mining missions in order to maximize efficiency. Of course, should you be a miner that possesses the necessary equipment to partake in combat missions, those, too, are your oyster.
CCP haven’t skimped on the lore front, with a wonderful introduction movie that plays the first time you start up your client that will introduce you to the game. Following this, when picking your faction (the four factions being: Gallente, Caldari, Minmatar or Amarr), and your bloodline, you’ll learn more about their history.
Graphics and sound
Graphically, Eve is simply a beauty. CCP have had the rare opportunity to go lavish in the graphics department without system requirements taking too large a knock, due to the backdrops of space in essence being glorified wallpapers. There’s a large amount of open space and actual 3D objects are few and far between, meaning that it is not demanding on one’s PC in the least.
The soundtrack consists of a wide variety of ambient music that suits the theme very well. It does get repetitive eventually and I have found myself turning the sound off and firing up iTunes in the background. The actual sound effects are sufficient and what one would expect from a game set in space where there is in actual fact no sound at all.
My thoughts
The world of Eve seems both scary, yet full of opportunity at the same time. At first, the task of getting set up and partaking in the game at a high-level seemed daunting, but in actual effect it is nowhere near as harsh as it first appeared to be. Apart from the internet being littered with helpful guides, I found most of the core mechanics were logical with many branches to further explore once I had the correct skill and experience.
High-security space offers more than enough opportunity for the new player to establish themself enough to move into low security space fairly quickly.
Joining a corporation definitely adds a whole new level of depth to the game, as apart from the added company, you’ll be working towards specific goals with your corporation of choice, as well as benefit from the security any good corporation will provide as well as other advantages.
There’s a larger than expected South African community, who tend to congregate in the “RSACHAT1” chat channel. Random mutterings in Afrikaans and South African English help make the large universe seem less dauntining!
Summary
The future holds a lot of promise for this game that only seems to have tapped into the surface of its potential. With updates such as Ambulation planned, which will allow players to actually step outside of their ships and experience the world of Eve from another perspective, Eve Online looks set to dominate sci-fi MMO’s for years to come.
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