![]() ![]() I was frustrated by the poor performance and felt exobiology was underdeveloped. Frontier has also improved communication with a player-voted issue list and more “meet the developer” sessions. No Elite Dangerous release has been bug-free. Whereas many blast Odyssey with hyperbole- and expletive-ridden rants, I take a long-term perspective. The poor reception and low quality were enough for Frontier to delay Odyssey’s release on consoles (PS and Xbox). Many speculate Frontier released the expansion too early, possibly due to financial commitments. The resilience forced a tactical- rather than twitch-based playstyle. However, while engineered suits help, you are hardly impregnable. Some felt that high-end suits were too resilient, requiring too much damage to take down. While an Elite Dangerous staple, constantly swapping weapons frustrated many. For example, some weapons are more effective against shielded opponents than non-shielded opponents and vice versa. While Frontier is working hard to improve performance, fixing it is a long-term effort. ![]() PCs that happily played Horizons on maximum settings were suddenly humbled. However, the new graphics engine led to other problems, particularly in Odyssey’s new settlements. Anyone playing Elite Dangerous for sense pleasure, like many explorers, found a galaxy worth re-exploring just for the visuals. The new planet graphics are gorgeous, turning Horizon’s (the previous expansion’s) beige into coloured hues and blocky barrenness into beautiful vistas. One of the most polarizing aspects of Odyssey is the new graphics engine. The new engineers are not just tools for progression, each having personalities and visually interesting planets. However, Odyssey’s in-game advertising and bar music emphasize things that make Elite’s galaxy unique, like the various companies that produce ships and weapons or the rare commodities players can trade. Elite Dangerous largely eschews lore to let players write their own stories. I liked the better world-building in Odyssey. However, it could have been more than scan three organisms more than a few hundred metres apart. It adds additional play loops to exploration and more reason to land on planets. The new Exobiology rank added thousands of new types of plant-like alien life to find and scan. While that is true, I cannot think of anything I would sacrifice in Odyssey to add ship interiors given Frontier’s finite resources. Many feel “teleporting” to your pilot seat from outside your ship breaks immersion. Frontier mentioned this early in Elite Dangerous‘s development as a long-term goal. However, Frontier provided something more modest, much to many players’ disappointment.įor example, many players were looking forward to walking around inside their ships. For example, the above could turn Elite Dangerous into a universe simulator, where ships become tools rather than classes. The problem with the above description is that, while accurate, it is ambiguous. Surface conflict zones hinted at mixing ship and ground combat. Settlements, small planetary outposts, became mission locations. Suits and guns appeared alongside ships as the things to upgrade and engineer. It added two new ranks to progress: Mercenary (on-foot combat) and exobiology (scanning plant-like organisms on alien worlds). Odyssey introduced the ability to finally leave your ship and walk on planets or in space stations, what some call “space legs”. The inevitable launch bugs could also cause a player backlash. However, the on-foot play could dilute the core premise of flying spaceships. On the one hand, new content and improved graphics could breathe life into Elite Dangerous and take it in a new direction. I had mixed feelings when Frontier Development released the Odyssey expansion for Elite Dangerous. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |