Three years since its release on PC, Elite: Dangerous finally comes to PS4. It's a fully up-to-date version of the ever-evolving space exploration sim, and its appearance on the PS4 makes No Man's Sky – previously the system’s only true procedurally generated game – look unfinished by comparison.
Elite: Dangerous's appeal lies in its unflinching commitment to sandbox simulation that doesn't hold your hand – you won’t receive much in the way of guidance, help, or even an overarching story besides the adventures you create yourself, and which come out from the player-driven galaxy map that sees enormous factions power-struggling throughout the Milky Way. That lack of direction and enormous breadth will no doubt alienate people looking for an easy or immediately satisfying game, but developer Frontier seems unphased about sacrificing mainstream appeal. Instead, it delivers on its vision of a truly galactic experience with vast but vague possibilities as you set off into space.
You start, as all pilots do when they start out, with no money or influence. You are at the bottom in all three of Elite's major ranking pillars - combat, trading and exploration - and sit in the cockpit of the game's most basic ship, the Sidewinder. From the landing pad of a small space station you venture out into the blackness – to other stations, to planets and their surfaces. Even to other stars via hyperspace travel. You'll trade goods both legal and illegal. You'll find uncharted systems and sell the explorative data for hefty cash rewards. And of course you could head into combat to try your hand as a soldier - or a ruthless murderer, racking up a hefty bounty that’ll see law enforcement chasing you down.
This gameplay potential is the foundation of Elite, and creates one of the purest roleplaying experiences out there. While ecstatic moments of discovery, fraught tension and gratifying progression are punctuated with extensive periods of nothing, Elite's fundamental feedback loop is one of wanting to see more of what's beyond the boundaries you've already experienced. New types of stars and space stations; new variations of asteroids surrounding all sorts of differently coloured planets, each with their own chemical makeup, not to mention visiting your friends to fly “in wing” together.
Then there's the satisfaction of amassing an arsenal of ships, or just buying the new craft you've so lustfully set your eyes upon and selling your old one. The financially reserved pilot in you might see better fit to stick with your starting ship, piling funds into upgrading it with new weapons and functionality instead of getting rid entirely. Just remember: you need enough money to pay the buyback cost on the insurance should you get killed (or kill yourself).
Where Elite properly excels, though, is in the details. While Frontier has pledged to implement out-of-ship gameplay elements later down the line, it's currently an in-ship experience. And while that means you won't be wandering around space stations or even your own craft, the attention to minutiae that has gone into every different vessel completely sells the idea you're inside a real cockpit. The different sounds, lights and controls of each ship create the sense of identity that you normally get from car sims like Forza or Gran Turismo – a hulking great battleship like the Anaconda steers and flies differently to a nimble, small fighter like a Viper. The key is finding your role in Elite – what do you enjoy doing, and how will you do it?
Elite still has a bunch of problems to overcome as Frontier continues to refine the experience. Missions can be unclear, planetary landing needs more variety, and there’s perhaps a little too much repetition in objectives for most players to stomach over the course of 50 to 100 hours. Introductory gameplay can also be a slog as you struggle to pull together enough resources and funds to do more than simply trading. But judging by how Frontier is updating the game, adding new features and ideas over time, it’s perhaps more a question of where Elite: Dangerous will be this time next year.
That’s its beauty – having played the game since 2014, we’ve seen it transform and mutate from beta phases through to its full release. Now, complete with the Horizons update that allows you to seamlessly transition from space flight to planetary surfaces, and with everything else that’s coming in over the next 12 months, Elite promises to keep you entertained. Jump in, play for a bit and jump back out, if that's the kind of play style that suits you – there’s always going to be something else waiting for you in space whenever you log back in.
Elite: Dangerous is now out on PS4, PC, Xbox One and Mac
Like this? You may also like:
Eve Online: Inside the most elaborate virtual world ever created
Destiny 2's game director Luke Smith on the future of Destiny
