Dogfighting in space has never looked so beautiful.
One of the coolest sci-fi diversions to keep on your video game acquisition radar is “Everspace 2” from German game studio Rockfish Games, whose original “Everspace” was a 2017 3D space shooter with entertaining roguelike elements. The highly anticipated upcoming sequel continues the compelling story of protagonist clone pilot Adam Roslin and his AI partner as they encounter deadly enemy drones, agile fighters, heavy bombers, and intimidating gunships.
“Everspace 2” will be released as an open-world space simulator, allowing players to explore deep space, flying between exoplanets, fighting ruthless space pirates and collecting natural resources and loot. An Early Access version for Windows PC has already been released on April 6, 2023, ahead of the console’s biggest marketing push for sales on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S sometime this summer.
Related: The best space exploration games
This is the official synopsis:
“EVERSPACE 2” is a fast-paced single-player space shooter with deep exploration, tons of loot, classic RPG elements for PC and consoles. Set in a persistent open world, it is driven by a captivating sci-fi story, picking up shortly after the events of the predecessor. A campaign of approximately 20 to 30 hours long and several side missions will take you to the end of the game. Imagine a Hack & Slash Action RPG with all the bells and whistles: classes, random loot, abilities, talents, and more… but in space.
Your ship is the hero in this adventure. Expand your private ship collection from a virtually endless supply of ships comprised of nine unique classes and optimize your build to perfection. Cleverly combine modules, weapons, gadgets, and perks to suit your individual playstyle and current objective.
Only One Life to Live – You play as one of the surviving clone pilots who defeated Admiral Gorc in the predecessor. Wanted by the authorities for being a rogue illegal clone pilot, you are trying to keep low and make a living as a space miner under a false identity. Of course, fate has bigger plans for you. You soon find yourself at the center of a sci-fi story about a former military clone who discovers what it means to be human.
“This has been a fantastic launch for Rockfish Games, our biggest yet!” Rockfish Games CEO Michael Schade said of the game’s 300,000 units already sold. “The team has done an incredible job and we are now reaping the rewards of our hard work of the last five years and more. We achieved our business goals in terms of product visibility, game downloads, and net revenue.
Even more rewarding is seeing our amazing community and fans of the media space love what we’ve built. This paints a bright future for our studio and ‘Everspace’ as a franchise. We have a lot more planned and I can’t wait for us to share what we’ve been working on for our first free update later this year and the massive expansion coming in the second half of 2024.”
“Everspace 2” and its stunning Unreal Engine 4 visuals and bold gameplay is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in Summer 2023.