Everspace 2 Review – The Superior Sequel

The Flight Simulator genre is a relatively niche one, full of a few very popular titles and a litany of unknowns. An even more niche subgenre of the craze is the space flight sim, which sees players engaging in epic sci-fi dogfights in the infinite of space.

These games usually depart from the genre with, and are lauded for, their portrayal of the three-dimensional aspect of space. In space, a fighter can go left, right, up, and down and isn’t confined to the physics of planetary ace combat. It is really important to most fans that a game in the genre reflects this well.

Everspace 2 is the latest entry in the space-flight sim subgenre by ROCKFISH Games, and may very well be the current gold standard that future titles will follow.

Everspace 2 is a sequel to the 2017 release Everspace by the same studio. The first Everspace received mixed reviews; Lauded by fans for its epic dogfights and beautiful galaxies, it created some division thanks to its Roguelike elements. Everspace 2 ditches the Roguelike design elements and focuses more on the philosophy of intergalactic dogfighting, without sacrificing ship customization and player expression.

The plot follows Adam, a military clone pilot evading capture from the colonial government and seeking his place in the universe. Nearing retirement via a work contract, Adam’s life is flipped upside down when an attack from pirates sees him captured and his friend injured. From there, the events of Adam’s past collide with the boiling tensions in the Demilitarized zone as he fights to keep himself and his friends alive and free.

While the dialogue in Everspace 2 can feel a bit Marvel-Movie, the story is a decidedly cool Sci-Fi tale that keeps you invested for the whole of its runtime, which isn’t obscenely long and doesn’t require you to grind levels or gear to proceed.

The gameplay is tied directly to the story, throwing the player into fights both in space and in orbit as you progress through the story and a few side quests along the way. The entire game is experienced from from your ship, where you can strife, climb, boost, and roll through combat with a wide arsenal of weapons to blast away your foes.

Everspace 2’s ship controls and fights remind me a little of Star Fox, which is arguably the grandfather of the genre. I was also given nostalgia for the space segments in the original Ratchet and Clank games.

As mentioned above, accurately portraying the physics of space combat is incredibly important to fans of the genre, and Everspace 2 doesn’t disappoint. The vacuum of space is a huge gravityless sea where you’re carried by nothing but your own inertia, and you can climb, drop, strafe as you please and engage enemies upside down and at angles impossible in a plane game.

Traveling between regions of space in the game is seamless and immersive. To leave one map, you just point your ship into the endless maw of space and hit the hyperdrive. This transfers you to a huge empty stretch of space, where you just point in the direction of the next map and hit hyperdrive again.

The few moments you don’t spend in cutscenes or in your ship see you in the hangar, where you can customize and swap between a series of ships earned as you play. Each ship has module slots where you can swap out guns, shields, engines, and other useful gadgets to personalize your fighter. Enough time spent in space can see you turning a junker into a terrifying kill machine, decked out fully to your preference.

Ships in Everspace 2 also feature Device slots. These Devices act as special abilities to be used in combat and are split between Warfare and Support devices. Warfare devices help you take on enemies, and feature effects such as EMP blasts, where Support devices like a quick boost of speed in combat help you keep your pilot alive.

Graphically, Everspace 2 isn’t too huge of an upgrade from the original, which is to say that it didn’t need to be, as the original Everspace was beautiful to look at. Sitting in space and staring at the stars and nebulas in Everspace 2 is a therapeutic experience, which quickly becomes a visually stunning and chaotic experience when you’re dashing through space debris and dodging lasers.

The music in Everspace 2 is fantastic and suits the dogfights well. While it’s hard to find anything to complain about, I can’t help but lament that this is another Sci-Fi game with an Electronica score. Sure, the genres compliment well, but I would love to see one of these games take some risks and try something new.

You would be surprised just how well my Alternative Rock playlist suited Everspace 2’s hectic firefights.

Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! Everspace 2 is available on Steam and GOG.