Avorion is a space sandbox that has recently been released as yet another Early Access game through Steam, but boy oh boy is it different than what we have been through in a long time.
In short it is very much like Elite Dangerous, but Avorion adds so much more as you don’t get stuck with a cockpit view, or you don’t have to worry about fuel and oxygen, but sadly we can’t land on planets either, so it’s not really a simulator as such, but it does have so much going for it. I’d advise everyone to go and grab a copy because…well if you ever watched a TV show, let’s say Babylon 5, Star Trek, or the countless other sci-fi shows that have caught our imagination and wish we could make those ships and stations in reality, then this is the perfect game to do it in.
Avorion will make you sweat and cry a lot as you will find yourself dying a lot, but when you do die you learn from your mistakes, you learn that you can make your ships lighter or heavier, which all really depends on how you want to play. Heavier ships obviously have more armour/hit points, but you need lots more inertia to move; that means a lot more thrusting power. Lighter ships mean that they take less hits to destroy and as a result are also a lot more nimble.
Everything in this game is bound by you and your imagination, I say this because the building in the game is a truly great system, and if you can imagine it then you will be able to build it. My first ship (screen shot below) lasted only a few minutes because I didn’t really know what I was doing, then I understood about the “X” axis and how it makes your ship a lot more stable in flight ‘n fight situations.
The building is all Boxel (yeah you read that right not Voxel but Boxel) so you’re gonna be sticking boxes together and connecting ’em up just like Lego blocks. Each different box has different properties, meaning that there are different blocks for living quarters, armoured hull, shield generators and so on and so forth, and with 7 different materials, each of which are located in asteroids, these all come together to make your ships, The 7 materials are in order;
- Iron: which is the weakest with a durability of only 4 per box and also the heaviest with a mass of 51
- Titanium: is the 5th heaviest with a mass of 30pb (per box) and a durability of 6pb
- Naonite: is the 4th heaviest with a mass of 33pb and a durability of 9pb
- Trinium: is the lightest in the game (21pb) so its perfect for those seeking fast attack ships but its has the durability of 13.5pb
- Xanion: is the 6th heaviest material with an mass of 27pb and durability of 20.25pb
- Ogonite: is the 2nd heaviest material with an mass of 45pb and durability of 30.375pb
- Avorion: can only be found in the centre of the galaxy and its the 3rd heaviest material in the game with a mass of 36pb and with a durability of 45.5625pb.
You can’t just head straight to the centre of the galaxy with a tiny ship to get all the best stuff Avorion has to offer, otherwise you’ll be wasted by space pirates, aliens, and opposing factions; you’re going to need to take your time helping out friendly factions, answering various distress calls sent out by cargo ships that are being attacked by pirates, help out with various missions found on bulletin boards to get better loot such as upgrades for your radar, weapon systems, detection trackers for artefact hunting, and much more. There is just so much to this game, and the galaxy is just massive as seen under with the 2 screenies of nearly 10 hours of gameplay.
There are two different control methods to use in Avorion, the first one is “Mouse Steering” which is obviously steering with your mouse, one I personally prefer as the mouse is a lot more precise than the other control method, which is as I’m sure it comes as no surprise being called, “Keyboard steering” but whichever you choose, all keyboard and mouse (along with sensitivity) can be changed to whatever you like.
The music sadly does not have the same kind of “oomph” as the gameplay does which is sad really but nevertheless, like myself you can turn it off. Howver the sound effects are a totally different matter. The weapons and the sounds of the explosions has enough “pow” to make you feel like you’re listening to your favourite space battles in your most watched sci-fi space shows.
As you can see from my screenshots there is always something to upgrade, whether it’s finding new materials, or whether it’s just looting from wreckage’s, you are gonna find something new, and just simply going out in the “void” and discovering it will land you in some brand new experiences.
You’ll find yourself always having plenty to do here, and that’s before the “real” story is going to be implemented into the game at a later date, and with the dev’s working on a server browser at the moment, the stories you’re gonna be telling your mates about near escapes from deadly pirates and god knows what else ain’t so far far away after all.
