Six years after it launched, Elite Dangerous’s Odyssey DLC will allow players to step onto the surface of a planet.
“So what?”, No Man’s Sky players might be asking, but Elite Dangerous has always been a different kettle of fish to Sean Murray’s oeuvre, delivering a developing galaxy, complete with shifting alliances and unexpected alien invasions. There is a catch and that’s that Elite Dangerous requires an always on connection, whether you’re playing single-player or multiplayer, which has always put us off a bit.
Still, Elite Dangerous has an estimated fifteen million players, many of whom will no doubt be bitten by the exploration bug. Why gawp at a planet from orbit when you can fly down and walk around on its surface? In theory, you could visit every planet in the game but with billions of star systems we’re not going to try and do the maths.
You can also roam around planets with friends, before shooting them and stealing their stuff. Okay, we’re being a bit cynical here, but it strikes us that luring someone to a planet is a really, really, easy way of levelling the playing field. It doesn’t matter how many beam lasers their ship has, once they’re out of it, they’re just another meat sack.
Being paid DLC, you’ll have to fork out for Odyssey, though there is a proviso attached to its purchase. Unless you specifically choose to disable Odyssey, regular Elite Dangerous players won’t be able to share your world. Essentially, Odyssey has the potential to divide the player base, which seems like a questionable design choice.
Whether you choose to take the planet-walking plunge or not, Elite Dangerous: Odyssey will be available for the PC tomorrow, May 19th, with a console release planned later this autumn.
