EVE Online

Reviewed by Andrea Steffy
October 26, 2006

Developer: CCP Publisher: CCP Website: Click Here (game available by download) Platform(s): PC Number of Players: Online play / MMO ESRB Rating: Teen (realistic violence) Review Rating: 5 out of 10

Screenshot from EVE Online . Courtesy CCP. Click on image to enlarge.

The time is 20,000 years in the future. Tucked neatly away in a cluster of stars lies the new Eden system that once held the jump gate EVE. After much exploration of the UN-charted alien skies, the humans expanded and colonized. Unexpectedly there was a catastrophic event causing the gate to collapse, leaving thousands of small colonies in complete isolation forcing them to fend for themselves. From the thousands, five major empires rose in power and became the known entities in the universe: the Amarr Empire, the Gallente Federation, the Caldari State , the Minmatar Republic , and the Jovian Empire.

When I first learned of Eve online, despite being a fan of the sci-fi genre, I still felt some resistance and was hesitant to actually play. Almost immediately, I found quite a few things about the game that irritated me. I was disappointed in the character creation screens and choices as well as the initial movie.

Before game play, players really need to go thru the extensive tutorials that can take numerous hours. I must say, even then, the game still seems confusing, difficult, nay frustrating to say the very least. I thought the game was arduous to navigate and I felt like it literally took light years (no pun intended) to move throughout space. There are so many notification and informational windows on screen to pay attention to; they seem distracting and make the screen seem too busy. The game still has a few bugs to be worked out, but in its defense, what MMO doesn't.

Once in game, the graphics were aesthetically pleasing but upon watching the startup movie, I felt like I was just turning pages in a most unfortunate comic book instead of watching a video game movie. I started off the game as a Minmatar with a rookie ship, a cheap civilian gatling cannon, and a mining laser. Quickly running out of ammo basically left me unable to complete the tutorial, and I didn't want to have to start all over again. I thought some of the professions were hokey. For example, a corporate CEO in space seems a bit far fetched.

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