1. GI_Shmoe

   9

   Overall a great game if you can get over the fact it cost about 25$. It stands out compared to all of the other games produced currently. It also is one of the few space games you can find. The combat is a little bit difficult to get used to at first but, doesn't ruin the experience of the game itself. The graphics aren't top notch but you don't need amazing graphics as long it doesn't ruin the difficulty of the game itself. The universe in the game is huge with a big map. It needs a big title to help push it along to give it more appeal to others. Evochron Mercenary has great replay value as well. Maybe it is a little pricey but it doesn't have too many flaws.… Expand

   • Helpful? 5 of 5 users said Yes.
2. Johnman

   8

   This game is not for the faint of heart. Other reviews have already talked about graphics, gameplay and such. Let me tell you something different.
   
   You will like this game if you like X3, Freelancer, Freespace, Dwarf Fortress, scouring forums for lore and tips, and are not afraid of frustation (it's no Dark Souls though), camping, nerding out and role-playing with friends and/or complete strangers, trekking.
   
   If using almost every key in the keyboard for controlling various parts of your ship sounds like too much, go away, this is not for you.
   If you are not prepared to actually read the damn manual, then this is not for you.
   If you expect waypoints to tell you where to go and what to do, go away.
   If you need a game to have a storyline to play along, I'm sorry (and this is something I do regret of this game).
   
   This is very similar to X3, although immensely more immersing.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.
3. Pandarve

   5

   Evochron Mercenary is a space-simulator reminiscent of X1 and X2 and I find it very difficult to judge. Graphics-wise, the screenshots are terribly misleading and so is the price it sells at. The game does offer some form of beauty in the form of fresh ideas such as being able to land on planets, escaping from the gravitational pull of larger objects, customizing the look of the hull of your ship and the simplicity of the interface. The controls are, as expected of a space-simulator, somewhat difficult to get used to but they respond well (Apart from the navigation map, this menu seems to lag and the zoom-in function is bugged which means I constantly have to readjust before I can properly zoom in) and the game supports a great variety of input devices. I was even able to use all the buttons on my G500 mouse which is something I do not expect from an Indy title. And although the interface seems far more cluttered than it actually is, the player will get the hang of it after a few hours of playing. The combat is somewhat tedious and dull. There are only three types of weapons; beam, bolt and missile. These weapons do come in different "classes" but it changes little. All ships the player can buy more or less do the same. Right from the start you can have a ship with 5 cargo bays and you do not seem to be able to go beyond this amount whether you buy what the game deems a "scout" vessel or a "multi-purpose" vessel. All the equipment that you can mount to each of the ships you can buy is the same as well; the only limiter is the "assemblage" limit. The more expensive your ship, the higher this limit will be. The very first ship you have might not be able to mount a level 10 shield but it will be available regardless. This means, combined with the weapon system, that each ship pretty much does the same in combat. Some ships might be more agile and have less armour or vice versa but that's pretty much where the combat ends. There's also a terribly annoying shaking cokpit when you are hit. Sometimes you simply vibrate to death because you are not able to tell the status of your ship while taking a continued pounding. On top of that, each ship has the exact same cokpit. There is no ship boarding, no launch-deck nor anything else you'd expect from a game that tries to copy X. I have to admit that in the 11 hours that I played, I have done preciously little combat. I wanted to focus on mining and industry but soon learnt that the game hasn't got much to offer in that department; you can only mount one tractor beam (Which doubles as a mining beam) and it takes a fairly long time to fill up five (5) cargo bays. And although mining is rather interesting as you can harvest gas clouds, planets, asteroids and asteroid caves or let mining robots do the work for you, I wasn't sure what to spend the money on. I couldn't buy more cargo bays as five (5) seemed to be the limit and I couldn't mount more mining beams to increase the speed of the mining process. You are able to buy new bases and hire other pilots but there's nothing in this department that X doesn't do better. Eventually, I decided to convert my ship to a fighter and see what combat is about. I must say it isn't very interesting, I found it easiest to simply burn a lot of fuel on the after burner and just slide past all the enemies while letting the on-board targeting system tell me where to shoot. I was too fast for the enemy to shoot down and missiles couldn't chase me. I am still playing the game and perhaps there's more to it than my relatively short stint has unfolded but judging from the videos I've seen and what I've done in the game, it's all very rudimentary and back to basics. It has multi-player but it doesn't have anti-cheat protection and it stores ship-data locally which, in theory, makes it far too easy to cheat. I was looking forward to this game coming on Steam but I wish I had spent the money on something else. I'm rating it average because of some fresh ideas and an experience that might be simplistic but is otherwise "complete"… Expand

   • Helpful? 4 of 7 users said Yes.
4. AgainstLazyDevs

   1

   Combat in this game is simply way too hard. I find that as a Combat Pilot starting form the carrier, the contracts offered are usually much too difficult and only server to make your blood pressure rise from death after death. The Developers of this title are not cognisant enough of the difficulty level to use the beginner contracts as tools for the player to have fun whilst learning the game. Instead, they opt to make the experience as miserable and frustrating as possible while simultaneously failing to actually teach you how to play.
   
   If you like games that make your blood pressure rise, this is the game for you.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 2 users said Yes.

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