Everspace combines elements of FTL and a classic space sim like Wing Commander III—though without being as good as either of them. You play as an amnesiac pilot who must shoot and loot his way past jump points spread across seven sectors of increasing difficulty. The bulk of the gameplay involves arcade-style combat and poking through freighter wrecks, space stations, and caves to find fuel, credits, accessories, and so on. Death is permanent, but you can use the credits you earn each time to improve your ship and mitigate your surroundings between runs. The space backdrops are beautifully rendered and the game is fast, intense, and mostly fun, but I found that there was a certain impersonality to Everspace. The story, which emerges through comic-book style cutscenes, is uninspiring, and I never came close to caring about the relationships among the characters. Also, eventually you realize that the key to beating the game is simply to spruce up your ship to a certain level and then take care of your fuel consumption during a run. In this sense, the learning curve of the game is backwards: it starts out frustrating and difficult, and ends up feeling easy. Still, this is definitely not to say the game is unenjoyable. For those who like flight sims, roguelike games, and space exploration, Everspace is a solid buy.
