Elite Dangerous Odyssey – Phase One Impressions

With huge thanks to the folks at Frontier Developments, I’ve been taking my first steps (quite literally) in Elite Dangerous Odyssey. After being a huge fan of the space flight simulator for some years, and with over 3,000 hours of play for my Xbox commander, it’s one that I’ve been very excited for news on, and one that I’m really enjoying playing around with even in the early alpha test state. We’ll continue to report on the Alpha as each phase rolls out, keeping you up to date with our impressions at each stage.

Huge thanks also to CMDR Bitflipped for their contributions to the images used within this article, using a PC much better than our Pixel Bandits’ laptop.

It’s definitely worth noting for those who are coming in fresh, that the current “release” of Elite Dangerous Odyssey is in an alpha test state. The team at Frontier are even rolling the test out in four distinct stages, and at our current Stage One this has some significant restrictions, along with not a small number of bugs and glitches. That said, it’s pretty much what you should expect going into any Alpha, and I’ve still had a lot of fun seeking out bugs to report within the Issue tracker.

I typically play on Xbox, having begun on the standard Xbox One and lately moved to the Series X for all my Elite Dangerous Goodness. For Odyssey I was planning on living vicariously through the posts of those in the Elite Dangerous Community, but was very happy to have access to the alpha granted courtesy of Frontier, to be able to take a look through things. Importantly, this is not a review (who on earth would provide a review of an alpha test?!) but I wanted to share my impressions of the current state, and potential of the title going forward.

I was a little wary going into the test, as before this my PC CMDR had only seen roughly 30 minutes of game time. Thankfully, however, all CMDRs within the Odyssey Alpha have been provided with a brand new character, rather than having full access to their live-server pilot and fleet of ships. As well as providing a level playing field, this has also ensured that Frontier can limit players to just one system, in line with their plan for this stage of the test.

The Basics

Like every CMDR, I started Odyssey with 50,000 credits in the bank, a basic flight suit and a number of first-tier tools and weapons (well ok, weapon, one pistol). I do also theoretically own a Sidewinder which lies waiting for me in a nearby system. Unfortunately with Apex Interstellar’s taxis restricted to travel within the Adityan system, I can’t get there. This restriction has been a purposeful move by Frontier, who are aiming to keep CMDRs squished together to promote interaction before opening up to a 20 light year bubble during Phase Two.

I’ve found a fair few missions to be getting in with, provided both by random contacts within stations providing single missions, as well as terminals on settlements which provide a decent enough spread of options. These are filtered through a number of categories, which are all quite reflective of what we have in ship-based missions:

• Combat – typically exterminating members of a faction or assassinating a single person
• Transportation – fetching personal documents and data
• Procurement – pretty much illegal versions of transportation missions where you’ll steal weapons schematics or personal data
• Operations – breaching networks, putting out fires and general dogsbody duties (which should be very familiar to anybody who’s worked Ops in larger companies)

Missions are all provided with a threat level, but at the time of writing these are still a little out of kilter. Threat level zero missions can still be quite dangerous, even where using stealth to stay under the radar. This will see further balancing as the alpha moves forward, hopefully providing us combat-lacking folks with a nice clear indicator of how much trouble we’re really in.

Interstellar Tedium

Another sticking point current is the Apex Interstellar taxi system. I’m really happy to see it’s not just me who finds the trips a little lacklustre. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the time restrictions in the station, and I’ve really enjoyed walking across the pad to the ships, which gives outstanding sense of scale while on foot. Sadly, while times within the station seem great, the taxi trips are real time, and the starting station is tucked right away in the corner of the Adityan system. This does lead (for now) to some rather tedious travel times when scooting between the planets in the system, something which will only be exacerbated when travelling in terms of light years instead of light seconds.

Frontier aren’t looking at changing the real-time nature of Apex Interstellar travel, which I do agree would be rather odd in a game where we’re all stuck in the same time frame. However, the travel times here aren’t really something that I’m worried about. While we’re here in the first phase of the Alpha, we’re separated from our steel stallions, but even the most basic commander will have access to some form of space-faring vessel.

While we might have to use Apex to travel to our Sidewinders, this short trip will be the only one we have to take, leaving us to galavant around the galaxy just as we do now. And this first trip itself is also not set in stone, as the main reason for separating us from our Sidewinders at the moment seems to be to keep us all within one system, rather than as a gameplay function. It would be odd, I think, for Frontier to separate new CMDRs from their ship as standard, and instead would assume (n.b. Assume!) that with full release starters will find their new vessel in the same station they start in.

Especially when CMDRs have the backing of their entire fleet, Apex Interstellar’s long travel times aren’t as troubling as some are making out. They do make travel through the Alpha test a little more yawn-inducing than they could be, but ultimately, for me, don’t come with any real concerns for full release.

So, to sum it up?

I’ve had a lot of fun with the Alpha so far. I do think it’s important to remember that this is an alpha test, with the emphasis in that term being on the word test. Where some CMDRs have been expecting the functionality of a Beta or even released title, this access is at one of the earliest stages possible for the general public. It has, of course, come with visual glitches, lag, and some bugs which have affected my core gameplay (such as extended wait times to be able to exit conversations meaning I miss my taxi).

The missions are a little tough, and with Elite’s trademark lack of hand-holding, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. I’ve found this quite refreshing, as it’s been a few years since I was last completely lost within Elite Dangerous, having to use the community to help me get up to speed. With this in mind, though I’m a few hours in, I have yet to complete a mission, and my net worth has decreased considerably since I began playing.

My top tips for enjoying Odyssey if you are coming in for a bit of a play are:

• Stock up on e-breaches and other consumables before you leave the station. Don’t use all your cash as you’ll need it to travel, but keep in mind that you’ll need these to complete most missions
• Don’t get hung up on Apex Interstellar. Remember that when we’re playing “properly” you’ll have the backing of at least a single ship of your own, and maybe an entire fleet
• Watch out for other CMDRs. The crime and punishment system isn’t properly implemented as yet, and as ever, people are… well… people
• You can use terminals on the ground to locate people and places within settlements. This has helped me find targets on more than one occasion
• Don’t fret. There’s a huge amount of balancing tweaks and full on changes coming. Some things will get easier, and some will get harder
• Suit power runs out quickly with your shields on. Only activate your personal shield when you need it, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for suit charging points.

There’s a load of work still to come with Odyssey, but as a long-time fan of Elite Dangerous it’s been amazing to experience one of my favourite games in this whole new light. The basic functionality, for me, seems solid, and there are some great little features implemented already. I’m really looking forward to more mission variation, more customisations, and of course access to my own fleet.

There are a number of things I would still love to see in the title, which we don’t have within the Alpha or the roadmap quite yet. The first one for me is the ability to walk around inside ships, which isn’t something currently implemented. Instead we teleport from the entry stairway and straight into passengers’ (and one would assume during Phase 2, Pilots’) seats. While this is something that I do want to see, I have to question myself on what functionality and gameplay I would be looking for inside there. A tour of my Anaconda, Cutter, Beluga or Corvette would be great the first time, but how often would I use it. While I recognise that it’s frivolous and wouldn’t add anything, I still want it, which just goes to show how irrational us gamers are.

I do think Odyssey is definitely worth a look if you’re at all excited about Space Legs / Elite Feet. It’s one where you must go into fully aware that it is an alpha, and the purpose is to test, find and report bugs to help development of the game. Outside that, while missions are tough, Apex Interstellar travel is long, and I suck at on-foot combat (I suck at in-ship combat too but that’s not important right now) Phase One of the Odyssey Alpha has got me really excited about the possibilities available within the future of Elite Dangerous, and I can’t wait to see what’s to come.