In Everspace, players awaken on board a battleship in a remote corner of our galaxy. They receive a mysterious command to appear at a specific place. Searching for the origins of their own existence and the unknown commander, they must fight their way through more and more new, uncontrolled territories where they will encounter other skilled combat pilots, who range from cooperative to hostile. Death will be a constant companion and constantly recurring flashbacks of the protagonist will gradually shine a light in the darkness of the mission.

During the course of the game, players will not only have to continually prove their combat skills, but also gather fuel and raw materials in order to travel to various star systems and repair and upgrade their equipment. The roguelike character of the game offers a quick and easy entry to the game and adds constant twists and surprises to the game events. Along with gameplaying skills, this also demands improvisation by players and provides an individual, always motivational game experience. Unlike in classic roguelikes, game progress is not completely lost at the moment of death, but rather remains available in the form of persistent upgrades.

In the new update, players will come across the remains of Colonial stations which can be explored to discover permanent ship enhancements. These uncovered “sub-routines” can be equipped in the hangar before each run. Some will buff various ship attributes. Others will change the playstyle significantly by, for example, making all enemies visible on the radar but coming with the downside of letting the player’s persecutors track them down more quickly due to the stronger radar signature of the enhancement. Getting hold of these enhancements will be no easy task:  the sometimes-humongous station wrecks are equipped with massive security measures like turrets, laser barriers, combat drones, and security doors. Another threat is the plasma discharges that put the player in danger of being pushed away and colliding forcefully with other objects.

As visualized during the Kickstarter, players can now change the colors of their ships. In addition to the standard color palette available at the start, more colors can be obtained during combat.  Players can now get creative and design individual looks for the vessels in their hangar by combining the ship’s main color with two different decal colors. This is also where they can apply special permanent ship loadouts which will be unlocked after reaching certain sectors. These loadouts provide completely different play styles, particularly at the beginning of a run.

With the release of Everspace Update v0.4 across all current platforms, players on Xbox One and the Windows Store will receive Update v0.3 automatically. They will now get their hands on the eagerly awaited Colonial Gunship and will benefit right away from the new balancing with exclusive gear, improved drones, an additional equipment slot, and stronger armor.

Highlights of Everspace Update v0.4:

• Added enhancements that can be equipped in the hangar
• Added new points of interest: Derelict Colonial stations
• Added player ship colors: Some are unlocked from the start, more can be collected during runs
• Added alternative ship loadouts
• Replaced the voice actor for the protagonist
• Added new consumables: Distress Beacon, Nano Extractor, Sensor Drone
• Added new challenge "Survive a Warship attack"
• Added 1st person view without cockpit

Overview of EVERSPACE Update v0.3 – automatically included in Update v0.4 on Xbox and the Windows Store:

• Added new player ship: Colonial Gunship
• Added new enemy: Outlaw Drone Carrier
• Perks overhaul: Separated into pilot perks and individual ship perks
• Added new perks: Trading and Diplomacy
• Attacking G&B can result in them reporting your attack and being hostile in the current and next location
• Added two new natural hazards
• Added new point of interest: Freighter Wreck
• Added more station types
• Added option to set a flag for equipment to ignore it when switching to next/previous equipment
• Added Hall of Fame that keeps track of your completed runs
• Added backer-written logbook entries
• Added new planet type

The complete changelogs of all updates are available on the official EVERSPACE forum (requires registration): https://forum.everspace-game.com/categories/news.

Mac users will need to be just a little more patient before they can get their hands on EVERSPACE Update v0.4 due to technical issues that popped up after migrating to Unreal Engine 4.14. The date of the initial release for Linux is also still pending due to a severe graphical issue under OpenGL 4.0.

The full release of Everspace will feature a fully voice-acted story with several thoughtfully designed characters, situation-based events, as well as the Hardcore Mode and full VR support for Oculus Rift/HTC Vive, and will retail for $39.99 / €36.99 / £29.99.