EVE Online

5.0 stars

"Complex, detailed and beautifully rendered space opera."

April 19, 2011  |   By dsrussell

Version: EVE Online 246918

Pros

Phenomenal artwork, amazing realism, completely open ended so one can choose what one wants out of the massive EVE universe. I continue to be surprised by the level of detail and sophistication in this game.

Cons

In order to be competent, there is a huge and on-going learning curve (although one will have very few problems starting out). The Mac version of this software has a some on-going issues, but not enough for me to downgrade its rating.

Summary

EVE is obviously not for everyone (because of its steep learning curve), but for those that love an enriched and complex playing environment, EVE has no peer. One can choose many paths, alone or joining others (in a corporation), be that of a pirate, a trader, a miner, and so on (think of a 3D version of Escape Velocity on steroids). A player's ability is based on that players' pilot learning a vast array of skills, which is, quite literally, a never ending task.

While this game is hardly inexpensive (subscription cost), it provides a level of game playing that I feel warrants that cost. What's also impressive is that the game is always evolving with new upgrades, which enhance the playing environment by adding new plot lines and more sophistication.

Finally, I cannot say enough about EVE's level of detail and beauty. It is simply an amazing playing environment.

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3.0 stars

"One for Escape Velocity fans"

May 16, 2009  |   By zimbop

Version: EVE Online 6.10.88517

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
This game is very much like a 3d MMORG Escape Velocity. Missions, trading, races, a vast universe, ships and upgrades - basically it's iEV, or is it eEV, EVe - whatever it is it's a lot like EV.

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2.0 stars

"Killer learning curve, killer fun."

March 29, 2009  |   By hlb9

Version: EVE Online 6.10.85476

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.

No one will argue that EvE isn't the toughest, most complicated game out there to learn. If you hate tutorials and reading instructions, manuals and guides, you'll be in hell?and you have to do these things, because although EvE is full of players that just love to answer questions, there are things that even the most patient newbie-mentor can't just explain via the in-game chat.

That said, EvE is also the single MMORPG that gives you the freedom to do almost anything, from building a business empire as a scheming CEO to exploring the (gigantic) galaxy in cloaked Covert Ops ships to living the life as a?YARR!?pirate and outlaw. Unlike other online games, EvE never forces you into a pre-defined role, and you have the choice between playing casually or sinking weeks at a time into the game.

The Mac client has become better of late, although there's no denying that certain stability issues continue to exist and that your mileage will vary greatly depending on your specific system. On the graphics side, Mac gamers can now enjoy premium graphics (more detailed ships and structures, etc), which make enough of a difference to give EvE that nice whole-new-game smell.

Last but not least, while EvE is not freeware (like most MMORPGs, a monthly fee is required to play), the fairly regular expansions to the game are provided free of charge. So, considering that in order to play WoW, you need to shell out about $40 for the client and each expansion plus the monthly subscription fee, EvE is not a bad deal at all.

It takes some time to get into, that's for sure. But EvE is to other MMORPGs what a wilderness trek is to a theme park ride. Harder, less comfortable, but much more rewarding and exciting.

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1.0 stars

"Watching paint dry more fun"

October 2, 2008  |   By jules771

Version: EVE Online 5.11.64451

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
what else can I say?

BORING!

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2.0 stars

"Nice attempt at a port but.."

November 8, 2007  |   By GrBear

Version: EVE Online 4.10.51200

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
It takes a bit of time to figure out how things work, even with the tutorials. Much has been already said about this game. It seems to takes a certain personality to get any real enjoyment out of this micro-managing, slow action game.

The Mac port of it seems to be half hearted though. I have it installed both under bootcamp and on the OS X side, and the PC side is way higher quality than the Mac version. The graphics are lower quality, and the sound was so garbled that I couldn't imagine trying to run through the tutorials again.

If your into this kind of game, then wait until the Mac version is a bit more polished.. or simply use the PC version.

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2.0 stars

"Good idea. poor UI"

November 8, 2007  |   By darylmonge@mac.com

Version: EVE Online 4.10.51200

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
An interesting game, nicely rendered, and unique enough from WoW. But the user interface is cluttered and difficult to use.

The starting screens remind you of DnD games. It is a long process of picking races, attributes, sub-cultures, skills, and allocating skill points. It is not clear if it can be changed in the future but without it there is little information at the beginning to help decide.

It looks like the quest system penalizes you for letting them expire (as if the real world would never intervene). Looks like you have to actively "save" your character via a "clone" process. The implication (not verified) is that if you forget and die the penalty is extreme.

There is a 14 day free demo but it is NOT FREEWARE. It was somewhat difficult to find where to sign up for the free demo on their web page

I gave it two stars but I would still recommend you can take a look at it.

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2.0 stars

"Flakey"

November 8, 2007  |   By electriclewis_dotmac

Version: EVE Online 4.10.51200

Summary

This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.
Whilst the game looks interesting and very pretty the new Mac client went bonkers during initial character creation twice, once I was able to quit out, the other time I had to kill it externally. When I was just getting into the game going through the latter parts of the tutorial it crashed but when I went back in the tutorial had gone. I'd had enough by that point and went back to playing WoW.

I'll try it again when they issue the inevitable patch as long as it's within the 14 days of the free trial (or they give me a new trail).

I'm using Leopard on a MacBook Pro, BTW.

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