EVE defies the trends...
Eurogamer ponders why, in a crowded genre rife with games undergoing a full-fledged identity crisis, EVE seems to have just the right balance between giving players what they want while not cheapening the experience- it seems you have to have something to do and something to lose!
As if by way of illustrating what a cruel game Eve can be, I just lost a fight in my most expensive, well-to-do battleship only minutes before opening up this page to write these words. The ship is dust and I'm royally pissed off. Way more pissed off than I would be at dying in almost any other game. While other MMOs might have coddled me with just a bit of money lost, or a few XP as punishment for my pitiful death, Eve has created several hours of concerted work. It's a bitch.
This might not sound like a good start for an upbeat analysis of Elite's (remarkably pretty) online cousin, but it's losses like this one that give the game its raw edge. Like the thrill of gambling, player vs. player combat in Eve is exciting because you could lose something palpable: the time it took to make the game-money that paid for that ship, along with all the shiny gizmos I kitted it out with. You feel that loss in your guts. And there are few games that can boast that.
I don't think you'll be disappointed if you read the rest of this nifty Eurogamer review of EVE Online.
Features, InterviewsTue, Sep 20, 2005Boomjack
