Elite: Dangerous has incredible space combat. I've played Star Citizen, EVE Valkyrie and Elite: Dangerous and it easily comes out on top (Star Citizen is technically excused due to it being far from finished). As someone who adores space flight and dogfighting other pilots, the prospect of Elite: Dangerous having an Arena component that players can buy cheaply in order to participate in, without the need for an expensive purchase of the full game, is an exciting prospect.  Frontier seemingly agree and have taken it upon themselves to launch Elite Dangerous: Arena. 

As a standalone release, Elite Dangerous: Arena brings Elite Dangerous’ Close Quarter Combat (CQC) PVP game to all players and it comes with a host of features, including:

  • ​Four agile, combat-honed space ships. Choose from the fast and aggressive Federal and Imperial Fighters, the damage-dealing Eagle or the heavyweight Sidewinder.
  • Multiple tactical options with custom loadouts unlocked by ranking up.
  • Four Arenas: Elevate’s towering view, Cluster Compound’s mining facility, Asteria Point’s cavernous space station and Ice Field’s frozen asteroid belt.
  • Eight-player Free for All, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag game modes.
  • Realistic, agile starship handling powered by Elite Dangerous’ advanced simulation technology.

Available on Steam or at Frontierstore.net, you can pick up Elite Dangerous: Arena for as little as £4.99 ($7.49, €6.75, 375 RUB) and best of all, if you really enjoy what you're playing, you can upgrade to the full Elite: Dangerous. If you do, you'll receive the full cost of Elite Dangerous: Arena off the price of Elite Dangerous: Deluxe Edition. Brilliant. 

Frontier really need commending for doing this because all too often developers want you to buy their product, when there are often lots of players that likely only want one aspect of it. Guild Wars 2 is a perfect example and although it's now free to play, ArenaNet should have always made its structured PvP a cheap, standalone purchase. Players who wanted to see more of the game should have then been able to upgrade their account. Introducing Elite Dangerous: Arena is a fantastic way of exposing the game to new players and is highly likely to lure plenty in when they realize just how good the combat is. 

For the trailer, take a look below and if you've never played Elite: Dangerous, I'd highly recommend you buy Elite Dangerous: Arena - it even plays well on a mouse and keyboard. Best of all, if you do buy it from Steam and dislike it, you can always get your money back (God bless Steam). 


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Elite: Dangerous Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 21, 2016

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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