To celebrate First Strike - December’s pre-Alpha playtest of EVE’s new FPS ‘module’ - we ran a whopping four bounties for our Just About EVE community. Between those bounties, EVE and Vanguard players sent us a ton of footage and reporting from their hands-on experience with Vanguard’s First Strike, including their most skilful playtest moments, their first impressions, and their analysis videos, as well as their wishes for the finished game.
Many of the details of exactly how Vanguard will affect EVE Online and vice versa are yet to be revealed (maybe even decided). Full release is still a long way off. Nonetheless, First Strike was a rare opportunity to get a taste for a game so early in its development, and a crucial step towards understanding how EVE’s shooter will play. It was an opportunity that many of our Just About EVE community members jumped on.
To get a feel for Vanguard yourself, check out this rad video by FUN INC:
Hopes and dreams for Vanguard
Let’s start by taking a look at what our veteran community wants from CCP’s third attempt at an EVE FPS game. Here’s Schadsquatch, who wants CCP to fulfil its promise of directly connecting Vanguard and EVE Online:
“I hope that Vanguard will have real implications for things occurring in EVE, sort of how CCP promised with Dust 514. A big factor that drives me to play hardcore, roguelike, or permadeath games is that your choices matter, and I hope Vanguard allows my choices to be impactful. If nothing else, I want the game to have a lot of people playing from the get go so I can pew-pew and boom-boom as many capsuleers as possible.” Original post
EveOnlineTutorials believes that the key to unlocking Vanguard’s potential is by refusing to shy away from EVE’s deep lore and signature aesthetic:
“I’d like Vanguard to be the success that gives CCP Games its foot in the door of FPS gaming. With the sheer amount of lore and things that could be added, it could potentially become one of the biggest, greatest FPS games. But CCP needs to make sure that Vanguard is unique. Guns, GFX, all of it needs to be EVE-themed. And it needs to stay that way. Vanguard has the potential, but we need to see it managed from a ‘this is going to be great’ perspective. We need to be able to make sure this side of the EVE universe merges, reflects, and shows how great both sides of the game can be.” Original post
Integration with EVE lore and EVE Online gameplay is also top of the agenda for Salartarium. There’s consensus that Vanguard shouldn’t just be another shooter in an EVE skin. It needs to be meaningfully EVE.
“I want an FPS game in the world of New Eden and the Tranquility server. EVE Online has great lore. A lot of thought and care has gone into worldbuilding; both CCP and the players have created live events that spin captivating tales. A shooting game will allow the players to impact the story in a way they never could in space.
“It’s also important that Vanguard affects Tranquility. There don’t have to be bombardments and war barges with mobile factories. The battle of Caldari Prime showed how a great crossover event could create meaningful stories. A shared ‘verse is all I ask for.” Original post
Four things top greybill’s wishlist: firepower, customisation, stealth, and badassery:
“I want an arsenal of unique guns and the option to customise my character and gear to my liking. I really hope to be able to play stealthily. But most importantly, I want to look cool with my boots on the ground. ” Original post
Samuel has similar hopes, but wants customisation to extend from gear to tactics:
“I would love to have a pretty, dynamic game in which most major things can be customised to playstyle with more than one simple approach to situations. And like greybill said, I hope to look badass!” Original post
Melicien Tetro’s main requests are much more specific, but they’re features we can probably all get onboard with: mech suits and boarding parties.
“I want to see boarding action against structures and capital ships. And I want MTACs (Mechanized Torso-Actuated Chasses). The MTAC gets delivered during Sansha Incursions, so I’ve always wanted to be ‘That Guy’. Boarding action in general sounds awesome; it’s one of the things the universe is really missing.” Original post
As for Swagger Olacar, their wish was much more humble: to be able to play.
“I’d just like to be able to run it. One of the best things about EVE Online is that it’s a massive, beautiful-looking game that you can run on a calculator. Vanguard, being a shooter, will 100% require more resources. I’d like to support this shooter version of EVE, but it will definitely be frustrating if I can't make it run.” Original post
First Strike first impressions
We’ve heard what the community wants from the game. How’s it measuring up? Let’s see what they made of the pre-Alpha playtest.
Disclaimer alert: First Strike was a very early playtest with a single weapon and a single map.
Spoiler alert: everyone enjoyed it anyway.
Here’s funinc, whose only criticism was that he “had a rubbish night's sleep because he was so wired after playing”. Thanks a lot, CCP.
“I absolutely love it! I love the immersion. I love the atmosphere. The graphics and landscapes are amazing. If this is a test-bed, I think the game is going to be smoking hot! What would be great is a Vanguard play area to help us understand the mechanics. Shooting stuff is great, but understanding how to get ammo, what the different functions are, and so on is really important. Still, nothing but positive thoughts from me!” Original post
Salartarium didn’t go in with sky-high expectations but came away believing that Vanguard will solve what was the biggest problem with Dust 514, a previous FPS that tied in with EVE:
“I’m pleasantly surprised with Vanguard. When I first arrived on the ground I was extremely confused. The controls were intuitive, but I didn’t understand what the game was other than walking around and shooting enemies. I now know that there’s already a complex gameplay loop where one has to balance rushing around collecting loot while hedging your bets with cloning stations and banks. There’s even a PvP meta between other squads and sometimes your own squadmates.
“While its bones are currently bare, to me Vanguard is already immersive. That’s the main problem I had with Dust 514. Even though there was complexity and strong metagaming, the controls felt sluggish and the environment didn’t feel responsive. If they just dropped all the Dust maps and content into Vanguard, I’m sure it would already be much more enjoyable than Dust was.” Original post
There was plenty in First Strike that appealed to Antijhinn, too, starting with “the scale of the map. It’s a downed Bowhead. The sound design - it’s amazing, especially the title screen music. Biomass cannibalism - what a great mechanic, very cyberpunk wendigo.”
Growing pains aside, orik Kado found a lot to be hopeful about:
“Many players have been waiting for EVE Vanguard. Personally, I found myself very comfortable with what was proposed in this small test. I truly love its clean and sober interface, the terrain and setting is fantastic, and the environmental damage too. Then there’s the crafting, ammunition, and supplements to carry out your contracts, which were all intriguing. The shooting sensation, in my opinion, was very satisfying - it didn’t feel odd as it does in some FPS games. In fact, I’d venture to say that it felt quite smooth. I also love the detail of the weapons changing colour according to the type of ammunition equipped. The missions were very fun too, they all felt distinct from one another.
“However, there are still some things to fix. My character would sometimes get stuck for no apparent reason (probably some collision area in the environment). Sometimes, the server connection was unstable and then fixed itself. Overall, I consider these to be expected issues that can be addressed in the future.
“My verdict: I’m already looking forward to seeing more. I’m ready to continue completing contracts.” Original post
Good news all round, then, for CCP. The only person who wasn’t quite as in love with Vanguard was JAKEL33T, who sets out his thoughts in his video below. While he enjoyed it and shared some good tips for gameplay, Jake had a few criticisms and concluded that it’s not the part of the EVE universe that appeals to him.
We’ll leave you with one more video. Just because you can handle an assault frigate doesn’t mean you can handle an assault rifle, so we challenged our community members to send in their most skilful clip from the First Strike playtest. The winner was James with this impressive double-kill. We really thought he was a goner at 0.50.
Did you take part in the Vanguard First Strike playtest? What did you think? And what do you want from the game upon its eventual release? Let us know below!
Some text has been amended for brevity. You can find the original wording at the bounty posts linked at the beginning of the article.
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