Elite Dangerous: Odyssey Alpha Announced In Combat Gameplay Trailer
In a lengthy walkthrough video, Frontier Developments confirmed the alpha for Elite Dangerous: Odyssey will go live later in the month on March 29. An upcoming expansion, Odyssey's original gameplay reveal managed to shock and awe fans during last year's The Game Awards ceremony. It most notably gave players a first look at what to expect from the new on-foot-centric gameplay mechanics.
The Odyssey content heralds a fresh era for the popular space sim, which usually positions players in a cockpit for space flight combat encounters. As noted above, on-foot exploration is incoming, opening the door for ground adventures set across a variety of previously uncharted worlds in the Elite Dangerous universe. Fans can expect to engage in ground combat, undertake new missions, meet other pilots in person, and navigate social hubs. It's a far cry from the likes of Elite Dangerous' Horizons expansion.
A blog post on Frontier Developments' official website confirmed Elite Dangerous: Odyssey's PC alpha will launch on March 29. In celebration of the news, Frontier also deployed a brand-new look at pre-alpha feet-on-the-ground gameplay footage. The mission playthrough runs over eight minutes in length, showcasing three Commanders in an incursion team as they raid a settlement and take on various tasks. As noted in the post, each character is equipped to their own role's specifications. The equipment itself comes from a range of space suits, tools, and weapons that players will have at their disposal throughout their future Odyssey adventures. While PC users can jump into the expansion later this spring, Frontier noted the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the expansion won't arrive until fall 2021.
Since this is pre-alpha footage of a work-in-progress endeavor, there are a few things that seem off. Notably, animations are wonky in places, the first-person perspective needs more polish, and the enemy AI lacks any real depth. That said, what's on display here looks rather impressive, especially for a pre-alpha build.
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey represents far more than just another expansion of pre-existing content. The crew at Frontier Developments drastically altered the core gameplay from top to bottom, ushering in an experience unlike anything else Elite Dangerous has offered in the past. Since the alpha rollout is so imminent, PC players will soon get to decide for themselves how well everything is coming together.
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey hits PC in late spring, while a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One release is slated for fall 2021.
Source: Frontier Developments