Ever since humanity first looked towards the stars, the question has always lingered: one day, will we, too, join them in the sky? Will we ever enter an age of space exploration? In Dual Universe by Novaquark, you’ll be leaving Earth whether you’d like it or not, to avoid the devastation of colliding with a neutron star. Untold eons later, you awaken from cryosleep, personalize your high-tech space suit, and deploy onto your very own plot of land on the planet Haven. After completing a tutorial, guided by the A.I. system Aphelia, you’re let loose into a massive online universe that’s eager to be shaped by the actions of you and every other player worldwide.
Dual Universe has a massive scope, which is obvious from the moment you’re offered a hexagon of land on Haven: the planet is massive, and the packages of land they’re parceling out aren’t small. It’s incredible to look around on the planet before you select a spot, as you can see how much of the planet has already been claimed by other players. With so much space to explore, it’s only fitting that its good to look at too, especially the resource nodes that pop up on the surface. The game is based on a system of Voxels, which essentially allows for building and demolition on a much more adaptive scale. This isn’t just Minecraft in space, as you’re able to carve out circles in mountains, flatten land at will, and build in many different polygonal ways.
However, it wasn’t long after the initial tutorial ended that I found myself completely lost. Even during the tutorial, much of what it was asking me to do didn’t fully explain the incredibly diverse and in-depth menus that I had to navigate. With so many options, I found myself overwhelmed, yet without any obvious direction, I felt aimless. Even after completing extra tutorials in more specific tasks, which are completed through in-game “VR” to prevent you from keeping any of the tutorial resources, I still had no direction.
It’s not within my purview of reviewing games to ponder the question of whether or not there’s other life out there in space. However, in Dual Universe, it sure doesn’t feel like there is. I encountered only 1 other player during my time playing, and that was only in one of the “VR” rooms. The text system was also somewhat lacking, as I couldn’t seem to find a general chat. Overall, it felt very lonely in space. In theory, that would be realistic, but it seems out of place for an MMO.
Overall, the game feels incredibly polished and detailed. The problem is figuring out how to get below the surface, and without a good in-game guide, I felt myself unable to get everything I could out of it. And even if I had managed to figure out the systems for building and upgrading, perhaps even achieving interplanetary travel, I wasn’t sure what the point was. From what I could gather, there isn’t any form of competition or PVP outside of interplanetary dogfights. Your base is safe, your resources are safe, and you don’t have to worry about managing health, hunger, or anything like that. The world should be your oyster, but it’s locked behind systems that I found incomprehensible.
That’s the big takeaway for me from the game: it has an immense scope, which makes it hard to learn, and a lot of those features are gatekept by unnecessarily complicated systems. If it were easier to understand and get into from a newcomer’s perspective, the game would likely shine much brighter.
I’d give Dual Universe a rating of 7/10. There’s clearly something there, but I can’t pass the bar to entry. However, I imagine that these issues will likely be fixed over time. I’d welcome the opportunity to try Dual Universe again if it could offer me a better understanding of its intricacies and the depth that it has been given. The game is clearly a labor of love, and I wish I could experience everything it has to offer.
Check Out the Dual Universe Launch Trailer:
Dual Universe is now available on the game’s official website and Steam. Players can enjoy the game on almost any computer via NVIDIA’s cloud-based platform GeForce Now.
For more information, visit dualuniverse.game as well as to purchase a subscription.
Related: Reviews by Aaron Grossmann
Gaming is a passion that I, like many other people, hold near and dear to my heart. As an aspiring Game Writer and general Storyteller, I enjoy looking into the vast worlds and deep stories of every game I can. Then again, sometimes bad guys just need a good pummeling, and I am more than happy to provide!
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