Everspace 2 left the hangar and entered the deep, swirling space of Early Access in January 2021. Since then, developer Rockfish has been steadily working on the first major update to the space flight simulator and shooter RPG. The Union: Contracts/Heartland update introduces a massive load of content into the game for free.
The update is currently available for the Steam and Good Old Games versions of Everspace 2.
Union: Contracts/Heartland adds six new missions to Everspace 2: three main missions and three side missions. In addition to this, Rockfish said in a statement that there are also "side activities". Although many of these activities take place "in the second star system", neither the post nor a press article on the game's Steam page mentions what these activities are.
The central strength of these new main missions and side missions is an old face of the original Everspace: Elek. The outlaw once again needs rescuing, it seems, and this time is in the clutches of the arachnid-like cave crawlers. Players will have to fight their way through an underground cave system to rescue Elek, but once freed they become a new companion and have access to a number of upgradable perks.
The update also introduces a “new” ship class to the Bomber, which returns from the original Everspace. According to Rockfish, "The Bomber is a missile and mine specialist with access to unique weapons and explosive warheads." Another advantage of the bomber is its ability to regenerate hull HP in the event of enemy destruction.
For those who love the puzzles of Everspace 2, a new mechanic in the series for this release, Rockfish has made adjustments to some old puzzles to make them a bit more difficult, while adding "new types of puzzles in combination with the second encounter with the boss…”
To get an idea of ​​how this will impact Everspace 2, Rockfish has shared a massive 15-minute gameplay video for the update that looks at gameplay, the new ship, and more. Give him a watch below.
Steam's news post on the update provides more information on other parts of Everspace 2's development, including the purpose of the game's racing challenges, which the developer envisions as adding variety to the game. .
We want to provide various game mechanics that you can delve into while progressing through the game in the way you prefer. Most of these side quests are optional objectives to pursue whenever you want to take a break from the main campaign.
That said, we don't implement all of these different types of game mechanics for nothing. Some super-duper loot will require maneuvering skills AND high-level brains to obtain. No worries, we won't force anyone to solve lots of tricky puzzles and tight chase missions to progress through the story campaign a la Uncharted or Tomb Raider.
Finally, as updates often do, this one fixes some insightful bugs and provides a bit of game balancing based on difficulty. The full set of additions and changes can be found in the Everspace 2 news section on Steam.
According to the Everspace 2 roadmap, the next big content update will arrive this summer. Called Zharkov: The Vortex, this update will introduce the game's eponymous third system, a new companion, new main and side missions, and new activities and challenges. This will also increase the level cap.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Everspace 2 Early Access in January, saying it's already "refined and enjoyable...an open-world space shooter where adventure awaits behind every asteroid." We praised it for its graphics, gameplay, and story. You can read our full presentation here.
[Sources: Rockfish, Steam]
