It's been a year since I was introduced to EVE Frontier, Fenris Creations' (formerly CCP) ambitious space survival sandbox that looks to turn more control over to the players than EVE Online ever could. And it's come a long way mechanically and visually, going from rectangles in space to massive, spooky temple complexes drifting in the void. I even got a chance to feel how its modular vessels control and dig into the mysteries of its galaxy.

I won't spend too much time talking about the blockchain integration and monetization stuff, since I covered that in my preview last year and my thoughts haven't changed much. The bespoke crypto token, called $EVE, does seem very difficult to avoid interacting with it at all even as a solo player, as it's the only way to buy disposable mining lenses that are used to acquire basic resources needed to play and progress. The demos we saw didn't feature a finalized version of this game loop, so I remain cautious and skeptical, though I was assured it's possible to acquire everything you need to progress with in-game currency, including the token itself.

While it will ultimately be up to the players what kind of galaxy they want to create in Frontier, and I'm not entirely unconvinced they won't make a Pepe-laden, libertarian crypto hellscape given half the chance, it's clear that Fenris has strong ideas about the vibe they want to push. And it’s a brash, oppressive atmosphere of grounded, cosmic horror.

You play as a rider, incarnated into a clone body somewhat like EVE Online's capsuleers, with your permanent consciousness stored in some unspecified location. These transhuman entities get their name from the fact that they "ride" their ships, sort of becoming the vessel itself in a more direct way where they can pilot it on instinct and perceive what its various sensors do. But the organic form at the center isn't just a microchip.

Assuming Direct Control

Unlike in EVE Online, Frontier requires you to look after the biological needs of your clone. If you don't manage heat effectively, it can overheat or freeze to death in the bowels of the ship. Overclocking systems to fly faster or shoot harder don't only tax the vessel itself, but could put the clone in danger. In some situations, radiation can become an issue. And you may even find yourself dealing with psychological consequences. When Fenris says this is a survival game, they mean it.

This is reflected in the much more tactile control scheme. I got a chance to fly a few laps around a space complex with a controller, and it couldn't feel any more different from the click-to-orbit gameplay of EVE. Thrusters function using realistic physics and momentum is preserved until you slow yourself down or run into something, which means manual piloting definitely has a learning curve. The ships have tangible weight and handling quirks.

With the start of Cycle 6 of Frontier's pre-release, modular shipbuilding is being introduced. And it's pretty freaking impressive – at least on paper.“

You're not required to take direct control all the time if you're, for instance, flying in a straight line between two player structures in a solar system. But many areas will reward fine motor skills. We got a hands-off look at a few different areas that were basically massive abandoned temples, almost like dungeons in space. Navigating through their winding corridors reminded me more than anything of the Descent games.

Ship Shape

If you don't like how a ship handles, though, there's quite a lot you can do about it. With the start of Cycle 6 of Frontier's pre-release, modular shipbuilding is being introduced. And it's pretty freaking impressive – at least on paper. I haven't gotten to play around with the shipbuilding myself yet. Riders will be able to assemble custom vessels out of a handful of basic components and even sell their custom creations to other players. Of course, there's no patent law on the Frontier stopping someone from reverse-engineering your designs unless player organizations choose to enforce that in their corner of space.

Every component you add has physical properties within the simulation. So if a member of EVE's massive Goonswarm alliance wanted to build a ship that looks like a giant bee as an homage to their logo, it wouldn't necessarily be the most maneuverable or efficient. More mass means you need more fuel. More components can generate more heat. Engines can be placed anywhere, in almost any orientation, so you'll have to think about factors like center of mass and center of thrust to build something that's easy to fly. Ship designs should, at least in theory, evolve convergently toward efficient and effective designs for players who want to get the most out of them, even if we will doubtlessly have some giant bees flying around.

And you'll want to be flying the best ship you can design when you see what you're up against in Frontier's cold, ancient galaxy. Other players will always be a threat, of course. But Fenris' contribution to the ecosystem are the Ferals – rogue, autonomous ships from an ancient, fallen age who have adapted very organic-looking mechanical forms and range in size from the smallest drones up to literal moon-eating behemoths that serve a role similar to raid bosses. The cosmic horror influence is really clear here, with metallic tendrils and insectoid elements giving Ferals a truly alien appearance.

They behave somewhat like a hive, as the devs explained it to me, sending out little scouts to scan solar systems for player activity. The more activity you generate, building structures and automating industry, the more curious they will become, eventually launching probing attacks against you. The loop reminds me a little bit of Factorio. And they're meant to remain dangerous even to large player alliances and civilizations who have well-defended border systems. The walls of the city will always be under attack, as it were.

Down With the Sickness

The other factor that makes Ferals dangerous is their ability to infect player ships with their bio-mimic technology, which can spread like an infection through your systems and even to structures and other ships. Some of these might even be situationally beneficial. But it's generally something you want to avoid, since the intrusive components are somewhat like cancer. They don't care much what your ship was built for, nor about the wellbeing of the clone inside.

What really matters in the end will be the answer to the question: is it a fun space ship video game?“

This is, of course, the hostile, ruin-strewn wilderness we're meant to build new societies on top of. Using "smart assemblies" and even scripting to create everything from deep space Rickrolls to a top-down isometric marketplace minigame that allows you to visually move an avatar around to different stalls in a player marketplace instead of simply buying from a menu, a lot of Frontier's uniqueness is riding on the massive possibilities for user-generated content.

I discussed some possibilities with the devs, like building an elven-themed enclave somewhere in deep space that survives entirely by remaining undiscovered – and picking off any nosy Feral drones without alerting the hive. This, and more, they hope will be possible with the tools we're given.

EVE Frontier remains a dream with two parallel stories running through it, unavoidably. There's the gloomy, spectacular, horror-laden PvE world of fallen temples and Feral drones, of keeping your clone alive in the unforgiving environments of space. And there's the desire to hand control over to the players, for better or worse, using blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, which have both become so closely associated in my mind at this point with scams and techbro nonsense that I can't fully place my trust in this MMO just yet. It's going to remain a wait-and-see for a long time yet, I suspect.

What really matters in the end will be the answer to the question: is it a fun space ship video game? Can I fly around and shoot bad guys without having to deal with the possibility of, as I put it before, being trapped in a Pepe-laden, libertarian crypto hellscape? And I'm certainly impressed with the modular shipbuilding, the detailed interiors for a Descent-like dungeon crawl experience, the dark fantasy vibes, and the detailed, twitch-based controls. For those with Founder's Access, you can check out Cycle 6 yourself starting today.

Leana Hafer is a contributing freelancer for IGN with a specialty in RPGs, strategy, horror, and survival games. She has been reviewing video games professionally since 2010 and is one of IGN's most prolific contributors, with more than 100 reviews published. You can also find her work on sites like PC Gamer and PCGamesN.