Elite Unhealthy: The Ultimate Video Game Picks of 2024
George Corner investigates how a revitalized year for Frontier’s esteemed problem simulation has contributed to the sport’s unending sense of amazement.
Mankind is in peril, and I’m choosing to overlook it.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been captivated by the prospect of traversing video game universes. Upon discovering The Legend of Zelda on the NES in the early ’90s, the mission to rescue Zelda took a backseat to my desire to uncover every secret the game had to offer. That intrigue has carried on to this day, with titles like Death Stranding, where storyline and content didn’t matter as much to me as wandering aimlessly, delivering packages, and exploring the world crafted by Kojima Productions.
Thus, it’s no surprise that exploration is the element of Elite Dangerous that has enchanted me most, and continues to enthrall me as the game celebrates its tenth anniversary this month.
When news spread that Thargoid forces were invading Sol and a colossal Titan was on its way, I was busy equipping my brand-new Mandalay exploration ship in preparation for an expedition into uncharted space, a vessel so enjoyable to pilot that it led to the retirement of my cherished ASP Explorer (fondly named Dora the Asplorer) after over four years of dedicated service. Following a brief stop at Earth and Mars to assist in evacuating some citizens while dodging Thargoid fire, I docked my explorer ship for a swift journey to Colonia (22,000 light years away), fully aware that it might very well be the last time I see Earth in the game.
Elite Dangerous is one of those games that can be approached however you wish. If enormous explosions and dazzling lasers are your preference, I hear from others that no finer simulation of space combat exists. If you prefer to be a space trucker navigating trade routes to supply systems with necessary resources, that’s an option too. Perhaps you enjoy spectacular lasers and explosions, but not when they’re aimed at you? Equipping a ship for mining and combing asteroid fields for minerals could suit you. You might even want to own one of the top 1% luxury passenger liners available, transporting passengers and tourists around the galaxy. However, I prefer a somewhat quieter experience.
It has been a challenging year for the gaming industry, and Elite Dangerous has consistently been my refuge from the stresses it has brought.
Logically, exploration seems remarkably straightforward. I jump to a new system and perform a discovery scan to determine how many celestial bodies exist in that system. I then activate my Full Spectrum Scanner, which allows me to survey all these bodies from afar to ascertain their nature. If there are any significant worlds—specifically water worlds, Earth-like planets, or terraformable bodies—I will maneuver within a few thousand kilometers of each one and deploy probes to sample the surface. If I encounter a planet with some biological activity, I’ll land and examine some alien flora to study. However, it’s not the gameplay loop that enchants me—it’s the things I discover along the way.
Frontier has crafted the most immersive space simulation I’ve ever experienced, and its allure peaks when I’m alone on a remote planet, accompanied only by the sound of the wind and my footsteps on extraterrestrial soil. I enjoy traversing vast landscapes, navigating chasms so deep that the bottom is obscured or mountains towering more than four times the height of Everest. A journey into deep space for me can last anywhere from three to three hundred sixty-five days, during which I may not encounter another player or AI-controlled ship at all. It’s serene, solitary, tranquil, and there’s nothing else like it out there.
A friend once referred to Elite Dangerous as a “space-based screenshot generator,” and they’re not too far off the mark. Elite is a magnificent game, sometimes breathtakingly so. As it reaches its ten-year mark this month, only 0.06% of the galaxy has been explored as of December 2024. Community-driven exploration tool Elite Dangerous Star Map estimates that it would take the player base 44,000 years to completely explore Frontier’s 1:1 representation of the Milky Way galaxy. Your chances of encountering something that no other player has ever witnessed are incredibly high.
Experiencing a moment that fills you with awe, before capturing a screenshot of your discovery and heading to EliteExplorers on Reddit to share it, may only occur once every 100 hours of gameplay.