It’s a big, incomplete mess, but so is Minecraft, and Elite 4 just happens to be an incredibly good game, writes Lee Hutchison.
To find Elite: Dangerous a good game, you have to like what it is: the greatest “I feel like I’m flying a spaceship” game that’s ever been made up to this point in the history of computer gaming. Meticulously planning out your trade routes and then hauling cargo for hours at a stretch has to be its own reward. Flying thousands of light years out into the black to see what no human has ever seen has to be its own reward. Blowing up dozens and dozens of criminals to snag their bounties has to be its own reward.
The journey has to be worth it for you, because otherwise, Elite: Dangerous is a monotonous grind-fest with no destination.
Which is exactly what Elite, Frontiers: Elite 2, and Frontier: First Encounters were. Nailed it.