A Promising Co-op Extraction Shooter
It’s time to hop aboard a new interstellar adventure with Jump Space, now in Game Preview / Early Access on Xbox.
In this universe, the majority of robotic enemies have become corrupted and are now hostile against humans. Small factions of survivors are struggling to survive, but when the player character comes across an uncorrupted computer core in a ship graveyard, the rules of the fight change.
This is the premise of Jump Space, and to quote the store page, “Jump Space is a mission based co-op PvE for 1-4 players, where you are the crew of a spaceship. Transition seamlessly from crewing the ship to on-foot exploration and space walks. Explore, upgrade, and survive intense encounters in deep space together.”
Seamless Transition
In gameplay terms, this translates into a PvE extraction shooter that can be played alone or with friends. There is a hub area where players can customize their suit and ship, as well as interact with NPCs and select which missions to go on.
These missions involve raiding supply centres, defeating corrupted robotic enemies, and, of course, piloting a ship in deep space battles. Right now, these features are actively being developed and are always subject to change (remember, it’s in Game Preview so not a full release), but let’s talk about what they look like as of right now.
The crux of Jump Space is the ship management, navigation, and combat. The system is built to be seamless, so any player can perform any task at any time. It’s possible to hop in the pilot’s seat and control the ship during combat, or take to the gunner seat and blast away enemies. Both of which would be expected in a space combat game. However, it’s also possible to walk out onto the hull of the ship and grapple to different locations and take the fight to the enemy.
Grappling and Galactic Repairs
Grapple points are placed all around the ship; on different structures and locations in each mission area. While outside the ship, it is possible to grapple to and from these locations, allowing players to fight on and off the ship. Currently, this feels like a really solid system. Jumping on and off the ship feels seamless, and the physics engine seems to handle the changeover from gliding through space, to walking around a ship’s hull, just like you’d want it to.
This is important because during combat the ship can get damaged and you and your crew will need to make repairs, manage the weapons, and allocate system resources to keep your ship from dying out in the depths of space. Materials can be collected and crafted into various items like repair kits, health packs, and even new weapons to fight off swarms of enemies.
Off ship, there are stations that need to be explored and cleared out to progress mission objectives, meaning everyone will have to leave the safety of the ship if they want to make it through the game. This is when the largest on-foot combat encounters will occur, and there are various objective types to mix things up.
Loot, Longevity, and a Lonely Bot
The ultimate goal of every mission is to gather as much loot as possible to return with. This loot can then be spent on permanent upgrades, like bigger guns and improved navigation systems, to make further runs even more fun. Expanding these offerings and creating a meaningful progression system will be the real challenge in ensuring Jump Space is a game that players will want to keep coming back to for the long term.
Extraction games rely on an addictive loot cycle and meaningful things to purchase, all to justify said cycle. Right now, blowing up ships and defeating bots in Jump Space is enjoyable enough, but time will tell how much the systems are expanded.
But early impressions are pretty solid for Jump Space. Of course, more content needs to be added, especially with there only being two ships to currently choose from and customization being fairly limited. It’s also very much a game that is meant to be played with friends. That’s not to say you can’t play alone and the developers have seen fit to include a robot companion that will help with running the ship and hauling equipment during missions. But they also explicitly state in the game that he’s no substitute for an actual crewmate.
Now, in-game this robot companion is actually a great team player and may perform even better than your friends in some cases, but he’s not able to do everything on the ship. He’s also not going to add to the experience and shenanigans in the way that a real person would. But in all fairness, that’s the same with any game that can be played in co-op. Even a runaway hit like HELLDIVERS 2 is a better experience with friends than solo.
An Approachable Extractor for Console Gamers
One thing is for sure though – it’s exciting to have Jump Space on Xbox. Many extraction shooter games rely on hardcore PvP mechanics and are sequestered to PC, making them harder to access for more casual gamers, and even committed gamers can struggle to get into them if they don’t want to dedicate a massive amount of time to a single game.
Jump Space on the other hand, with its PvE framework and user-friendly mechanics, makes for a much more approachable game and I for one look forward to seeing future content updates.
Huge thanks go out to Keepsake Games for the access to Jump Space on Xbox, during the early stages of Game Preview. We’ll keep you updated as to how the game progresses in the weeks and months ahead, following with a full review when the time is right.
For now, head to the Xbox Store and nab a £16.74 download of Jump Space on Xbox Series X|S if you want to help guide the team to a full launch. Maybe consider the free trial if you like.
