Season two of Elite: Dangerous is finally underway. After the initial announcement at Gamescom and the subsequent months of hype surrounding the game’s next expansion, Horizons is finally available to all.
The expansion comes exactly one year after the base game launched on PC. Over the course of a year, various features were added, such as community goals, a wing group, the Powerplay factions, and competitive CQC (close quarters combat). With Horizons, the first of many features is already available -- planetary landings -- with more to come in the next few months, such as looting and crafting, multi-crew ships, character customization and ship-launched fighters.
However, the expansion’s release also coincided with the addition of one more feature, for those still playing the basic Elite: Dangerous version, called Ships. Frontier Developments stated that the biggest change, as evidenced by the update’s name, is the addition of new vessels. Elite: Dangerous initially had 25 ships available, but the new update brings in five new vehicles, including the massive Imperial Cutter.
The update also includes a variety of new mission variants. These include runs with multiple stages and the ability to take on missions while flying in space. New scenarios were also added to keep the spacefaring experience interesting, such as escorting a VIP, answering distress calls, and performing search and rescue operations.
If you own Elite: Dangerous, the Ships update is a free addition to the game. However, you will have to buy Horizons for $59.99. Additionally, the expansion runs only on a 64-bit client, so you might need to upgrade to a 64-bit OS if you want to play with the expansion in the future.
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Rexly Peñaflorida II is a Contributor at Tom’s Hardware. He writes news on tech and hardware, but mostly focuses on gaming news. As a Chicagoan, he believes that deep dish pizza is real pizza and ketchup should never be on hot dogs. Ever. Also, Portillo’s is amazing.
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