EVE On-line developer CCP Video games has had a protracted and vibrant historical past of attempting to interrupt into the first-person shooter style. For the reason that launch of PS3 unique MMOFPS DUST 514 again in 2013, there was no fewer than three EVE themed shooters introduced at occasions or proven off to followers. CCP is now hoping that third time’s the appeal with EVE Vanguard, its upcoming shooter set to enter early entry subsequent summer season.
EVE Vanguard was revealed in 2023 as a sort of PvP-focused navy extraction shooter with an EVE On-line theme, but it surely’s now leaning way more closely right into a full MMOFPS expertise with its personal persistent sandbox worlds and plans to ultimately hyperlink it meaningfully to the EVE universe. We received hands-on with Vanguard at this 12 months’s EVE Fanfest and discovered extra about what the long run has in retailer for this bold shooter.
A protracted and vibrant historical past
Those that bear in mind the discharge of DUST 514 might recollect it as an enormously hopeful time for EVE On-line and its developer CCP Video games. EVE was celebrating its tenth anniversary, and DUST 514 was poised to carry numerous console players into the fold. The sport launched as a PS3 unique towards the tip of the console’s life cycle, and sadly the anticipated flood of console gamers was extra of a trickle, however the recreation did develop a small core viewers.
In 2014 CCP introduced plans to carry DUST 514 to PC underneath the title Challenge Legion, however by 2015, improvement slowed after which stopped whereas work on DUST 514 itself continued. When DUST was formally shuttered in 2016, we heard that early work was truly beginning on a distinct FPS unconnected to DUST or Legion, and at EVE Fanfest 2016 it was introduced as a brand new FPS codenamed Challenge Nova.
Crucially, Challenge Nova wasn’t meant to be an MMO linked to EVE On-line however only a separate recreation that used the EVE IP as a setting. A public demo of the sport was proven at EVE Vegas 2018 however did not make a lot of an impression with EVE gamers because of the shortage of a killer hook or integration with EVE. Legion was shuttered shortly after the occasion, and within the years that adopted there have been hints of a brand new EVE FPS within the works. These rumours had been confirmed in 2023 with the announcement of EVE Vanguard.
What is going to EVE Vanguard appear like?
Vanguard is about on planets all throughout New Eden the place large EVE ships from interstellar wars have crashed and spilled their flaming guts throughout the panorama. Vanguard gamers will tackle contracts referred to as “commissions” from totally different factions inside EVE, every one a set of assignments that must be accomplished on these planets.
Gamers will deploy to planets both solo or in teams by way of drop pods after which combat their well past NPCs and different gamers to achieve and full numerous mission targets. Gamers will likely be recovering delicate knowledge from computer systems, securing websites in opposition to hostile factions, and salvaging elements and cargo left behind. There will likely be a crafting system to let gamers make new ammo and tools on the fly and a mining system for gathering assets.
Between deployments, gamers will stay in their very own area referred to as a warbarge. It’s right here that gamers will craft stockpiles of kit to make use of in deployments, organise their stock, and customise their drop fits and weapons to suit totally different play types. It’s anticipated that tactical metas will emerge from this simply as occurs with ship fittings in EVE On-line.
What makes Vanguard extra of a full-scale MMOFPS now than an extraction shooter is a brand new layer of persistence revealed at EVE Fanfest 2025. Sure planets in Vanguard will get floor stations referred to as Bastions that operate sort of like area stations in EVE On-line. It’s right here that Vanguard gamers will meet one another, organise teams, purchase and promote tools, and discover distinctive NPCs providing new commissions.
Every bastion has a sure sphere of affect round it, and gamers can deploy all the way down to solely these planets in vary. Curiously, that affect can develop as gamers collectively full missions or shrink if exercise within the bastion is low. Gamers can even be capable of jump-clone from one bastion to a different however their gear received’t transfer with them, so every new bastion is a clean slate and a chance to construct your self up from the bottom up.
When the sport launches it is going to have a collection of NPC bastions all through the galaxy, however the plan is to let gamers construct and keep their very own bastions that develop in energy and affect as folks use them. Because the spheres of affect develop, they are going to inevitably overlap with different gamers’ bastions and spark conflicts over resource-rich planets.
When it comes to the minute-to-minute gameplay, Vanguard can be transferring away from its bland navy shooter roots with new sci-fi weapons impressed by basic shooters equivalent to Quake and Unreal Event. I received hands-on with a brand new railgun-style rifle and a shotgun that appears very very similar to the Unreal Event flak cannon, each of which felt satisfying to make use of.
When the sport goes stay, gamers could have a weapon locker of their warbarge the place they’ll craft and customise their weapons and have a number of totally different battle fits. We’re additionally instructed that the plan is to ultimately have an actual financial hyperlink between Vanguard and EVE On-line the place sure issues wanted in EVE are discovered or made solely in Vanguard and vice versa.
Palms-on expertise
Above is a few uncooked footage from the newest construct of Vanguard from EVE Fanfest 2025, once we explored a few of the new recreation environments and tried out prototype variations of recent weapons such because the sniper rifle and shotgun. I left within the half the place my fellow recreation journalist shot me within the again (properly, entrance) as a result of that could be probably the most EVE On-line factor to occur to me all through Fanfest.
Some huge adjustments have landed since I final performed Vanguard in 2024, together with the introduction of a brand new ore mining system, extra work on stock mechanics and banking, new craftable gadgets and instruments, and the power to revive teammates from a downed state. The visuals have additionally been dramatically improved, with a lot clearer indicators for enemies and loot and a few actually impressive-looking new environments throughout totally different planet biomes.
The minute-to-minute fight gameplay felt fairly strong, and I can positively see how compelling it could be to deploy right into a planet stuffed with different gamers to finish a particular mission and even simply to farm assets for tools. I can think about sure companies staking a declare to particular planets wealthy in assets, working weekly gathering operations with defenders and miners, or getting reputations as an unstoppable drive of their nook of the galaxy.
The present construct of the sport will not be with out its flaws, nonetheless. The consumer expertise of crafting and the menus and in-combat UIs all nonetheless really feel like early prototypes and require navigating by means of monochromatic popup menu bushes. Different shooters with harvesting and crafting mechanics equivalent to Rust or No Man’s Sky have opted for a lot bigger and extra detailed UIs for crafting, which I really feel works higher for this sort of recreation.
Mechanics such because the mining system and deployable gadgets really feel very tough at this early stage, and also you do spend a daunting period of time containers on the bottom and holding down E to loot them. We additionally didn’t get an excellent sense on this playtest session of how the PvE missions or the totally different PvE occasions all through the map will work – or how PvP will come into it. None of it is a drawback but as the sport remains to be very early, and we all know there’s a playtest session developing this September which may reply extra of these questions.
With the introduced particulars in regards to the bastions, warbarge, weapon customisation, and useful resource gathering gameplay, Vanguard is certainly leaning way more closely into full MMOFPS gameplay. The thought of companies ultimately constructing their very own bastions, staking a declare to the planets inside a sure space of the EVE universe and constructing it up as their base of energy is a fairly compelling endgame.
Whereas the sport has its issues, I’m reassured that there’s greater than a 12 months to go earlier than Vanguard hits early entry, and that CCP is taking issues gradual and involving gamers. The progress on the brand new weapons and visuals has been strong, and the plan for persistent sandbox gameplay that would later hyperlink into EVE On-line sounds fairly good. After a number of earlier makes an attempt to interrupt into the FPS style, I’ve a powerful feeling that this could possibly be the one to lastly do it.
Disclosure: In accordance with Massively OP’s ethics coverage, we should disclose that CCP paid for our author’s journey to and lodging at this occasion. CCP neither requested nor was granted any management or affect over our protection of the occasion. I’m nonetheless mad that there’s no tanks and automobiles although!
